NEW YORK - Public blame for the Catholic church's current crisis is falling increasingly on homosexual priests. Commentators cite their apparent tendency for sexually abusing minors, refer to their supposed inability to live celibately, talk darkly of "lavender rectories" where sexual acting out is the norm, and take as an article of faith the "dangers" of the gay priesthood. In the wake of the sexual-abuse scandals, what passes for intelligent commentary about gay priests -- even in Catholic circles -- is often an unhealthy mix of rumor-mongering, stereotyping and scapegoating.
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| | | The Rev. James Martin is a Jesuit priest and associate editor of America, a national Catholic magazine. | |
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The number of gay priests is notoriously difficult to ascertain. Whether a result of homophobia, a desire for confidentiality, or a fear of "scaring off" heterosexual applicants to seminaries, Catholic dioceses in the United States have been generally unwilling to reveal statistics on the percentage of priests who are homosexual. As a result, estimates range wildly. The Rev. Donald B. Cozzens, a former seminary rector, in his book "The Changing Face of the Priesthood," places the figure between 30 and 50 percent. On the other hand, the Rev. John McCloskey, of the Catholic Information Center, stated on "Meet the Press" on March 31 that the figure is closer to 2 percent. Most observers would admit the difficulty of the estimation, but would also agree that the percentage is higher than that in the general population.
Regrettably, many commentators wrongly assume that being a gay priest means that one is ipso facto sexually active. This is false: The majority of gay priests -- like their heterosexual counterparts -- keep their promises of celibacy. Moreover, the majority lead healthy and productive lives in service to the church and the community.
As historian John Boswell pointed out in his book "Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality," this has long been the case: There have been homosexuals ministering in the church since at least the early Middle Ages. The assumption that all homosexual priests are sexually active is based not only on the reprehensible actions of a few, but also on the false stereotype that gay men are incapable of leading celibate lives. It also ignores the seriousness with which all priests take their vows to God.
By the same token, homosexual priests, like heterosexual priests, can sometimes struggle with their vows and occasionally break them -- as do married men and women. But, by and large, when gay priests find themselves unable to live celibately, they leave the priesthood. In short, the supposed sexual activity of the majority of gay priests is largely a myth.
What about "lavender rectories" and the notion that homosexuals are driving out straight men from the priesthood? Is there a "gay subculture" in the priesthood? The answer is complex. On the one hand, there are gay men in the priesthood who, like any likeminded group, may tend to seek out one another's company. And sometimes, for example, their sense of humor or "campiness" can make straight priests feel uncomfortable.
Some straight men have almost certainly been discouraged from entering certain seminaries and particular religious orders for fear of this environment. Also, the scandalous shuffling around of pedophile priests by some bishops may have resulted from an unwillingness to confront unchaste gay priests out of a fear of being labeled "homophobic." These aspects of the "gay subculture" in the priesthood require attention.
On the other hand, for the most part, straight priests accept their gay brothers with respect and love, in the same way the gay priests accept their brother priests who are heterosexual. Father Mychal Judge, to take one example of a contemporary gay priest, was not only a beloved New York City fire chaplain but also an esteemed member of his Franciscan community before his death at the World Trade Center.
And gay priests' own experience of suffering prejudice and hatred contributes powerfully to the church in the United States. Overall, the stories about the "dangers" of gay priests have been greatly exaggerated in the media and egged on by homophobia.
Most of the sexual-abuse crimes have concerned priests preying on adolescent boys, and so therefore the crisis can be said to be "about" gay priests -- specifically, the unhealthy ones. But they are, by any measure, a very small percentage of the healthy, chaste and often holy gay priests who serve in the Catholic Church. Blaming gay priests for the current scandals is like blaming all accountants for Enron. It is misinformed thinking and thoughtless scapegoating that does little to address the real problems facing the church.
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