More on Gays in the Priesthood

For an excellent statement on the Church’s position on gays in the priesthood, see Father Gerard Thomas, A Source of Scandal, http://www.beliefnet.com/story/179/story_17969_1.html#cont. Among other things, he says: “[T]he document statement that gay men per se are incapable of relating to men and women is one of the most offensive things I have ever read in any church document about homosexuals. It says to gay men--and by extension, celibate gay priests who have long been in ministry--that they are simply unable to relate to their fellow human beings. After years of dedicated service--after hearing confessions, baptizing infants, preparing people for marriage, sitting by the beds of the sick and dying, and counseling people in trouble--the gay priest is told he doesn't understand people and cannot relate to them. The recent Instruction is breathtaking in its lack of understanding of the lived experience of celibate gay priests and of gay men and women. It is, to use some official church terminology, a cause for "scandal," something that will cause people to lose heart in the church. And sometime in the future the Catholic [C]hurch will find itself having to apologize for speaking so callously about an entire group of people. Where, in the end, is the message of Jesus in this document? Where is his message of inclusion and encouragement and love? It is nowhere.”