UNITED STATES
Spirit Daily
By Michael H. Brown
It's crunch time in Rome as we pray for the discernment of the Vatican. In front of a new Pope is the new document on how to handle homosexuals in the clergy and rumors have swung back and forth, between those that claim it will be an '"H-bomb" -- a tough document restricting all homosexuals from the priesthood, even if they are celibate -- and those that predict the Vatican will allow those with gay tendencies into the clergy if they can prove that they have been celibate for three years and appear that they will remain so.
We have to believe -- perhaps "hope" is a better word -- that despite recent reports, the Vatican will not blink and that its choice will be the former. The Church hierarchy must be cleansed, and immediately, of homosexuality. We still recall the ways of John Paul II, and it's difficult to see him issuing any document unless it was tough on this particular problem. Under him, homosexuality was dealt with compassionately but as an "intrinsic disorder" (as are other sinful tendencies). This seems to us the Christian route. We can love those with such tendencies at the same time that we realize they should not be ministering but rather should be ministered to.