“Real Men Don’t Become Priests”rnCould that be true? If so, Heaven help us! We atrnthe NEW OXFORD REVIEW have been hearing more andrnmore that the priesthood is becoming a “gay profession”rnlike hairdressing. We recently received a poignantrnletter from a seminarian, which we printed. Said he:rn”When I left my job as a teacher at arnCatholic high school to enter our diocesanrnseminary, the typical reaorntion I received from my studentsrnwas, ‘You’re going to be a priest?rnBut you’re not gay.” At the time Irnwas shocked. It did not take mernlong, however, to realize that theirrnnotions were well founded. Forrnmany years we have heard aboutrnthe shortage of priests, and therernhas been much talk on the subjectrnof ‘gay’ seminarians andrnpriests. It should be glaringly obviousrnthat the latter has (at least in part)rncaused the fornier. Until the common seminaryrnpolicy of not considering an applicant’s sexualrnorientation (despite 10 hours of psychological testing,rnI was never even asked if I were ‘gay’) is rethought,rnour young men will continue to view the priesthood asrnan option that is not for nonnal males.”rnThen there are all the sex scandals. We don’trnhave precise information, but our impression is thatrnmore often than not, a sex scandal involves samesexrntransgressions. Clerical culture is all male. Whenrnthat culture is attracting a highly disproportionate percentagernof people who have same-sex attractions,rnyou don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure outrnthat there’s going to be libidinal trouble in spades —rnthat attraction will lead to temptation, then to givingrnin to temptation, and then to an entire subculture ofrnhomosexually-acftVe priests who protect one anotherrnfrom scrutiny and lawsuits.rnYes, homosexuatly-oriented celibate priestsrnwho are orthodox and obedient to Church norms,rnwho are splendid priests, do exist. But when theyrnmust function in a priestly culture that’s electric withrnsame-sex attractions, the temptations andrn(let’s face it) the solicitations they mustrncontend with will be daunting. It’srnno favor to them to make themrnfunction in such an environment.rnAnd let no one think that allowingrnpriests to marry would solvernthe problem. It would have no effectrnon homosexuals. Ttie Times ofrnLondon recently indicated thatrnpriests in the (Anglican) Church ofrnEngland are dying of AIDS at a raternroughly 2 to 3 times greater thanrnCatholic priests in the U.S. — and thernChurch of England has always allowedrnpriests to marry! No, the problem isn’t therncelibacy requirement. The problem is a hideousrnbreakdown in basic Christian faith and morality.rnActually, we have plenty of real men in the priesthood.rnBut when the priesthood gets characterizedrnas a “gay profession” and sex scandals are a commonrnoccurrence, unwarranted suspicion is cast uponrnall our good, hard-working priests. We’ve got a bigrnproblem.rnYou may have noticed that many Catholic publicationsrnand leaders don’t want to face the serious problemsrnin the Church. We at the NEW OXFORD REVIEW, anrnorthodox Catholic monthly magazine, don’t sweeprnproblems under the rug. We deal with them, and withrnall the issues of concern to loyal Catholics. Subscriberntoday and be part of the solution!rn(Please allow 2 to 8 weeks for delivery of first issue.)rnSPECIAL DISCOUNT RATESrnD One-year subscription $14 (regulariy $19)rnD One-year student, unemployed, or retiredrnperson’s subscription $12 (regulariy $16)rnD Two-year subscription $23 (regulariy $35)rnName (Please print or type)rnStreet Address or P.O. BoxrnCity State ZiprnFOR FIRST-TIME SUBSCRIBERSrnD One-year non-U.S. subscription US$24rn(regulariy $29) Payment must be drawn in U.S. Dollars.rnD Sample copy $3.50rn•> Our prices are so low because you can’t pay by creditrncard and payment must accompany order. Send letter or thisrncoupon with check payable to NEW OXFORD REVIEW.rnMail to: ^^^ OXFORD REVIEWrnRoom 804rn1069 Kains Ave.rnBerkeley CA 94706rnrnrn