by asdf
Thu Sep 15th, 2005 at 10:59:08 AM EST
"Investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review each of the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teaching, according to a document prepared to guide the process."
Why is the Vatican picking on American gay priests? Aren't there any gays in European churches?
"American seminaries are under Vatican review as a result of the sexual abuse scandal that swept the priesthood in 2002. Church officials in the United States and Rome agreed that they wanted to take a closer look at how seminary candidates were screened for admission, and whether they were being prepared for lives of chastity and celibacy."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national/15seminary.html?ei=5090&en=c6f611a3030b1a1e&ex=12
84436800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
Sure, American priests die from AIDS at a rate from four to seven times that of the general public. But is that a problem limited entirely to the U.S.?
Hasn't anybody in the Vatican read "Zorba the Greek?" Or Elizabeth Stuart's 1993 book "Chosen," a collection of stories from gay Catholic priests in Britain? Are they aware of recent gay sex scandals in Austria?
The Catholic church is already suffering from a severe gobal shortage of priests. Estimates of the gay population in Catholic seminaries range up to 60%. If the Vatican finds this to be the case, and if they go through with their threats, it will mean the collapse of the Catholic church simply due to the lack of clergy.
