The Priestly Purgatory

Leaders of the Catholic Church -- i.e. The Vatican -- say gay (or possibly gay) people who want to be priests have to go three years without any homosexual urges to enter the clergy. Tying itself into knots as only the Catholic Church can, "the document from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education says the church deeply respects homosexuals ...

But it also says it "cannot admit to the seminary and the sacred orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support so-called gay culture."

"Those people find themselves, in fact, in a situation that presents a grave obstacle to a correct relationship with men and women. One cannot ignore the negative consequences that can stem from the ordination of people with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies," it said.

"If instead it is a case of homosexual tendencies that are merely the expression of a transitory problem, for example as in the case of an unfinished adolescence, they must however have been clearly overcome for at least three years before ordination as a deacon."

Negative consequences, eh? What the Catholic leadership means is years and years and years of child sexual abuse inflicted by priests -- which this very same leadership not only overlooked but covered up.

Now they ride to the rescue and, for all intents and purposes, will force any gay man who wishes to be a priest to hide who he is. Yeah, why bother addressing the real issue of how so many pedophiles were allowed to rape and abuse thousands of children and only be sent for an extended prayer vacation (or simply moved to another parish)?

Because, you know, gay men can't possibly be good priests. Like this guy.