Homosexual Clergy in East vs. West

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Little_Boy_Lost

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Hi all,

I’ve been hearing a lot of things from my friends about the percentage of catholic clergy that are homosexual. I was hoping I could get a perspective from my eastern catholic brethren on this issue. How prevalent is this amongst Orthodox and Eastern Catholic clergy? How about amongst Roman Catholics?

I’ve heard things like whole seminaries were gay bathhouses, and both secular and religious folk claiming percentage figures from 30% - 70% of clergy. I find these figures hard to believe, but again, I would like clarification from you who are more knowledgeable.
Thank you all very much.
 
Regarding such claims…perhaps you might consider that there is no way of confirming these allegations…as if priests are going to sit a survey or share such private issues with others, including the general public! I think you will find these are false and slanderous guess-timates from people who wish to discredit priests and religion.

God bless you.
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Hi all,

I’ve been hearing a lot of things from my friends about the percentage of catholic clergy that are homosexual. I was hoping I could get a perspective from my eastern catholic brethren on this issue. How prevalent is this amongst Orthodox and Eastern Catholic clergy? How about amongst Roman Catholics?

I’ve heard things like whole seminaries were gay bathhouses, and both secular and religious folk claiming percentage figures from 30% - 70% of clergy. I find these figures hard to believe, but again, I would like clarification from you who are more knowledgeable.
Thank you all very much.
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I would be very wary of any statistic with as much variance as “30% - 70%”, they might as well say “we have no idea”. Imagine a political poll where it was claimed that 30% - 70% of Americans believed a certain thing, would that have any credibility?
 
At least amongst Roman Catholic clergy, it seems 30 - 40% are accepted figures by many. Even from fellow clergy.
 
Trishie said:
Regarding such claims…perhaps you might consider that there is no way of confirming these allegations…as if priests are going to sit a survey or share such private issues with others, including the general public! I think you will find these are false and slanderous guess-timates from people who wish to discredit priests and religion.

God bless you.
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Thank you.

Even when CONSIDERING any type of these allegations, you can not expect that any Catholic priest would be openly “homosexual” or they would not be a Catholic priest for very long. There may be people who are suffering from same-sex-attraction but to claim that such a large portion of clergy and seminarians are also acting on it? This is a horrible, horrible thing to say. All I can do is pray for a conversion of heart in these people.
 
James_Trevor said:
…you can not expect that any Catholic priest would be openly “homosexual” or they would not be a Catholic priest for very long…
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You perhaps do not recall the long career of ArchBishop Rembert Weakland?
 
JHow said:
You perhaps do not recall the long career of ArchBishop Rembert Weakland?
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I do not. Was he openly homosexual or was it kept under wraps? I am not denying that the Church has its share of problems, I am saying however, that someone who is openly homosexual (as in acting on same sex attraction AND being public about it) would not be a member of the clergy for long. I pray not. 😦
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Hi all,

I’ve been hearing a lot of things from my friends about the percentage of catholic clergy that are homosexual. I was hoping I could get a perspective from my eastern catholic brethren on this issue. How prevalent is this amongst Orthodox and Eastern Catholic clergy? How about amongst Roman Catholics?

I’ve heard things like whole seminaries were gay bathhouses, and both secular and religious folk claiming percentage figures from 30% - 70% of clergy. I find these figures hard to believe, but again, I would like clarification from you who are more knowledgeable.
Thank you all very much.
Click to expand...
Who cares if they’re homosexual or not? As long as they’re living a chaste life…it is nobody’s business. Ever hear the story of a plank in your own eye? 🙂
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Hi all,

I’ve been hearing a lot of things from my friends about the percentage of catholic clergy that are homosexual. I was hoping I could get a perspective from my eastern catholic brethren on this issue. How prevalent is this amongst Orthodox and Eastern Catholic clergy? How about amongst Roman Catholics?

I’ve heard things like whole seminaries were gay bathhouses, and both secular and religious folk claiming percentage figures from 30% - 70% of clergy. I find these figures hard to believe, but again, I would like clarification from you who are more knowledgeable.
Thank you all very much.
Click to expand...
Speaking as a Roman Catholic in a seminary, I’d say the claims are extremely exaggerated. I have no reason to suspect that any of my brother seminarians are homosexual, nor have I seen such things in the seminaries that we have interactions with. Perhaps somewhere there is such a place, but I think it unlikely. In my opinion, it’s a slanderous lie, and I’m not sure where it arose.
 
Hail,

I would like to note my personal opinion that this is the most disturbing thread I have ever read in my time participating in these forums. :eek:

What priest can claim to be a homosexual and not act on those ways? How many? And who? Where? And is this even permissible?

-MontChevalier
 
They probably took a poll with 10 priests from some schismatic group. No biggie.
 
MontChevalier said:
Hail,

I would like to note my personal opinion that this is the most disturbing thread I have ever read in my time participating in these forums. :eek:

What priest can claim to be a homosexual and not act on those ways? How many? And who? Where? And is this even permissible?

-MontChevalier
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Ah. maybe. I just ask those questions. Another thread I made turned me into an anti-arab/pro-israel monster.
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Ah. maybe. I just ask those questions. Another thread I made turned me into a Crusader.
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Fixed.😃

The words you used to describe how you were opposed is nothing more than terms used to attack the will of others. It’s a tactic used by many to control others.

Say for example:

Some guy walks up to you and says,“You’re racist!” Obviously you’re going to say, “No I’m not.” and grow scared. You don’t want people to think you hate black people.

It’s basically the same thing here. You gotta keep a firm grip, and do like Bruce Lee. Concentrate your chi and then BOOM! You killed five people. 😛 (Translation: Just forget them and keep on believing what you believe)

-MontChevalier
 
Little_Boy_Lost said:
Manzikert man…
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I usually prefer thinking of Montgisard. 😛

But to explain some of the issues of that battle: You have to understand that the Emperor had very limited resources. Why, having to hire a mercenary army and all and then marching on the offensive against the Muslims…

I saw a lot of mistakes militarily in what happened. He should have assessed the situation properly and started changing policies in the East-Roman Empire for the sake of the survival of the Byzantine Empire. But that’s another discussion altogether. 👍

-MontChevalier
 
Perhaps I should have spent more time in my original post.

I have a friend who recently has been telling me about how many priests he suspects are homosexual. He claims the figures are high. Too high in my opinion to be realistic. But in the process of our discussion I decided to investigate casually on my own. In came up with sources that claimed as much as 1/2 of all Roman Catholic priests are homosexual. Does that mean they are unchaste? No. It simply means in some survey or study I assume they showed a preference for men. I was taken aback by the figures and projections. So, as I have come for information regarding the state of affairs in other things about the church (Heseychia in the oriental tradition and the status of the Georgian Catholic Church), so I am asking my fellow Eastern Catholic Brethren on here to give me their opinions and information regarding this subject.

I am skeptical of the figures and sources, but would appreciate some further light on this subject. I do think the root of the abuse scandal was a higher than normal percentage of homosexual men who became priests. And it was those who fell into temptation and did not live chastely that unfortunately preyed upon people. I think the presbyterate became a safe place to turn for those who were catholic and facing homosexual feelings and the collar became a way to hide that without being questioned why they were not with women. That’s not a reason to become a priest and perhaps led many ill-suited men to fall. This is my conjecture.

How do we as Eastern Catholics deal with this in our sister church? I know many will say they should allowed married priests, and while it may work down the line, I do not think the Roman Church right now is ready for such a change. There are too many revisionists who would love to become a pastor and implement their own renegade brand of faith, and there are those traditionalists who are just recovering from the wounds of the Liturgical debacle and would see this as another reason to become SSPX or depressed about the church.
 
Its probably higher in the priesthood then in the general population, however 30-70 percent is a high statistic, and no reputable academic study or university would accept such a range as accurate.

However, I have met some priests who have struck me as extremely effeminate. Not to say that they were gay, but effeminacy is not a trait that I look for in a spiritual leader.
 
Augustus24 said:
Its probably higher in the priesthood then in the general population…
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Why would that be?

Off topic (?)… I came to the Latin parish where I’m involved now when I was looking for a Latin Parish and read this article in the local paper about a priest in my small town telling his parishioners that he is “gay”. His homily based on the scripture reading of the day was on accepting, not rejecting and was based on his ministry to his dying aunt who felt she was condemned to hell.

It was not that he is gay that appealed to me, he’s a priest and celibate. The response of the parishioners was what appealed to me. It was the love and respect his parishioners of all ages felt for him and their sense this was a non issue, and that he had trusted them enough to share this with them, share what he’d never told his own parents, which made me check out the parish and stay there. He had no agenda other than the Gospel, said Fr. Rich, and it was proven to be true. And except for people who were there in the weeks surrounding this homily the topic of his “coming out” was lost. I found as time went by when I was asked about why I came to this parish and I said why, that the people who asked me had never even heard this about Fr. Rich tho they had all heard what a wonderful priest he was and how hard it was when he, and his order, left. I didn’t always come down on the same side of things with Fr. Rich but he was a gifted, gifted priest and I feel blest to have had a few years as his parishioner.
 
In fact, a number of surveys HAVE been done of Latin Rite Catholic Priests in Europe and North America, and the number os admitted homosexual Priests far exceeds the percentage in regular society. In the United States, several surveys have shown that between 60 and 80 % of the Priests ordained between 1975 and 1990 were homosexual in orientation.

That does NOT mean that they are engaging in homosexual activities however.

AND, the rate of child molestation among homosexuals is FAR lower than it is with heterosexuals, so you can not blame the child abuse crisis on gay Priests.

Pope John Paul II issued a directive that no active homosexual was to be accepted into ANY Seminary, and none were to be ordained. No person with “Strong Homosexual leanings” was to be accepted or ordained. This applied to both the Religious Communities and non-religious seminaries.

This order was not issued because there was no problem in this area.

In the Eastern Rites, this should be a much lesser problem, because the majority of their Priests are married, and have children.
 
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