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 Holy Orders explained

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 Holy Orders is a document published in November 2005 by the Congregation for Catholic Education, one of the top-level offices of the Catholic Church.

This document denies priestly ordination to men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".

While the preparation for this document had started ten years before its publication, this instruction was seen by many critics as a response by the Catholic Church to the clerical sexual abuse crisis. Some critics accused this document of implicitly linking homosexuality to the sexual abuse of children.

Commentary and implications

The 1961 papal instruction Careful Selection And Training Of Candidates For The States Of Perfection And Sacred Orders (Religiosorum institutio)[1] stated that "Advantage to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers." Bishops had discretion in allowing the further instruction of offending but penitent seminarians, and held homosexuals to the same standards of celibate chastity as heterosexual seminarians. There is no new moral teaching in the 2005 instruction: the instruction proposed by the document is rather towards enhancing vigilance in barring homosexuals from seminaries, and from the priesthood.

While the preparation for this document had started 10 years before its publication, this instruction is seen as an official answer by the Catholic Church to several sex scandals involving priests in the late 20th/early 21st century, including the American Roman Catholic sex abuse cases and a 2004 sex scandal in a seminary at St. Pölten (Austria).[2] [3] The document restricts discussion to homosexual candidates: as the vast majority of abuse victims were teenage boys, there is no specific instruction regarding nonchaste heterosexual candidates (the John Jay Report for instance, found that 81% of the victims of abuse in the United States were males, who were sexually abused by male priests).

Two months before his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II, troubled by the sex scandals in the US, Austria and Ireland, had written to the Congregation for Catholic Education: "Right from the moment young men enter a Seminary their ability to live a life of celibacy should be monitored so that before their ordination one should be morally certain of their sexual and emotional maturity."

Reactions to the document

The document has attracted criticism based on an interpretation that the document implies that homosexuality is associated with pedophilia and the abuse of children.[4]

It has also been asserted that, although the preparation for this document had started ten years before its publication,[5] this instruction is seen as an official answer by the Catholic Church to clerical sexual abuse cases, which were causing a crisis in the Church.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

There were some questions on how distinctions between deep-seated and transient homosexuality, as proposed by the document, will be applied in practice: the actual distinction that is made might be between those who abuse, and those who don't.[16]

The Belgian college of Bishops elaborated that the sexual restrictions for seminary and priesthood candidates apply likewise for men of all sexual orientations.[17] Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has been quoted as saying that the Vatican's directive was not tout court a "no-gays" policy.[18]

In response to "numerous requests for clarification received by the Holy See", Pope Benedict XVI reiterated in 2008 that the Instruction applied to "all houses of formation for the priesthood".[19] [20]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Careful Selection And Training Of Candidates For The States Of Perfection And Sacred Orders . Valeri, Valerio . Sacred Congregation For Religious, The Holy See. February 2, 1961.
  2. Web site: World Briefing: Europe: Austria: Seminary Sex Scandal . July 13, 2004 . The New York Times . April 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210224233312/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/13/world/world-briefing-europe-austria-seminary-sex-scandal.html . February 24, 2021.
  3. Web site: World Briefing: Europe: Austria: Conviction In Seminary Sex Scandal . August 14, 2004 . Horowitz . Jason . April 29, 2021 . The New York Times . https://web.archive.org/web/20180824034157/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/14/world/world-briefing-europe-austria-conviction-in-seminary-sex-scandal.html . August 24, 2018.
  4. Web site: Statement From The Board Of Directors and Staff of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries . November 29, 2005 . April 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090325154015/http://www.nacdlgm.org/pr112905.pdf . March 25, 2009.
  5. "Web site: Nothing Extraordinary? . Inside the Vatican . April 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120320162135/http://www.insidethevatican.com/newsflash/2005/newsflash-dec20-05.htm . March 20, 2012.
  6. News: Vatican Issues New Psychological Screening to Weed Out Pedophiles . 17 July 2012 . Associated Press/Fox news . October 30, 2008.
  7. News: Future priests should undergo psychological screening: Vatican . 17 July 2012 . CBC News . October 30, 2008.
  8. News: Hunt . Mary E. . American Catholics: Time for a Stonewall Moment . 17 July 2012 . Seattle Gay News, Volume 33, Issue 49 . December 9, 2005 . this document, while purporting to 'clarify' church teaching or 'purify' the priesthood, is really nothing more than an effort to link the criminal activity of pedophile priests with homosexuality, and to distract from the reprehensible behavior of bishops who covered up their misconduct. Mary E. Hunt is a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force National Religious Leadership Roundtable and co-director of the Women's Alliance for Theology Ethics and Ritual (WATER) . 26 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140226141257/http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews49/page16.cfm . dead .
  9. News: Vatican Sex Sting: An after-hours office meeting between a young man and a top Roman Catholic official has prompted a fresh inquiry into gay priests. What the investigation could mean for the Holy See . 17 July 2012 . Newsweek . October 17, 2007.
  10. News: Vatican approves gay tests for priests . The Australian . October 31, 2008 . Pedophile priest scandals that have hit the Catholic Church in recent years were not the “primary cause” behind the document, [... ] the Congregation's secretary, Monsignor Jean-Louis Brugues, told a news conference. But they helped “accelerate” the process and were “certainly a determining factor,” he said..
  11. News: Owen . Richard . Pope Calls for Continuous Prayer to Rid Priesthood of Paedophilia . 17 July 2012 . The Times . January 7, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110629142115/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3142511.ece . June 29, 2011 . Officials said that the prayers were in addition to support for legal action against paedophile priests by their victims and a code adopted two years ago by the Vatican to try to ensure that men “with deep-seated homosexual tendencies” do not enter seminaries to train for the priesthood..
  12. News: Holusha . John . Pope says church is reviewing sexuality of would-be priests . 17 July 2012 . The New York Times . April 15, 2008.
  13. News: Witkowski . D'Anne . Suffer little children: New documentary exposes pedophilia in Catholic Church (Film review of Deliver Us from Evil) . 17 July 2012 . Pride Source . November 2, 2006 . in the wake of the clergy abuse scandals, the Vatican issued instructions to weed out priests with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies..
  14. News: Gueco . Luverne B. . Vatican to Bar Gays, and Even Those with Gay Thoughts, From Priesthood . 17 July 2012 . Philippine Daily Inquirer . September 24, 2005 . A10 . The text reflects the view among some Catholics - but disputed by others - that the presence of gay clergy in the Church's ranks was to blame for the string of child abuse scandals..
  15. News: Horowitz . Jason . World Briefing: Europe: Austria: Conviction In Seminary Sex Scandal . The New York Times . 17 July 2012 . August 14, 2004.
  16. Web site: Distinctly Without Prejudice . The Guardian . November 30, 2005 . April 29, 2021.
  17. Web site: November 29, 2005 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070311023453/http://www.catho.be/single.aspx?id=1127&lng=fr . March 11, 2007 . Website of the Catholic Church in Belgium . "A propos de la recente instruction concernant l'admission de candidats à la prêtrise"  - Regarding the recent instruction concerning the admission of candidates for priesthood . fr.
  18. News: 2009-02-23 . . Archbishop Timothy Dolan headed to New York . Allen . John L. . John L. Allen Jr. .
  19. News: Rescriptum ex Audentia . April 8, 2008 . Bertone, Tarcisio . L'Osservatore Romano.
  20. News: Vatican says prohibition against gays in seminaries is universal . Catholic News Service . May 19, 2008 .

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