CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Margaret Ramirez and Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune news services contributed to this report
Published November 30, 2005
The Vatican issued a long-awaited document Tuesday on the explosive issue of homosexuality in the priesthood, but the document banning men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" added more heat than light to the controversy.
In fact, several scholars said that the text of the document--which largely restates long-standing Roman Catholic teaching on homosexuality--matters less than its timing and prominence. It marks the first major policy statement since Pope Benedict XVI took office in April, and it comes at a time when Vatican officials are inspecting U.S. seminaries, while the sexual abuse scandal still reverberates in the church.
Almost immediately, there was heated debate and stark disagreement about the potential impact of the document in Catholic seminaries, to whom the "instruction" from the Congregation for Catholic Education is addressed.