UNITED STATES
Echo
By Dan DuChene / Staff Writer
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2005
The Catholic Church has recently gotten more media coverage than the Beatles had in the 1960s. For the past few years there has been a constant flow of juicy headlines screaming about the Vatican. These stories have brought both positive and negative attention to Catholicism. The recent news, however, is meeting mixed reviews.
It has been reported that the Vatican will soon announce it will be screening for homosexual priests coming through the seminary. Nearly a month ago the Boston Globe and New York Times reported that there would be 117 inspectors looking for "evidence of homosexuality" within the 4,500 seminarians currently in the U.S. That inspection was supposed to be done by the end of September.
The Roman Catholic Church moves at it's own pace. This story is no exception to the very slow pace that the church normally chooses. The Vatican hasn't even released a document on the issue. This isn't to say, however, that the stories are moot. These reports don't just manifest out of thin air. While the issue may not be as hurried, it is still pressing. There are two beliefs as to why the Vatican would exclude homosexuals from being ordained priests.
First, there are those people who remember the sexual abuse scandals that rocked the nation not too long ago. Keep in mind that a staggering majority of the victimized youth was, in fact, male. Therefore, there would be far less little boys being abused if the gays were cut out.