| Demanding a "heterosexual only" Catholic clergy exposes a level of ignorance that is not palatable in this day and age and represents a further betrayal of the Spirit.
Some Christians call on Scripture to support their ignorant condemnation of a homosexual orientation. Scripture unfolds for us the structure of our faith. However, Scripture is not a current moral treatise. Nor should we expect Scripture to keep up with the evolution of our understanding of human development. It is our Christian responsibility to apply the values of Scripture – justice, forgiveness, righteousness, mercy, truth, love, salvation, fullness of life -- to our everyday experiences.
The secrecy and clericalism that inherently flaw the Church today were made embarrassingly manifest in the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Whereas some Catholic priests and, more than likely, some bishops are themselves homosexual, the Church does not acknowledge the full range of human sexuality; hence, when confronted with the sexual deviation of pedophilia, the problem was swept under the rug rather than dealt with healthily. There is suspicion that the Vatican wants to deny ordination to homosexuals because of the embarrassment the problem of child sexual abuse has caused the Church. However, the belief that child abuse is a problem of homosexuals is statistical nonsense. The Church decided to soften its requirement by demanding of homosexual candidates for the priesthood no homosexual contact for the last 3 years. This only raises more questions. Is heterosexual contact encouraged? Will ordaining an actively heterosexual male lessen in any way child sexual abuse by the clergy? Does forbidding Illicit sexual contact based on sexual orientation engender thereafter a more chaste clergy?
The transparency called for by the assembled bishops in their discussion of sexual child abuse by clergy needs to extend to the full life of the Church. Homosexuality is part of the experience of the human family. It is an important and integral part of the humanness of some people, the way they have been gifted by God to give God praise and to serve one another. To deny or condemn people for their sexual orientation or for responsibly living out that orientation is to further negate the wonder and diversity of the work of God's hand.
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