Wednesday,
8 January, 2003, 18:10 GMT
Vatican to
reinforce Catholic Orthodoxy
Pope's
advisors say traditional values have weakened
By
Robert Pigott , BBC's religious affairs correspondent
For months it has seemed to liberal Roman Catholics that the sex abuse scandal that has affected the Church in many parts of the world, must lead to radical reforms.
The ordination to the priesthood of homosexual men... is absolutely inadvisable and imprudent
Holy
See's Congregation for Worship
There
was speculation that it could include an end to compulsory celibacy for
priests, and perhaps even the ordination of women.
But
the signs are that the pope's advisers have come to precisely the opposite
conclusions - and intend to reinforce traditional standards and discipline.
They
plan to crack down especially hard on homosexuality in the Church.
'Anglo-Saxon' problem
In
St Peter's Square in the Vatican, a group of children waiting to tour the
towering basilica, tightly gathered around a smiling young priest.
It
is almost impossible for a homosexual to be ordained as a priest
There
is no sign here of the awkwardness that some American priests have reported
feeling with children since the sex abuse crisis has unfolded there during the
last year.
Indeed,
here in Rome, many see the scandal as what they call an "Anglo-Saxon"
problem.
Gerry
O'Connell, the Vatican correspondent of the Roman Catholic journal The
Universe, says that some of the pope's chief advisers have analysed the American
cases and concluded that the problem is not paedophilia, but homosexuality.
"When
they analysed these cases, they discovered that the vast majority involved not
priests and little children, that's children under the age of 11 or 12, but
rather priests and teenagers," Mr O'Connell says.
"So
it had more a homosexual dimension to it."
That
conclusion is having far-reaching effects.
'Inadvisable and imprudent'
Liberal Roman Catholics have argued that the scandal was caused by too much emphasis on hierarchy and the priesthood, and that the answer is to ordain women and end compulsory celibacy.
The issue of
paedophilia and abuse may have homosexual aspects but it is simply not to be
identified with that orientation
Monsignor
Roderick Strange
FaithfulVoice comment : Read the letter from Pope John Paul
II
The
sex abuse scandal has served to reinforce that view.
FaithfulVoice comment: This is risky bussiness and opposed to orthodox
teaching .
But conservatives - and there are many
surrounding Pope John Paul II - believe
the crisis has been caused by a weakening of the Church's traditional values
and standards, and specifically a tolerance of homosexual priests.
The
Vatican correspondent of the National Catholic Reporter, John Allen, says a
one-page letter from one of the Holy See's departments, the Congregation for
Worship, graphically demonstrates the shift against homosexuals.
He quotes the letter: "The ordination to the priesthood of homosexual men, or men with homosexual tendencies, is absolutely inadvisable and imprudent, and from a pastoral point of view, very risky."
"To me, that's a pretty clear statement of position," Mr Allen says.
According
to him similar language is likely to be used in a more substantial document
expected from the Vatican department in charge of education in the next few
months.
"There
seems to be a clear thrust here towards making it more difficult, if not
impossible for a homosexual to get into a seminary and ultimately to be
ordained as a Catholic priest," Mr Allen says.
Crisis in morale
Another
important clue is contained in the words "homosexual tendencies".
The
Church has always said that active homosexuality is a sin. But not necessarily
homosexual tendencies. FaithfulVoice comment :
It is the root cause 97.36 % of all cases are same-sex male.
Ending
that distinction would represent a significant crackdown on gay men in the
priesthood.
Resignation
of Cardinal Law raised liberal hopes
At
Beda College, a seminary for mature men in the St Paul's area just outside
Rome's old city walls numbers of students are falling.
The
college's rector, Monsignor Roderick Strange says that the crisis in morale
caused by the sex scandal can only make the situation worse.
He
thinks that whether or not a man has homosexual tendencies is irrelevant,
provided he is sufficiently mature and socially well integrated.
Barring
them from seminaries would be a big mistake. FV comment This is Very Risky.
"The
issue of paedophilia and abuse may have homosexual aspects but it is simply not
to be identified with that orientation," Monsignor Strange says. Fv comment This is
spinning of the Truth.
"If
it were the case that people were using homosexuality to say that by banning
this we will solve that then we wouldn't be getting any further forward at
all."
FaithfulVoice
comment : It is the root cause . 97.36 % of all cases are same-sex male.
Reinforcing orthodoxy
The
resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston encouraged liberal Roman
Catholics to believe the pope might find some relaxation of the Church's
traditional disciplines unavoidable.
But
there is a tendency in Rome for America to seem far away, and to put its sex
scandal in a wider context.
For Vatican conservatives
the priority seems to be to reinforce Roman Catholic orthodoxy in the Church as
a whole, rather than indulge liberals in its unruly provinces.
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