September 17, 2005

St. Louis seminary to be among first evaluated in gay inquiry

ST. LOUIS (MO)
New York Blade

ST. LOUIS (AP) | Sep 16, 3:38 PM

A Catholic seminary in St. Louis will be among the first in the country to be visited by Vatican officials seeking evidence of homosexuality.

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Philadelphia will lead a five-member team that will visit Aquinas Institute of Theology Sept. 25-29, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday. The purpose, according to the Vatican, is to "examine the criteria for admission of candidates and the programs of human formation and spiritual formation aimed at ensuring that they faithfully live chastely for the Kingdom."

Seminaries across the U.S. will be visited through next spring. St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke and Belleville, Ill., Bishop Edward K. Braxton will be among the 117 bishops and seminary staff sent to the seminaries.

Visits will involve interviews with faculty, staff, seminarians and recent alumni, and will be overseen by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.

On Monday, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, who oversees the evaluation effort, told The Associated Press that most gay candidates for the priesthood struggle to remain celibate and the church must restrict their enrollment.

Posted by kshaw at September 17, 2005 06:57 AM