The Vatican issued a statement that homosexuals and those with homosexual tendencies should be barred from Holy Orders, and now there is a huff about it.
It seemed like an ordinary thing for the Catholic Church to do; it has long been opposed to the practice of homosexuality, but no, the Church is taking a big hit for this proclamation.
The issue at stake is whether the Catholic Church feels that men who are homosexuals or have strong homosexual tendencies; these tendencies refer, I would assume, to the practice of sodomy, and not to a keen fashion sense.
The Catholic Church has every right to say who is and who is not representing their church.
Many who support homosexual priesthood will bring up the theory that homosexuality is not a choice but an innate genetic trait, like eye color. In this regard, the Catholic Church is discriminating against otherwise wonderful, faithful followers of Catholic teaching.
Under the same argument, blind people should be allowed to fly planes – just because they were born without sight should not prohibit them, otherwise well qualified, to pursue a field in which they wish. Likewise, a homosexual could easily preach against the practice of homosexuality while a priest. Right?
Continue to bash, critics.
What many, like Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman wrote, that this is “obvious scapegoating of gays for the church sexual abuse scandal,” is baseless. George Weigel, a longtime Catholic apologist and theologian, notes in the “Courage to Be Catholic” that the pedophilic scandals that rocked the Church a few years ago were not caused by homosexual priests but by pedophilic priests.
But bash on, critics.
Gay activist Matt Foreman said, “doesn’t matter what you do or believe or practice. If you are gay, there is no making that better in the eyes of the church.” Of course I will get harassed for comparing homosexuality to rape, but does being a reformed rapist make you no longer a rapist?
Should rapists be allowed to work with young women or young men? This is not to say that, theoretically, homosexual priests would commit homosexual acts on innocent boys or men, but it does illustrate the Catholic Church does not want someone living contrary to its own teaching to teach within its churches.
But bash on critics.
Furthermore, from those who most probably would not step a foot into a Catholic Church but to criticize it later, is the rising tide of public opinion. The civilized world has, after all, become much more tolerant of homosexuality and homosexuals. We’re all equal-opportunity employers, we watch “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and enjoy talking to our gay uncle Chris Rock told us about.
It can be said homosexuals are enjoying more rights and freedoms than ever before, and more and more of us are fine with that. Homosexuals, indeed, are by their nature no more evil than any other group of people.
This does not mean the Catholic Church must allow homosexuals to be priests.
The Vatican protocol is not a blanket ban on those with homosexual inclinations, simply those who continue to act against what are bedrock and long-standing church teachings.
It would be the same if a priest were to engage in flagrant heterosexual relationships or act in any way inconsistent with church doctrine.
The church is not calling for the perfection of man on earth. It is simply calling for its servants to reflect its universal teachings, teachings which have gone ignored for far too long.