Catholic Craziness

Fifty, forty, or thirty years ago, young conflicted gay men had very few choices in what to do with themselves sexually. Most chose "the big lie", got married and had families... and got along reasonably well, and still do. Others headed for the big city to join the avant garde, the artisans, the posh queer underground of dinner parties and theater, to be gay.

For many though, they headed for the seminaries to become priests. The most conservative estimates state that one in four priests is a celibate homosexual (while many estimates place it at higher than half). Their faith allowed them to sweep their discomfort with being gay under the rug... hopefully. (If their sexuality did overcome celibacy, hopefully it was with a fellow, willing adult and not a nearby child.)

Truth be told however, those most likely to abuse were those most closeted — even, or especially, to themselves. "Gay maturity" is the phrase to be understood. Similar to the general "sexual maturity," it means the ability to be comfortable with yourself, your desires, and your expectations. If you are mature, you can express your sexuality to a fellow adult. If you are immature, you find the ignorant — those who do not yet have desires and expectations of their own — the easiest targets.

The catch-22 is this: In today's more tolerant society, more gay men are reaching gay maturity. The openess and frankness that comes with gay maturity means fewer gay man will opt for the priesthood (or heterosexual marriage). This is the principal reason why the Catholic church is experiencing a lack of men entering the seminaries.

The Vatican has recently compounded this situation with an instruction to seminaries which basically states that anybody who is "really gay" cannot enter seminary. (Those who somehow aren't so gay are still okay for the diaconate.) What this translates as is that gay-mature candidates are out, and gay-immature candidates are in. Which are the gay priests most likely to abuse children? Exactly.