A Humble Proposal for Solving the Homosexual Problem in the Church
When Bishop John Keating was alive Fr. Haley took the homosexual problem to him as his shepherd. At that point he had lived in a rectory with a priest who was physically involved with another and the walls of the rectory were thin. Initially, Bishop Keating offered him the door, but Bishop Keating was a fatherly man who loved his spiritual sons. To illustrate, once a year (I think between Christmas and New Year's), he set aside the entire week for his priests. Everyone was encouraged to make an appointment. It wasn't compulsory, but many priests welcomed the opportunity and went. The bishop usually gave his visitors a gift. One priest I know, who has family in another state, said the bishop sometimes gave him an airline ticket so he could fly home. Bishop Keating offered something very important to Fr. Haley. He listened when Father asked the forbidden question. Bishop Keating and Fr. Haley began to meet regularly to talk about the homosexual problem in the diocese. Presumably, those meetings caused Bishop Keating to ask the question in Rome the day he died, "What can I do about my homosexual priest problem?"
Why such a question? Doesn't a bishop have total control? Not if he's honest and does things by the book. There is nothing in Canon Law about homosexual priests. There are canons about relations with women, but not about men in relationships with other men.
What is needed?
No one is suggesting that every homosexual priest be thrown out on his heels, particularly those who are struggling to be chaste both physically and mentally.
One possible solution, however, is to add two Canon Laws: one that clearly states homosexuals may not be ordained, and a second that says, if a homosexual is ordained and discovered later, he may not occupy a position of authority as a pastor or a bishop.
Why? Because that's exactly how we ended up with a homosexual cabal in the Church which led to the sex abuse crisis. In many places soliciting homosexualls for the priesthood was (and may still be) the norm. At least a dozen bishops have resigned or been removed for abusing boys and how many others are living in secret in their chanceries like homosexual priests in their rectories?
Homosexual clerics in positions of leadership enable homosexuality. It's been suggested that the reason some dioceses have not fought more vigorously for pro-life and against the gay agenda is because so many bishops are homosexual and vulnerable to the threat of "being outed." As gay marriage becomes more likely in the United States, how many homosexual clergy will lead the fight against it?
The Church must take action on this. It isn't enough to have pastoral letters or diocesan policies that may or may not be followed. Writing legislation into the Code of Canon Law would eliminate ambiguity and offer a real solution to the homosexual problem.
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