Gay priest ban seen as unlikely

For more than four decades, the Roman Catholic Church has followed both the rules and reality concerning gay priests.

The Vatican – as far back as 1961 – has made it clear they are not wanted. But many seminaries continued to tolerate what one conservative theologian calls a “lavender subculture” that’s brought perhaps thousands of homosexual men to ordination.

Now those parallel worlds are coming under new and uncomfortable scrutiny.

The Vatican is putting the finishing touches on a document that strengthens its view that gay orientation and the priesthood are essentially incompatible. But the text – which could be released as early as next month – reportedly will not impose a blanket ban on gay priests. Instead, it may demand years of chastity before entering seminary and prohibit any public acts deemed to support the sexually active gay community.

If true, the Congregation for Catholic Education will be mostly bolstering existing Vatican positions rather than shutting the door completely on gay clerics as many liberal Catholics have feared. The question then becomes: What message is the Vatican hoping to send?

Experts in church policies don’t expect widespread purges of gay clerics from parishes, schools and seminaries. Many places – particularly in Europe and the United States – are suffering under priest shortages and couldn’t risk further losses.

What’s more likely, they say, is that bishops will gain new leverage to dismiss or sideline clergymen considered in open defiance of the document. Also, the Vatican statement may serve as a foundation for much more intensive screening of seminary candidates to try to identify – and possibly reject or discourage – those who are gay.

No place is this more an issue for church leaders than in the United States, where the nation’s bishops were launching a new campaign Friday to attract seminarians.

The sex abuse scandals have forced an unprecedented introspection into the clergy and how to train future priests.

In September, Vatican-directed inspectors started visiting all 229 American seminaries. Part of their mission is to seek any “evidence of homosexuality.”

But apparently the document will offer some avenues – however narrow – for gay priests.

Earlier this month, a senior Vatican official said the document may allow gay men into seminaries if they have lived a chaste life for at least three years. Other possible stipulations reportedly being discussed include forbidding gay seminarians or priests from making public comments or acts that would draw attention to their sexual orientation.

Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that he was heartened by reports indicating that the document may be “much more nuanced” and “far more sensible” than an outright ban.