It's Not a "Witch Hunt" if There are "Witches"

Michael Rose on the Lavender Mafia, the upcoming seminary visits by the Vatican, and the yet to be released document that supposedly bars men with homosexual tendencies from the priesthood.

Several years ago, Father Donald Cozzens, then rector of a Cleveland seminary, wrote that many seminary faculties included a disproportionate number of homosexuals. In his book, The Changing Face of the Priesthood, he commented that "straight men in a predominantly or significantly gay environment commonly experience self doubt."

In my own study of seminary life over the past three decades, I have found that many heterosexual men give up their seminary studies precisely for this reason, leaving behind a student body gradually swollen with homosexuals. I'm not talking about the presence of a few gay-oriented men who want to live chastely, but rather the institutionalization of a gay subculture that has earned some seminaries nicknames such as the Pink Palace, Notre Flame, and Theological Closet.

One aspect of this gay subculture of both priests and seminarians is that too many men who want to be chaste, whether gay or straight, are propositioned, harassed or even molested – occurrences that are more common than one might think. This doesn't aid the moral and spiritual development of the church's future clergy. Rather, it fosters a pathological pattern of living.

This is not simply about homosexuality or homosexual acts. It's about an agenda and subculture that systematically undermine celibacy, a state to which the Roman Catholic priest is called. This gay subculture is also in direct conflict with the teachings of the church. Those involved are promoting this conflict and escalating the problem.