Can homosexual men become priests?

Debora123 · #1 Feb 19, '12, 1:24 pm

Can a gay man who lives a chaste life style become a priest? And if not, why?

Thanks for the answers.

Bl Pope Pius IX · #2 Feb 19, '12, 2:00 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debora123

Can a gay man who lives a chaste life style become a priest? And if not, why?

Thanks for the answers.

This must be handled delicately. A 2005 directive stated that those with homosexual tendencies must conquer said tendencies within three years of thei ordination to the Diaconate. I suppose it would be up to the local Bishop in order to accept a chaste homosexual into the Priesthood.

This may be of some help.

~ Pius

LoyalViews · #3 Feb 19, '12, 2:46 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bl Pope Pius IX

This must be handled delicately. A 2005 directive stated that those with homosexual tendencies must conquer said tendencies within three years of thei ordination to the Diaconate. I suppose it would be up to the local Bishop in order to accept a chaste homosexual into the Priesthood.

This may be of some help.

~ Pius

Indeed. A man with SSA can become a priest, however, it should be mentioned that having SSA does not automatically qualify one for Priesthood, just because men with SSA have an obligation to live chastely, anyway. (This post wasn't suggesting it, I just had to add

)

I think if a man wants to be a Priest, but can not conquer the homosexual tendencies in due time, it may signify that a man has so calling. I'll let someone else elaborate, as I am no good at it.

followingtheway · #4 Feb 19, '12, 2:50 pm

I'm not gay or a gay rights supporter but they ought to. I mean they're not having sex so, they should.

And to anybody and I mean anybody who brings up "the scandal".

Those priests aren't homosexuals, they're pedophiles.
And before you say "no, they're ephebophiles". That's still not homosexuality. Just like if you're a grown man who has sex with a 14 year old girl, you're not an everyday heterosexual, that's ephebophilia.
There are more heterosexual pedophiles than homosexual ones.

Sorry Debora, I had to clear up that because I know a lot of people who are going to bring these arguments up.

coachkfan1 · #5 Feb 19, '12, 3:55 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by followingtheway

I'm not gay or a gay rights supporter but they ought to. I mean they're not having sex so, they should.

And to anybody and I mean anybody who brings up "the scandal".

Those priests aren't homosexuals, they're pedophiles.
And before you say "no, they're ephebophiles". That's still not homosexuality. Just like if you're a grown man who has sex with a 14 year old girl, you're not an everyday heterosexual, that's ephebophilia.
There are more heterosexual pedophiles than homosexual ones.

Sorry Debora, I had to clear up that because I know a lot of people who are going to bring these arguments up.

If by "those priests" you mean those who were convicted of molesting children, the vast majority of those men were homosexual AND pedophiles.

**Shoshana** · #6 Feb 19, '12, 5:20 pm

The guilty priesty priests are NOT considered pedophiles if the victim is pubescent....

followingtheway · #7 Feb 19, '12, 6:18 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoshana

The guilty priesty priests are NOT considered pedophiles if the victim is pubescent....

But they're not considered homosexuals if those victims are not adults.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachkfan1

the vast majority of those men were homosexual AND pedophiles.

Not every single homosexual who comes into the clergy will rape children.

NewEnglandPriest · #8 Feb 19, '12, 8:48 pm

The topic isn't about sexual predators, its a general question about chaste homosexuals. And, yes, it is possible for them to become ordained. Such individuals should find a good spiritual director they can trust.

LoyalViews · #9 Feb 20, '12, 12:29 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewEnglandPries

The topic isn't about sexual predators, its a general question about chaste homosexuals. And, yes, it is possible for them to become ordained. Such individuals should find a good spiritual director they can trust.

There are many threads about child predators, let's just have ONE that's not!

Ohana · #10 Feb 20, '12, 4:38 pm

Indeed, I agree that we need a thread like this that does not turn into a witch hunt for predators.

In fact, a male with SSA could well become a fine priest. Gay friends I have had have said that their orientation has allowed them to love more completely, and they were not talking about the sexual expression of loving. Rather they were talking about having kind of a dual nature - a more developed masculine and feminine principle- that helped them relate to people. This would seem to be an excellent basis for pastoral care.

The men I have been close to have been in the helping professions, and while not celibate, that could be another choice and vocation.

Then again, I am a hetero woman so what do I know. The older I get, the less I know about men - strange creatures.

followingtheway · #11 Feb 20, '12, 4:52 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohana

The older I get, the less I know about men - strange creatures.

I can go on and on about women lol

Ohana · #12 Feb 22, '12, 4:37 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by followingtheway

I can go on and on about women lol

Well I bet that is right. Even Freud asked plaintively, "what do women want?" For us that is an easy peasy question, that unfortunately, we do not seen to communicate well to our brothers because we don't speak their language

VeritasLuxMea · #13 Feb 22, '12, 6:42 pm

Frankly, I can't understand what the fact that a man might have SSA has to do with the Priesthood at all.

First of all, there's no sin in having SSA.

And if a Priest (or anyone for that matter) were to have homosexual relations with someone of the same gender, is that really any more sinful than a straight Priest having heterosexual relations with someone of the opposite gender outside of marriage???

It's almost as if people think that non-SSA Priests have no sexual attraction at all. That's ridiculous. Of course they do. (Well, the vast majority do, anyway!)

AJB328 · #14 Feb 23, '12, 7:36 am

I have a friend who is gay and when he came out to his mother she called the priest who, during that conversation came out to her. He was/ is a great and devout priest. Another great priest you can google on the subject is Father Mychal Judge, he was the first victim of the 9/11 attacks.

That same friend who is gay gave serious thought to becoming a priest before he told his mother and father. His reasoning (besides being very devout )was that no one would ask why he never had a girlfriend, and he could some how save his soul as he believed the orientation he was born with was a sin. I can't help but wonder how many others feel this way.

As for straight priests, they have the same struggles with being celibate. When my mother was growing up it was well known that one of the priests in her parish had a girlfriend who lived in my mother's building.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...6#.T0ZY1Zi1nzI

Alberto Cutie is another priest famous for leaving because he fell in love. I believe he became Anglican.

Celibacy in the priesthood is something I've never understood. The apostles weren't celibate, nor was the church for the first thousand years. My sister in law is Greek and she was telling me her priest's father was a priest, his father was a priest, and so on. It must be kind of nice to have whole families dedicated to the clergy and there certainly wouldn't be a shortage.

plinko · #15 Feb 23, '12, 12:55 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeritasLuxMea

It's almost as if people think that non-SSA Priests have no sexual attraction at all. That's ridiculous. Of course they do. (Well, the vast majority do, anyway!)

THIS.

People equate SSA with hypersexuality, as if a gay person is attracted to every person of the same gender. But I see a lot of heterosexual threads on this site about problems with masturbation, so it seems to me that adult thoughts in general are ubiquitous regardless of sexual orientation. A gay priest understands chastity just as much as a straight one.