Recent scandals have uncovered a truth that is now known to many, but that the church wishes to ignore.
According to testimony from priests and seminarians, at least 30% of all priests and seminarians are gay. As much as the church wishes to look away, it no longer can exercise the kind of power it once did and silence all its scandals, and more and more people are talking about it.
But what has caused so many homosexuals to join a brotherhood that condemns their very existence? It is not an easy question to answer. but clues can be found in those places where the church retains its strongest hold.
As strange as it may seem, embracing the church in some cases is seen as the only way to conceal one's sexual orientation in places where homosexuality is seen as anathema. The more repressive and stifling the society in which young gay men live, the more appealing the secrecy of the cloaks appears to them.
And thus is born the great paradox of the church, that a good number of its shepherds are gay and living under hidden identity in the very place that has virulenty condemned them for a very long time.
Is it a wonder then, that the warnings and intimations showered upon the credents on the sin of homosexuality is ringing more hollow every day?
A case in point is that of Cardinal O'Brien, who was recently implicated in a scandal at a seminary under his supervision, where some seminarians have now come out to denounce his behavior, both as a sexual harasser and a man who allowed a seminary to descend into a party house for a good number of the seminarians, who were gay.
The cardinal has since apologized, which has startled many, because it amounts to an admission of his wrongdoing. But what seems more startling is the levity with which his apology was made, as if what might have ensued during his tenure at the secretive seminary was just a bit of frolicky fun.
But this denial of the incredible harm wrought by the joint child abuse - gay party scandal is been underestimated by the Vatican. Most agree, including prelates and high ranking members of the catholic church, that this is a cloud that will not pass.
The church believes that, with new faithfuls being added in countries where it has made new inroads, like India and China, the loss of some of its followers to the scandals is just a swell that they will be able to navigate.
But they are wrong. The damage it has done is irreparable and deep. Many call this time the most difficult since the Reformation.
The only solution then to right the ship, many say, is to end celibacy. As long as the church insists on keeping its current course, it will continue to be the place of refuge for maladjusted and hypocritical men. It is time the Church opened its doors to people who want to serve it because of their inspiration and faith, and not a place where they can hide from the scrutiny of their peers.
source : The Observer 3.1.13
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