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A Message From The President
 My Brothers,
I would like to make a few comments on the document, Concerning the Criteria of Vocational discernment Regarding persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to Seminaries and Holy Orders, which is to be released today by the Congregation for Catholic Education.
I wish to begin by affirming those priests who understand themselves to have “homosexual tendencies” and who are living a celibate and holy life. The ministry of these priests is an inestimable gift to the Church and of immeasurable value for the People of God.
I wish, as well, to approve of the desire of the Congregation for Catholic Education to bring understanding and clarity to an issue that has been under consideration for some time by many in the Episcopacy, Priesthood, and those who minister in seminaries and houses of formation.
However, in its attempt to be helpful to bishops and formators alike, the document leaves us with many questions:
• What does “actively homosexual” mean? What does “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” mean? What constitutes support for a “so-called gay culture’?
• If one has a homosexual orientation does this mean he automatically has a deep-seated homosexual tendency?
• The document states that “to admit a candidate to diaconal Ordination, the Church must verify, among other things, that the candidate for priesthood has attained affective maturity” (emphasis mine). Does the document mean to say that no homosexual man can be “affectively mature,” so that he cannot relate properly to men and women?
• Given the very precise and delicate role of a Spiritual Director, can he inject himself into the relationship between the candidate and God in such a way that he positively dissuades the candidate from pursuing the priesthood?
There are other questions which will need to be asked and answered before moving forward with the implementation of this document.
I wish to speak a word of encouragement to those men in our seminaries across the country who have responded generously to God’s call and who have undergone the strenuous process of evaluation for candidacy. May God’s grace sustain them as they continue their journey toward the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
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