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 | To many conservative Christians, homosexuality is interpreted in terms of behavior. A homosexual is a person who engages in same-sex behavior. |
| To most others, including religious liberals, gays, lesbians, human sexuality researchers, and mental health therapists, homosexuality is interpreted in terms of sexual orientation. The term refers to a person who is attracted to persons of the same gender. A homosexual may choose to be celibate, or may be sexually active. |
What percentage of seminary students have a homosexual orientation?
As noted in an essay on priests with a homosexual orientation in the Roman Catholic priesthood, estimates range from "perhaps more than 10%" to 58%. It is generally recognized that a larger percentage of seminary students than priests have a homosexual orientation. However, nobody knows with any degree of accuracy.
Men with a homosexual orientation might be attracted to the Roman Catholic priesthood for a variety of reasons:
| Most probably feel deeply that they have a definite calling by God to become priests. |
| Some may be attracted by the "caring and nurturing nature of the priesthood, which is part of the nature of ministry." 2 |
| The current bar against marriage for priests has no inhibiting influence, as it does among potential priests with a heterosexual orientation. |
| Priests are generally respected by the public. Being ordained gives homosexuals instant relief from the persecution that they had experienced as laity. |
| The priesthood gives them protection from homophobia and the potential of physical assault. Much of the public assumes that many middle-aged and older men who have never been married are gay. Thus, the priesthood becomes a safe place to hide their sexual orientation. |
| The Roman Catholic priesthood may be attractive to persons with a homosexual orientation because, at this time, is an all-male institution. They would feel comfortable there. |
| Some seminary students might be attracted by the homosexual sub-culture of most seminaries -- a culture that is probably not present in schools that train for other professions. |
| It is possible that some predatory candidates for the priesthood might seek ordination because it would give them a position of power over the laity and give them access to many children. |
At this time, the Roman Catholic Church does not normally exclude male candidates for seminary because they have a homosexual orientation. The one exception is believed to be St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. 3 At least one seminary, University of St. Mary of the Lake, IL, a.k.a. Mundelein Seminary, accepts students with a homosexual orientation, but not those who admit to frequenting gay bars. 4 However, while in seminary and after ordination, all students are expected to remain celibate.
With the church's current requirement of priestly chastity, seminaries are having difficulty recruiting heterosexuals to the priesthood.
| Father Donald Cozzens wrote that several studies have concluded that about 50% of priests and seminarians are gay. 5 |
| David France of Newsweek, referring to St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, CA, wrote: "Depending on whom you ask, gay and bisexual men make up anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent of the student body at the college and graduate levels." 3 |
| Rt. Rev. Helmut Hefner, rector of St. Johns Seminary "accepts that his gay enrollment may be as high as 50 percent." 3 |
| Gay journalist Rex Wockner commented: "When I was in the Catholic seminary in my early 20s (St. Meinrad College, St. Meinrad, Ind., 1982-1983; University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Ill., 1983-1984), at least 50 percent of the students were gay....At St. Mary of the Lake, the straight students felt like a minority and felt excluded from some aspects of campus life to such an extent that the administration staged a seminar at which we discussed the problem of the straight students feeling left out of things..." 6 |
| Author and sociologist James G. Wolfe estimated that 55.1% of seminarians were gay. 7 |
| Bishop Jerome Listecki is an auxiliary bishop of Chicago, rejects some estimates that as many as 50% of seminarians have a homosexual orientation. 3 |
It would seem that about 50% of present-day seminary students may have a homosexual orientation.
Does the gay sub-culture in seminaries affect heterosexual seminarians?
Many priests and theologians have commented about the gay sub-cultures in Catholic seminaries:
| An anonymous priest from the Boston area commented in an interview with Joe Fitzgerald of the Boston Herald: "there's a subculture of gay priests and everyone knows it. I went through seminary with a lot of them and got hit on. And when I reported it, I was harassed to a point where, emotionally, it was very difficult to get ordained. I'm not the only one who had to fight to get through it; I know guys who left because of it. It was clear there was a cabal tacitly saying, 'Don't bother reporting this stuff.' You wouldn't believe the self-justifications, like, 'Well, celibacy only applies to not getting married, so since we're not getting married we can do whatever we want.' It was horrible, with a lot of intimidation, but I stayed because I felt this was what God was calling me to do; besides, if I'd walked, they'd have won." 8 |
| Father McBrien, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame, commented that some seminary students "...who feel they have a genuine vocation for priesthood go into a seminary and feel very alienated by the gay culture. I don't say this in any homophobic sense. It's just the reality." 2 |
| Pope John Paul II held a meeting with the American cardinals which dealt with the clerical sex scandals. Afterward, Bishop Wilton Gregory, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said: "One of the difficulties we do face in seminary life or recruitment is made possible when there does exist a homosexual atmosphere or dynamic that makes heterosexual men think twice [about entering.] It is an ongoing struggle to make sure the Catholic priesthood is not dominated by homosexual men." 9 |
| R. Scott Appleby, a history professor at Notre Dame, said: "People I know quite well have left the seminary either in disgust because people are not keeping vows, or in alienation because they’re not gay. In some cases it’s a serious problem." 3 |
| The Most Rev. Wilton Gregory said: "[T]here does exist a homosexual atmosphere or dynamic that makes heterosexual men think twice." 3 |
| The Rev. Charles Bouchard, president of the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis said: "I think straight priests and seminarians shouldn’t be whining. I just don’t think it’s a big deal." 3 |
| Father Donald Cozzens wrote: "What impact does the gay subcultrue have on the straight priest and seminarian?....straight men in a predominantly or significantly gay environment commonly experience chronic destabilization, a common symptom of which is self doubt...Their psychic confusion, understandably, has significant implications for both their spiritual vitality and emotional balance." 10 |
| Timothy Radcliffe, Master of the Order of Preachers, commented on the emergence of a homosexual sub-culture within a seminary or religious order: "It can threaten the unity of the community; it can make it harder for the brethren to practice the chastity which we have vowed. It can put pressure on brethren to think of themselves in a way that is not central to their vocation as preachers of the Kingdom..." 11 |
Associated essay:
| Exclusion of homosexuals from Catholic seminaries |
| Roman Catholic priests with a homosexual orientation. |
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "Careful Selection And Training Of Candidates For The States Of Perfection And Sacred Orders: (S. C. Rel., 2 Feb., 1961)." Online at: http://www.rcf.org/
- "Gay Priests," Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, 2002-MAY-10, at: http://www.pbs.org/
- David France, "Gays and the Seminary," MSNBC, 2002-MAY-20, at: http://www.msnbc.com/
- "Catholic Seminary Admissions Tighten in Scandal," The Data Lounge, 2002-MAR-27, at: http://www.datalounge.com/
- "Vatican threatens gay purge of priesthood," The Data Lounge, 2002-MAR-6, at: http://www.datalounge.com/
- Rex Wockner, "The end of Catholicism in America," PlanetOut, at: http://www.planetout.com/
- James G. Wolf, "Gay Priests," Harper and Row, 1989, Pages 59-60. Cited in Father Donald Cozzens, "The Changing Face of the Priesthood: A reflection on the priest's crisis of soul," Liturgical Press, (2000), Page 99.
- Joe Fitzgerald, "Priest fears gays in ranks pose threat to Church," Boston Herald, 2002-MAR-6, at: http://www2.bostonherald.com/
- Melinda Henneberger, "Pope delivers apology to victims of sex abuse," New York Times, 2002-APR-24, at: http://www.starnews.com/
- Op Cit, Father Donald Cozzens, Page 101.
- Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., "The Promise of Life," International Dominican Information, # 361, 1998-APR, special number, A Letter to the Order, Page 96.
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Copyright © 2002 to 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2002-MAY-14
Latest update: 2005-NOV-23
Author: B.A. Robinson
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