When Will Rome Get a Clue?

The Catholic Church's forthcoming review of 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States, handed down from the Vatican, for "evidence of homosexuality" is as ridiculous as it is short-sighted. The main driving force behind this latest inquisition is the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Church's very foundation over the past few years in the states. By seemingly equating pedophilia with homosexuality, the Church has (at least in its mind) found a scapegoat upon which to heap blame and revealed its enormous ignorance on the issue of sexual abuse raising further questions (as if it were possible) as to its overall ability to handle the issue internally. If the Church were to expel every last homosexual priest they would still not eradicate the sex abuse problems.

In addition to the sex abuse issue, the Church as a fundamental stance that gay priests live in direct violation of divine law. It is important to pick apart this logic because it has major flaws. The first fundamental question the Church must wrestle with is whether or not homosexuality is a choice. If it is not a choice, then it is something one is born with much like brown hair or blue eyes. How then can it be sinful to be born a certain way? How can the Church believe that in a Calvinist fashion a person by definition is sinning from that day he/she is born by virtue of the fact that he/she was born with a particular trait. This predeterminism runs contrary to a belief in reconciliation. If, however, the Church believes that being gay is a choice, then one can only be gay in the doing of that act. Homosexuality in this case becomes a performance. Thus, celibate priests cannot then by definition be gay because they do not perform the acts that would define them as such.

Homosexuals in the Church is something that the Vatican and Catholics worldwide are going to need to examine with stronger logic and reason than they are currently employing. However, if the Church believes, mistakenly, that somehow homosexuality is the locus of pedophilia, a much more important issue, it will fail to substantially deal with the abuses that have gone on within it. Abuse of children is disgusting, perhaps the most reprehensible act to the sensibilities. It is even more distasteful and destructive when the perpetrators are stewards of faith because the effect is to cripple a child's trust not only in people but also in faith. Some real intelligence and not merely group-dogmatic-think must be brought to bear to make sure the Church continues to have relevance in the 21st Century. It is crucial because the lessons, the passion, the spirit, and righteousness it provides in peoples lives will not lose their importance. Introspection, though, growth and re-orientation are just as important to institutions as they are to personal growth.