Ordaining Gay Men

[Didymus]

I've heard that the Church does not allow gays to be ordained. Is this true, and why?

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Didymus' post='1850177' date='Apr 27 2009, 01:47 PM']I've heard that the Church does not allow gays to be ordained. Is this true, and why?[/quote]

Yes it is true. Although the clergy abuse scandal didn't really involve gay individuals exclusively, it did force the Church to look at the formation of clergy. Eventually in 2005, the Vatican issued a document called, "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations With Regard to Persons With Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and to Sacred Orders." Basically, the church has instructed that it can't ordain men who are active homosexuals, who have "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies or who support the "gay culture." Men who have overcome "transitory" homosexual tendencies can still be ordained if they have been clear of the tendencies for at least 3 years, and they are primarily talking about adolescent stuff.

Homosexual men who have already been ordained can remain, but are not to serve as rectors or teachers in seminaries. The document states that homosexuality is a bar to a priest's "affective maturity" and seriously impairs his ability to minister pastorally within the Catholic community. Here's a link to the Document itself. [url="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20051104_istruzione_en.html"]Vatican Document[/url]

Canon # 1029 says "Only those are to be promoted to orders who, in the prudent judgment of the proper Bishop or the competent major Superior, all things considered, have sound faith, are motivated by the right intention, are endowed with the requisite knowledge, enjoy a good reputation, and have moral probity, proven virtue and the other physical and psychological qualities appropriate to the order to be received." The priesthood is a difficult, sometimes lonely life, and we basically need to call men who are strong enough to endure it. Having SSA is such a heavy cross to put on the shoulders of men already shouldering a heavy load.