New York – A Vatican evaluation of U.S. Roman Catholic seminaries in response to the clergy sex abuse scandal concluded that administrators have largely been effective in rooting out “homosexual behavior” in the schools, although the agency said it persists.
The Congregation for Catholic Education sought a broad review of how the schools screen and educate prospective priests, but gave special attention to teachings on chastity and celibacy. The Vatican also directed evaluators to look for “evidence of homosexuality” in the schools.
In a report U.S. bishops released this week, the Vatican agency noted past “difficulties in the area of morality” within seminaries that “usually but not exclusively” involved “homosexual behavior.” The evaluators said the appointment of better administrators in diocesan seminaries “has ensured that such difficulties have been overcome.”
“Of course, here and there some case or other of immorality – again, usually homosexual behavior – continues to show up,” according to the report. “However, in the main, the superiors now deal with these issues promptly and appropriately.”
The evaluators had no such praise for schools run by religious orders, which critics consistently condemn as too liberal on celibacy, homosexuality and church teaching in general. The report said “ambiguity vis-a-vis homosexuality persists” within institutes run by religious orders. The report also cites those schools for failing to fully adhere to Catholic theology.
Nearly one-third of the 40,580 U.S. priests belong to religious orders.
Past studies commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have found that the majority of known victims of abuse by priests in the last 50 years were adolescent boys. In response, some Catholics blamed gay clergy for the scandal; experts on sex offenders argued that gays are no more likely than heterosexuals to molest children.
The Vatican ordered the review at the height of the abuse scandal, which erupted in 2002 with the case of one predator priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, then spread throughout the U.S. and beyond. American dioceses have spent more than $2 billion since 1950 on settlements with victims, legal fees and other abuse-related costs. Bishops and seminary staff conducted the onsite evaluations between 2005 and 2006 and sent their findings to the Vatican.
The agency said teaching on celibacy and chastity appeared to be “adequate” in all of the more than 220 U.S. seminaries. Still, the evaluators recommended stronger oversight of students during their free time, including monitoring their use of the Internet.
The report expressed approval of the screening criteria for seminarians, but said some schools still feel pressured by the priest shortage to hurry students toward ordination before they are fully prepared.
“Clearly, in some places, lack of vocations has caused some lowering of standards,” the report said.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the focus on seminaries “misses the mark,” since some predators inevitably will slip through any screening process.
“The key is how does the church hierarchy respond when allegations are made or abuse is witnessed or whistleblowers express concerns?” the group said in a statement.
David Gibson, a former Vatican radio newsman and author of “The Coming Catholic Church,” predicted the report would have limited impact, because it focused only on schools.
“The real challenges priests face are when they get out of seminaries, when they’re in the ministry at the parish level over time,” Gibson said.
The scandal added fuel to long-simmering debates within the U.S. church about whether seminary faculty truly adhered to Catholic teaching and whether the priesthood was becoming a predominantly gay vocation. There is no exact figure of the number of gay clergy. Estimates vary from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research on the issue by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, author of “The Changing Face of the Priesthood.”
The same Vatican agency that directed the evaluation has in recent years emphasized the Vatican policy that men with “deep-seated” attraction to other men should not be ordained. Gay priests have protested, saying they serve the church faithfully and are no more likely than heterosexual priests to break their vows of celibacy.
Associated Press
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posted January 15, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Think the RCC ought to watch for the heterosexual offenders also.
I tend to agree with the Survivors Network…some men will slip through the cracks. However the proof of how serious the RCC is in it’s committment to the safty of the children in its’ care will be in how they handle new accusations…pass the priests on to another church or actually remove them until an investigation is done…which includes police.
I still think priests should be allowed to marry. No, it won’t solve problems of molestation, but it would allow those who are either heterosexual or homosexual a more natural life.
Guess the RCC will keep an eyeball on those schools run by “religious orders!!”
posted January 15, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Yes, girls were abused by priests too, clearly heterosexual priests. They need to get heterosexuals out of the seminaries just as much as homosexuals.
And as far as “ambiguity vis-a-vis homosexuality” in there schools, OMG! Let’s get the ambiguity out by all means! And if someone isn’t adhering to Catholic theology, well what’s boiling oil for, anyway?
This is such a joke. If they actually wanted to protect the children, rather than scapegoat homosexuals, they could institute policies like in almost any public school to keep students from being alone unobserved with teachers. It’s really pretty simple.
posted January 15, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Yes,nnmns, it is really a simple concept….no adult should be alone with a child in a room…and if so, the door is OPEN!! As a former teacher, we were continually reminded that we were not to be alone with a student without open doors.
posted January 15, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Not as simple as one may think. Priests go one on one with adolescents in the sacrament of confession, while some adolescents even use them as spiritual directors and confide in them things they would never confide to another human being.
I’m rather perplexed even as a Catholic that rooting out prospects with ‘deep-seated homosexual tendencies’ would necessarily reduce peterasty. Two different inclinations in and of themselves.
posted January 15, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Oh, and nnmns, no OMGs please. It’s unbecoming a man of your beliefs and some will doubt the authenticity of your atheism
posted January 15, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Tom, if an adolescent has to be one on one with a priest to do his/her confession, then there must be a way that another adult can be close by….because how long does it take to say: I had an impure thought etc. and get some Hail Mary’s or Our Father’s? I can’t believe there wouldn’t be some way that the kids couldn’t have privacy to talk to a priest and still be “in view” of another adult. The privacy issues of those confessions or sessions seeking advice can be handled,I’m sure, without the priest being shut in a room alone with a child.
posted January 15, 2009 at 9:12 pm
“…because how long does it take to say: I had an impure thought etc. and get some Hail Mary’s or Our Father’s?”
Way longer than it takes to be molested by a predator. Even were cameras installed in confessionals, a predator requires very little time to violate his prey. Could be in the hallway, on a camping trip, on a mission trip, any number of places and it doesn’t always occur in a closed room.
posted January 15, 2009 at 9:37 pm
“Not as simple as one may think. Priests go one on one with adolescents in the sacrament of confession, while some adolescents even use them as spiritual directors and confide in them things they would never confide to another human being.”
Confession booths I’ve seen in movies seem to separate the confessor from the confessee(?). Am I wrong about that?
As far as talking, I agree with ps, no adult with child with door closed. They should be able to work around that. And why would a priest need to go camping with a kid with no parents along? And keep your kids away from mission trips! Why make them complicit?
posted January 15, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Old-style confessionals aren’t nearly as commonplace as they used to be. Instead, ‘reconciliation rooms’ are the new thing.
Some priests are involved as youth directors as well, can go hiking and what have you. Also, priests aren’t the only sexual predators known to man. Sometimes schoolteachers and principles, sometimes scoutmasters, and probably any proffession one can come up with.
As far as mission trips, Christians in general tend to put a lot of value in them, as it is humbling to see cultures in far away lands where true poverty exists. Presents a stark contrast to the ‘poverty’ in our own country. Not too sure what kids would be ‘complicit’ in but perhaps I’ll hear about it.
posted January 16, 2009 at 4:35 am
Maybe they should go back to confessionals when children are involved. Of course priests aren’t the only predators, that’s why public schools have those rules. I’m sure there’s value to seeing a little of the poverty around but at what age is that appropriate? And shouldn’t some parents go along? It seems to me the message of the mess the RCC got itself into is “Trust but verify” or maybe just “Verify”. In other words, no matter how good you feel about someone don’t put them alone with kids.
posted January 29, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Why not ban all men from the Catholic priesthood, and have nuns become ordained priests. That would clean up the mess. Had the priesthood not been exclusively male, I don’t think this rampant child molestation would have gone on for as long as it did.