CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Margaret Ramirez, Tribune religion reporter. Tribune news services contributed to this report
Published June 17, 2005
As the nation's Roman Catholic bishops gathered in Chicago Thursday for a meeting to review their sexual abuse policy, Cardinal Francis George said homosexual men should not be admitted into seminaries.
George, who is archbishop of Chicago and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in light of the sexual abuse crisis, bishops are paying closer attention to the sexual backgrounds of men interested in entering the priesthood. Part of the commitment is that a man is celibate when he enters seminary.
"Also, anyone who has been part of a gay subculture or who has lived promiscuously as a heterosexual would not be admitted ... no matter how many years in his background that might have occurred," George said.
The role, if any, of sexuality in the sexual abuse scandal is being debated. Critics have charged there is no evidence that gays are more likely to engage in abuse than heterosexuals. Others have said placing attention on homosexuality is a way of deflecting attention from bishops who allowed the scandal to unfold.