Under pressure from the Vatican to deny the existence of homosexuality and to expel same-sex-attracted aspirants, Catholic seminaries are now telling the Vatican what it wants to hear: that “difficulties” regarding seminarian “homosexual behavior” (whatever that is) have been “largely overcome.”
Meanwhile, the prevalence of sexual abuse among priests remains poorly surveyed, as the Vatican falsely believes that the expulsion of gay celibate seminarians and the suppression of gay celibate priests will somehow rid them of priests and seminarians who are attracted not to men or women, but to kids.
The report by the Vatican’ Congregation for Catholic Education implies that more should still be done to police seminarians’ thoughts and routine daily behaviors, according to the National Catholic Reporter:
“Laxity of discipline,” unmonitored off-campus trips and use of the Internet were additional concerns, according to the report.
Instead of looking for evidence of sexual abuse, the Vatican advises seminaries to look for “evidence of homosexuality” — whatever that is.
Advocates for clergy and for the victims of sexual abuse criticized the report:
Marianne Duddy-Burke, who heads DignityUSA, a pro-gay Catholic group, said the Catholic Church has “reinforced a climate of secrecy” in the seminaries that existed in the 1940s and 1950s.
“It’ not that gays aren’t going into seminaries,” she said, “it’ that closeted gays are going into seminaries.”
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said “the central problem is, and always has been, chancery offices, not seminaries.”
“Arguing that some Vatican “probe’ of seminaries is needed is just more of their finger-pointing and blame-shifting,” said SNAP President Barbara Blaine.
