Homosexual Priests

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Dranu

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I had a quick question which was recently asked of me. Does the Church ordain men as priests who are ‘homosexual’. Not in the sense that they do the acts, but by being opressed by those temptations. I have heard both yes and no, and I can’t seem to find anything conclusive either way. So I came here to see if anyone knew.
 
Dranu said:
I had a quick question which was recently asked of me. Does the Church ordain men as priests who are ‘homosexual’. Not in the sense that they do the acts, but by being opressed by those temptations. I have heard both yes and no, and I can’t seem to find anything conclusive either way. So I came here to see if anyone knew.
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Sexual Active Homosexual priest No they aren’t allowed or welcome.

Priests either homo and heter take a vow of celibacy as priests. Any active gay priest in the Catholic Church must not be allowed. I think Pope Benedict XVI officially ban men with same sex tendencies through proper screening during their discernment as priest.
 
this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called “gay culture”
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Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem - for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate.
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Basically, if a man is curious about other men, he could still just be in adolescence (it can last into a man’s 20’s), and it could pass with time, and perhaps counseling. If it’s anything more then that, then he probably needs to discern his vocation more- he probably shouldn’t go to the seminary at this point.
 
The Church has a tough stance on this issue, since priests with SSA are suffering a cross which is incompatible with leadership in the Church.
 
m134e5 said:
this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called “gay culture”
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I have struggled with same sex attraction, but I hope it’s not deep seated, and is just a passing thing. It’s been pretty strong at times, even recently, which is what worries me, but I’m hoping to get over it, because I want to be a priest. I made a post about all this in more detail in the Vocation section of Catholic Living. Pray for me.
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The short answer is that while there is strong language indicating that the Church should not ordain homosexual men, there is not an outright ban on it. The grey area is those men who have homosexual tendencies but do not act them out.
 
Depressable said:
Pray for me.
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Of course! Perhaps you will pray for me, because I suffer from apparently intractable depression.

I think Otjm is correct that the Vatican’s guidelines includes an important gray area which different American bishops have chosen to interpret in different ways.
 
The Church’s stand on gay-minded priests is clear, but impossible to act upon. They cannot be priests for 3 years after the attractions go away. However unless the person says they have those thoughts, no-one can know.
 
Depressable said:
I have struggled with same sex attraction, but I hope it’s not deep seated, and is just a passing thing. It’s been pretty strong at times, even recently, which is what worries me, but I’m hoping to get over it, because I want to be a priest. I made a post about all this in more detail in the Vocation section of Catholic Living. Pray for me.
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It may help you to talk to a spiritual director or counselor about this- they can really help a lot. If you are truly called to the priesthood, nothing will stop you. The homosexuality itself isn’t so much a danger to priests (unless they act on it, but that’s a mortal sin whether they are priests or not), but the issues that cause it- the emotional/social issues- can seriously affect how a priest functions. Priests must be secure in their masculinity- to be a strong father figure (spiritually, and emotionally in a way- as they have to be able to give fatherly counsel in the confessional, and be a father figure to the parish).

I promise I will keep you in my prayers.
 
Titus said:
The Church’s stand on gay-minded priests is clear, but impossible to act upon. They cannot be priests for 3 years after the attractions go away. However unless the person says they have those thoughts, no-one can know.
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To get into the seminary, a candidate has to undergo psychological testing (and from what I have heard, it is very difficult). They also are constantly evaluated by the seminary staff- and they have to survive it for 8 years. Unless the person is lying to themselves and to others, it’s unlikely that the issue would stay hidden the entire time.
 
What is the nature of the psychological testing? I mean, how does one discover deep-rooted SSA? If the person is ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’, how do we find out?
 
Jesus allowed Judas the Betrayer to walk with him up to the end, … even to trusting him with the money purse. It was not Jesus who expelled him, but Judas who finally killed himself out of sheer guilt . Some priests are expelling themselves, leaving the Church for a variety of reasons, such as marriage or homosexuality or embezzelment. Those who choose to stay and not repent will have many stripes to pay, if not in the present time, then in the afterlife. Christ knows his Church will have its traitors and scandals to the end of time, but said of those through whom scandal comes, '. . . It would better for them if they had not been born".

Personally, I would prefer a dream world that doesn’t exist here on Earth. I would prefer the Church have no fornicators, homosexuals, adulterers, drunkards, addicts of any kind, whether laity or consecrated. All are betraying the Gospel of Christ, both in the letter and the spirit, but “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Since our Church is in constant purgation for saintly perfection, we must expect Her to have some, if not most, of her members enslaved in the chains of sin. Let us hope and pray the Church Militant bravely endures the fiery trials and tribulations yet to come, … implied when Jesus said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against Her (the Church)”.

I’d like to believe that living saints walk among us who struggle to keep free of sin with the precious gift of supernatural grace, while yet treading this wicked world. Following after the Padre Pios, and the Mother Theresas are the yet uncannonized still working among us who behold a beatific vision of the Church Triumphant. They sit and dine with us, no matter how grievous the sin. They wash our feet, our filthy souls, even as Jesus did for Judas his betrayer at the Last Supper.
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Depressable said:
I have struggled with same sex attraction, but I hope it’s not deep seated, and is just a passing thing. It’s been pretty strong at times, even recently, which is what worries me, but I’m hoping to get over it, because I want to be a priest. I made a post about all this in more detail in the Vocation section of Catholic Living. Pray for me.
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You will be in my prayers. Please DO NOT ACCEPT THE LIE that you cannot change or are stuck with homosexual inclinations. It may take a lot of assistance from a qualified Christian counselor or psychologist, but it can be overcome. Thousands of people have been delivered from SSAD and live normal, heterosexual lives. Many are now married with children. If God is calling you to be a priest, do whatever you can to take care of this, and you will be better able to help other people to live as God intends.
 
From the Instruction:

In the light of such teaching, this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question[9], cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called “gay culture”[10].

Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies.

Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem - for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate.

I think one of the reasons there was a lot of confusion about this is that it distinguished between people with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” (which presumably are lifelong and which according to this document such persons can never be accepted to the seminary) and those with transitory attractions. The latter kind is the one to which the 3-year rule applies. It’s interesting, though, that 3 years prior to the diaconate means theoretically a person could already be in seminary and have some struggle, since the diaconate often comes after the third seminary year.

I do agree with the advice given about the real possibility for healing of those with SSA and having a vocation to either the priesthood or marriage.
 
Yes…all have sinned. All are guilty, yet all are children of God. We must forgive, love and work hard to lessen our neighbor’s burden. In teaching Truth, we must be prepared to sacrifice ourselves completely. :knight1:
 
Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem - for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate.
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I always found this interesting. Around the turn of the last millenium, the Church was having similar problems. St. Peter Damien wrote to Pope St. Leo IX asking him to outright ban anyone who has ever exibited any homosexual tendencies at all. But, St. Leo decided instead to allow those who had sufficiently proven themselves over the course of a few years to have overcome those sin or temptations to be admitted to the priesthood (or to remain priests).

I wonder if Pope Benedict took this into account.
 
The church also states that men whom have same sex attraction, but don’t act upon them, yet support the gay culture ie same sex unions, cannot be ordained.
 
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