Unrest over Pope Benedics' Gay Resolution

Catholic Church's policy on gays isn't enlightened
By Joan GarryWed Nov 30, 6:50 AM ET
USA Today

I was raised Catholic. I never sat in a classroom without a crucifix on the wall. Catholic grammar school, Catholic high school and Catholic college. I sang Kumbaya while playing my guitar at Folk Mass.

I sang at my dad's funeral, too, with his barbershop chorus. The song was Be Not Afraid. For one person in the church that dark day, the song was filled with irony. The priest who said the Mass was under scrutiny for sexual abuse allegations. Not long after the funeral, he was gone.

There is no question that Pope Benedict XVI has a big mess on his hands. People are calling it a sex abuse scandal, but let's be honest - it's about abuse of power.

And now we also have an element of emotional abuse as seminarians all across the USA assess Tuesday's final mandate from the pope. When will they knock on my door? What will they ask? What will I say?

Two months ago, it was widely reported that the Vatican would investigate all 229 U.S. seminaries for "evidence of homosexuality."

On Tuesday, the Vatican announced that it intends to bar from the seminary men who "support the so-called gay culture" or have "deeply rooted gay tendencies." While I don't find this entire mess amusing, I did chuckle at that one. Supporting gay culture?

The problem, as I see it, has little to do with homosexuality and a lot to do with how candidates for seminary are interviewed and selected. A book published earlier this year, Educating Leaders for Ministry, unearths a study that estimates only 10% of seminarians are highly qualified for the educational component of their work and nearly 40% are hindered by poor education, learning disabilities or lack of familiarity with American culture.

Instead of gauging public opinion, and spinning language for the announcement, why doesn't the pope analyze the interview process? If the Church insists on clinging to the celibacy vow, make it meaningful. Make sure that applicants have authentic leadership skills. Ensure that this is indeed a calling for every one of them. Make sure they understand that with power comes responsibility.

And then, after the pope fixes that process, he can focus on creating a clear, transparent and uniform set of rules that holds each of them (gay or straight, priest or bishop) accountable.

Now here's a confession. I'm not a practicing Roman Catholic, so maybe I'm a bit jaded. But my 78-year-old mom is a practicing Catholic. She heads off to daily Mass. I thought she might have a different point of view. She didn't.

"We all knew a lot of priests we figured were gay," my mom told me. "If they did a good job, so what?"

She went on: "Decisions like this make the Church look worse and worse. The whole thing gives me the willies."

I hadn't heard that expression in a long time, but it felt just right.

The pope is filling my mom and millions of others with fear about the future of her Church. Not to mention the fear that must be palpable in each of those 229 seminaries as they await the "verdict."

The last line of that beautiful song I sang at my dad's funeral is "and I will give you rest."

With his new document, the pope mistakenly thinks he is putting this issue to rest. He isn't. Rather, he is choosing to foster fear and unrest.

Some gay priests (who would be exempt from the witch hunt) are already discussing moves in that direction - "outing" themselves through pulpit boycotts - to illustrate that gay priests, like gay people, are everywhere. Let's hope they find their voices and preclude the Church from making a choice that doesn't feel very Christian.

Otherwise, as they say on Survivor, the tribe will have spoken. One by one, the flames of generous and spiritual men prepared to take a vow of celibacy will be extinguished, and they will be voted off the island of Roman Catholicism. And the institution, not those men, will be left in the dark.

Joan Garry is a civil rights advocate, freelance writer and former executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

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