The Vatican Scapegoats Gay Men

The Vatican will be issuing a document (Nov., 2005) that will state "the Church, while deeply respecting the people in question, cannot admit to the seminary and the sacred orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support so-called gay culture."

"Those people find themselves, in fact, in a situation that presents a grave obstacle to a correct relationship with men and women. One cannot ignore the negative consequences that can stem from the ordination of people with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies,”...

quotes cited: http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/23/MNGSDFSVQM1.DTL

This narrow minded policy is a continuation of Catholic church doctrine on “homosexuality” which runs against popular scientific opinion and reinforces the Catholic Church’s negative view and practices concerning Gay people in general. The new document is part of the the Vatican's answer to the Church’s involvement in the monumental number of child abuse cases that has received center stage in the media the last several years. The Church is trying to redirect attention away from the child abuse cases and focus its attention on its useful scapegoat “homosexual men” who plan to apply to be in the clergy or are already members of the clergy as some kind of warning for them not to ever “come out of the closet”.

The Church seems to be confusing pedophilia with Gayness as though both were one and the same thing which it is not. Most pedophiles (persons who have sex and prefer sex with under age children, usually pre-teens) do not care what sex their victim is and if the victim of the abuse is of the same sex it is still an issue of pedophilia not gayness. It is also my understanding that most of the cases that were or are being investigated that were perpetrated by priests were against young girls but of course, the cases involving boys were more readily covered in the press, as they were more sensational and juicier stories to sell to an unwitting public.

The immorality involved in picking on a group that is already stereotyped and vulnerable to misinterpretation by the public is monstrous. There is obviously not even a piece of moral filber left intact at the higher levels of the Church and for those involved in pulling off this cheap act of diversion at the expense of persons, the vast majority of whom, would have been and probably continue to be, although I do not understand why, loyal followers of the Catholic tradition and rituals.

Instead of scapegoating “ good people” the Vatican should have just said, if applicants for the priesthood cannot follow the precepts of celibacy, leave the priesthood or do not join in the first place. Sexual orientation should not have been made an issue. The Church will only be further weakened by its continuing hypocrisy on the topic of Gays in the priesthood.