Political football: has Pope Benedict XVI
scored an own goal with his ban on
homosexual priests? Photograph:
Alessandro Bianchi/APLet's be clear: a lot of Catholic priests are gay. The median estimate suggests that around a third of the RC clergy are so inclined.
So a report in today's New York Times (registration required) will send nervous shudders down a lot of priestly spines. "Homosexuals, even those who are celibate, will be barred from becoming Roman Catholic priests, a church official said Wednesday," the paper reports. The Pope is said to be preparing to sign the new ruling in about six weeks' time.
The ruling won't apply to priests who are already ordained, but to trainees attending seminaries. Benedict XVI evidently wants to revive a 44-year-old Vatican ruling barring "persons with homosexual orientation" from ordination and religious vows. It has largely been ignored in recent years, as priests and seminaries have become more open about homosexuality.
It has been suggested that Benedict is trying to send a message that the church is confronting the problem of paedophile priests - though one practising Catholic I spoke to this morning described the move as "stupid and wrong, especially given that the majority of paedophiles are heterosexual, even if they do go after boys." The news is also engaging Catholic discussion boards like this one. "Better think of something else to put into these seminaries because we're gonna have a lot of empty buildings!" writes one. Another says: "I don't know how you go about determining whether a man has such tendencies unless he is honest enough to admit it to himself."
