The Catholic Church has further clarified its view that gay men are unwelcome in the priesthood.
On Tuesday, The Vatican officially released an already widely leaked church document that said practicing homosexuals, those who support gay culture and those with “deep-seated gay tendencies,” should not be allowed in the priesthood. And some Catholic students agree the Vatican’s actions are justified in light of the sex-abuse scandals that have caused much controversy for the church.
“There’s a problem with priests molesting little boys, which is homosexual behavior,” said Mary Reynolds, history major who is Catholic. “I don’t think homosexuality makes a person bad, but you can’t have those running the organization acting contrary to the beliefs of the organization.”
Another Catholic student, history junior Joshua Miller said he thinks the Vatican’s released document is a “precautionary pre-emptive measure” for the possibility of homosexual church leadership in the future.
The document is the first major policy statement of Pope Benedict XVI’s seven-month papacy, according to the Associated Press.
“If [Pope Benedict] felt it was necessary, then it was definitely something he should have done,” Miller said. “Homosexuals should not be allowed in the priesthood because they’d be preaching against themselves or they would have to disregard certain aspects of the religion.”
But some Catholic students agree the Vatican’s actions may have been too strong.
“I don’t feel like [the Vatican] necessarily had to take that measure, but I understand why they did it,” said Wallace Le Ban, general studies senior. “They don’t want the negative publicity of the priests with the little boys.”
At the height of the clergy sex scandals in the United States, the Vatican announced in November 2002 that the Congregation for Catholic Education was working on such a document.
Religious studies professor Rodger Payne said there is really nothing new in the document regarding the church’s perspective on homosexuals in the priesthood.
“Pedophilia is not necessarily a part of homosexuality,” Payne said. “This is a way of responding that will keep the conservative mood of the church at the moment.”
He said the Vatican has always regarded homosexuality as immoral to a certain extent.
“But the Church didn’t want to come down too strongly on the issue,” Payne said. “So they’re being very careful in defining what’s acceptable and what’s not.”
The Rev. Than Vu, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Center on campus, said he has not yet read the document. But he said he does not rule out the possibility that there is a connection between the document’s publication and the sex-abuse scandals.
“There is a notion that a lot of the pedophilia cases were attributed to homosexuality, and I’m not sure if that’s correct,” Vu said. “Pedophilia is pedophilia. It’s not the same as homosexuality.”
Vu said the unspoken rule of the Church is that homosexuality is an objective disorder and not necessarily the fault of the person.
“I think there are homosexual priests,” Vu said.
He said it is uncertain whether the Vatican’s clarified policy will reduce the already declining number of priests in the United States.
Sandy Robertson, elementary education junior who is Catholic, said she appreciates the Church’s long-term consistent belief now made public.
But she admits to being a so-called “buffet” or “cafeteria” Catholic in that her personal beliefs do not always follow other Catholics.
“They’re trying to fit a gray issue into their dogma, but it’s difficult,” Robertson said.
She said a priest’s homosexuality should not be an issue because priests are called to be celibate anyway.
“The most Christian thing you can do is not judge anyone,” Robertson said. “And many people get that wrong.”