By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
WASHINGTON – A Sept. 7 online News Service Brief by the Catholic News Service quotes Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, as saying that gay men are not fit for the priesthood, "even if they have been celibate for a decade or more."
"I think anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity, or has strong homosexual inclinations, would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into a seminary," O'Brien is quoted as saying. O'Brien made the remarks during an interview by the National Catholic Register.
O'Brien has been given the task of coordinating visits to over 220 U.S. seminaries in the wake of the widespread pedophile priest scandal, according to the report.
The Vatican agency overseeing the seminary evaluation, the Congregation for Catholic Education, also reportedly is drawing up guidelines for accepting candidates for the priesthood that could address the question of homosexual seminarians. The church considers gay relationships "intrinsically disordered."
A senior Vatican official had suggested previously that the document might have been shelved, but told the Associated Press on Monday that he cannot rule out that a Vatican office might issue such a document. O'Brien told the Register that, "The Holy See should be coming out with a document about this."
Additional reporting provided by the Associated Press.