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	Return to News & Articles			Is the Ban on Homosexuality New? by Fr. Jeffrey Robideau 11-15-05
		As we await the release of the instruction from Rome on weather homosexuals can be priests or not, we are hearing many alarming accusations toward the Church. Homosexual priests are saying that this is a new instruction. This is not true. The Church has always taught that homosexuals were not to be ordained. As recently as 1962, Rome said no to homosexuals in the priesthood in an official document. It was ignored by the subversive homosexual underground that had deviously wiggled its way into key positions in the Church and her seminaries. In order for a homosexual to be a priest, they had to lie and deceive. Is that a good quality for a priest? In other words, they knew that homosexuals were not allowed to be priests and they kept their disorder a secret from the Church. The Church then ordained them with false knowledge based on deception. In marriage, that is a criteria for an annulment. Another accusation being made toward the Church is that she is blaming homosexuals for the pedophile problem. I would say that this is not true. The scandal brought to light the extent of the homosexual infiltration in the priesthood and it is this that the Church is responding to. Assuming Rome did not know or understand the extent of the problem, Rome does now and she is taking care of business. She is only reinforcing the age old and standing teaching, that homosexual are not to be ordained priests. Another accusation being made toward the Church is that she is being mean spirited. To say this is not even rational. The Church is not saying that homosexuals are bad people or that they are going to hell or anything of the sort. The Church has the right and the duty to decide who may or may not be priests. Homosexuality is not the only disqualifying factor to the priesthood. Are those rules mean spirited too? Of course not.  The Church is not free to do what ever she wants. She must respond to Gods Will and His eternal and natural law. In fact, the Church says that there is to be no UNJUST DISCRIMINATION shown toward them. The Church protects them. But the key word is "unjust". The Church does not say that there can be no discrimination based upon the homosexual orientation, only that there is to be no unjust discrimination. What the Church is saying, is that when it comes to the priesthood, she believes that homosexuality is a legitimate, moral and prudent point on which we must discriminate. She bases this on the natural law of God which she must be obedient to. In other words, to say that the Church is being mean spirited, what they are really saying is that God is mean spirited. The pro homosexual (disordered) priest groups are pointing out that there are many homosexual priests and that they are wonderful priests. They do their job and they are nice, friendly, kind, generous, faith filled men. This may be so, but that does not mean that they are to be priests. I know many people who fit that description and they were turned away from the priesthood. The priest is about more then being able to do a job and being nice. If that were all, then woman could be priests, but they can not. Why? Because the priesthood is so much more. The priesthood is not a human institution, it is a sacred institution established by Jesus Christ. The priesthood is about being the head of the Body of Christ. The priest must image Christ who is THE PRIEST. One could say at this point that no one can be a priest then, because we are all flawed, we all have sinned, we all have vice to overcome. Jesus was perfect, he had no sin. In spite of this fact, Jesus still made 12 men his first priests at the last supper. Yes, He appointed men that were not perfect, but He did not appoint men that had an abominable disorder. To make a homosexual a priest would be to elevate their disorder to something acceptable. After all, if a homosexual can be a priest, how bad can it be? The truth according to Church teaching is that it is worse than the average sin. We are not talking about getting angry, committing gluttony, or even lusting at times. These are all natural sins, that is they stem from natural, God given desires, that are good. The problem is that they are not being acted on according to reason. A priest, like all, are called to continue working on these imperfections in their goal of holiness. Homosexuality on the other hand is not natural at all. Their whole understanding of sexuality is so far out of line that their is nothing left resembling the natural desire that God had created (heterosexuality). Homosexuality can never be acted on according to reason. If one eats too much, we tell them to eat moderately. If one is homosexual, what can we tell them, just moderate how much you desire the same sex? This is the problem, one can not moderate sin and say all is fine. One must eliminate sin. We moderate virtue, not vice. A priest may have an imperfection, but not a disorder. This would go against the sacredness of the institution. It would go against the fiduciary responsibility the Church has to God, the Church and the people of God. In the end, this is a complicated issue and there is so much more that could be said, I write this only to show the Churches teaching and to correct some bad thinking which might infect the faithful. Please continue to pray for the hierarchy as they have a very difficult job.
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