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Homosexuals Not Permitted in Any Seminaries, Reaffirms Vatican

Catholic columnist warned "Many, many, heterosexual men…will not enter the seminaries if they think that the bishops are going to allow homosexual men"

By Michael Baggot

ROME, Italy, May 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an effort to end continued confusion, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone released a letter to the world's Catholic Bishops yesterday clearly stating that the Church's norms prohibiting individuals with homosexual tendencies from admission to seminaries apply universally.

In November 2005, the Congregation for Catholic Education released the "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocation with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders."

The Instruction forbade admission to seminary to "those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'."

"Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies."

The 2005 document also insisted that transitory homosexual tendencies needed to be overcome at least three years prior to ordination to the diaconate.
 
While some interpreted the Instruction referred to only certain diocesan seminaries, Cardinal Bertone's letter made clear that the Instruction applies to all seminaries.

Bertone wrote that the norms apply "for all houses of formation for the priesthood, including those under the Dicasteries for Eastern Churches, for the Evangelization of Peoples, and for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life."

Catholic columnist Barbara Kralis, who was recently pivotal in the resignation of a Dallas priest formerly involved in a gay porn website, has repeatedly emphasized the dangers of admitting individuals with homosexual inclinations since the 2005 Instruction's release.

"Many, many, heterosexual men with vocations to the Diaconate and the Priesthood are listening. They will not enter the seminaries if they think that the bishops are going to allow homosexual men into the seminary," she wrote in a November 2005 RenewAmerica.com column.

"How many authentic vocations were will be lost by the bishops in the United States because of their silence? They will only find this out in eternity."

Kralis also warned against subjecting individuals with homosexual tendencies to the near occasion to sin.

"He should never be allowed to continue to live in a seminary in close quarters with men. This will only fan the flames of an unnatural spark," wrote Kralis of individuals with homosexual inclinations.

Kralis has also noted the connection between the priestly sex abuse crisis and the prevalence of homosexuality among the Catholic clergy.

"The John Jay College has also released their survey, requested by the USCCB's National Review Board, on the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, revealing that 4% of all Catholic priests have, for the past 52 years, been accused of abusing children," wrote Kralis in a February 2004 RenewAmerica.com column.

"The study further states that 80-90% of these priests had sodomy or perverted sex with adolescent boys (ephebophilia), not prepubescent boys (pedophilia)."

"Penn State Professor of History and Religion, Phil Jenkins, a non-Catholic and non-lover of Catholicism, states in his book 'Pedophiles and Priests' that it is less than 2% of Catholic priests who are pedophiles. The real problem is consensual sex between priests with other priests or adult males."

The actively homosexual Los Angels talk show host Al Rantel admitted in a June 2002 CNN interview (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0206/14/tl.00.html) that homosexuality among priests was a major contributor to the Church's sex abuse crisis.

"This is not a pedophile issue, although the media called it a pedophile issue, because they don't want to insult the gay community. They don't want to be politically incorrect."

"But what you have here are not pedophiles. You have predatory gay men -- and there are some of us, believe me, I don't happen to be one of them, but there are some and we should all admit they're there. And these predatory gay men found their way into the Catholic priesthood in inordinately large numbers…," said Rantel.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Church Abuse Crisis- Notable Articles, Documents & Quotes
http://www.lifesitenews.com/features/churchscandals/notablearticles.htm

Read the 2005 Instruction:
http://www.zenit.org/article-14693?l=english

Learn more about the connection between homosexuality and the sex abuse crisis:
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/kralis/040227
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0211fea2.asp

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