Angry in the Great White North

Reported in 365Gay.com:

The Vatican is preparing to bar gays from entering the priesthood and is considering removing those gays who are already priests.

The new regulations for the priesthood were prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries - the body that oversees all Catholic seminaries.

Pope Benedict has had the document for some weeks now. It has been kept on the backburner so as not to distract from the visit to Cologne.

In the past the church has been silent on the issue of gay priests, believing the vow of celibacy that all priests take, was sufficient.

People within the church who are familiar with the workings of the Vatican say that it is doubtful the document contains a condemnation of homosexuality. Instead, it is expected that it has been written in careful language to appear pastoral rather than accusatory.

"It will not say 'homosexuality is immoral'. But it will suggest that admitting gay men into the priesthood places a burden both on those who are homosexual and those they are working alongside who are not." [John Haldane, professor of moral philosophy at the University of St Andrews, told the British newspaper The Observer]

But then things get interesting:

Whether the directive will be signed off by the Pope is not known. The document has already been rewritten several times, but Benedict has made the abuse scandal a key priority.

Next month the [Pope] will send investigators to the US to gauge the scale of the scandal and to determine how many gay priests are in the priesthood.

I can only assume that the Canadian priesthood will be investigated as well.

If a priest, who is gay, but has kept to his vow of celibacy, is ejected from the priesthood, what recourse does he have? The document does not say that such a person could not teach as a lay person in a Catholic college for example. But having trained as a priest, one wonders what marketable skills he would have. I suppose this ex-priest might find welcome in the Anglican Church (that is not to say switching churches is like switching jobs, but some might take this route).

I can only assume that the Church would pay this person's pension -- it seems fair to me.

But such a person, who might have kept his homosexuality a secret, is now "outed". Is there a basis for a legal case here? A civil suit for damages?

Will this "no gays allowed" policy extend to lay people as well? Lay teachers in Catholic schools? Lay administrative staff in Church offices?

If so, and more and more people are put on the State's unemployment rolls by the Church, some will argue that the State is being affected, and will urge the State to use its coercive powers to regulate limits to the Church's ability to manage its staffing. If that falls under the control of State, then other Church functions might as well, such as what is acceptable preaching from the pulpit.

There may be a bitter fight in the future over the hiring and firing problem, because it will be seen as a wedge issue for State control over Church matters. Stay tuned.