I will declare my bias right up front: I am a ‘Recovering Anglican’ who once had strong Roman Catholic leanings, attended Mass regularly for several years and semi-regularly for some years thereafter. I won’t set foot in a church now except under extreme duress.

For a host of reasons, far too complex to get into here, I grew to not only distrust the hierarchy of both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Church – and by extension most organized religious hierarchies – but to perceive what I have come to call the Church Temporal (as distinct from the spiritual component of “The Church”; I’m still struggling with that one) as corrupt, out-of-touch, often mean-spirited, damaging, and abusive.

The Church, and for the purposes of this column I mean specifically the Roman Catholic Church, has always had difficulty with understanding and coming to terms with sex and sexuality. Little surprise since the hierarchy is comprised of aging, supposedly celibate males, many of whom are also likely virgins having entered the priesthood as youths and young men. What do they understand of sex and sexuality? Yet they continue to “make-a da rules”. This saying an allusion to an old joke: following his sermon on the evils of sex and birth control a priest was approached by a little old Italian lady. Fixing him sternly with her eyes she said to him “You no play-a da game, you no make-a da rules!”

The latest reaction from the Holy See is to launch what is known as apostolic visitations to 229 American Catholic seminaries. Investigators have been instructed to search for “evidence of homosexuality” as well as faculty members who dissent from church teachings.

According to the New York Times, who leaked the story September 15th, the visitations are in response to the sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Church in recent years. Catholics have been waiting for a ruling from the Vatican of Benedict XVI on whether homosexual men should be barred from entering the priesthood.

The article indicates the issue of gay seminarians and priests has been in the spotlight because a 2004 study commissioned by the church found that about 80 percent of the young people victimized by priests were boys.

The Church seems to confuse homosexuality with pedophilia. The Church has always confused homosexuality with pedophilia.

For everyone but a bunch of isolated aging cardinals and priestly bureaucrats it is understood pedophilia is quite distinct from the expressions of sexuality exhibited by men attracted to men. Priests who abuse, or have abused, prepubescent boys are pedophiles. Some may also be homosexual, others heterosexual, and others probably don’t know what the hell they are. Every last one of them is doubtlessly tormented. Those who have abused teenage boys under the age of majority, while not technically pedophile (actually, the term is hebephile), are still legally child molesters.

It really doesn’t take having a degree in human sexuality to understand homosexuality - the sexual attraction to the same gender - and sexual attraction to children is different.

A disproportionate percentage of boys were abused because, it would seem clear, priests were more likely to have access to male targets - like altar boys, male students in church-run boarding schools, or junior seminarians - than to girls.

It’s not rocket science. But then the Vatican has never been very good when it came to science, anyway…

Despite the seeming obviousness that homosexuality has about as much in common with pedophilia, as being a boxer does to spousal abuse. Some church officials in the United States and in Rome, including some bishops and many conservatives, continue to maintain that the abuse of minors is attributable to homosexual priests and have called for seminaries, in the US especially, to be ‘overhauled’.

The New York Times article stated: “Expectation for such a move rose this year with the election of Pope Benedict XVI, who has spoken of the need to ’purify‘ the church.” Uh-huh…and the recent re-introduction of studies around demonic possession and exorcism must be part of that too.

Let’s keep in mind that the current Holy Father is the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a known conservative and for many years was in absolute control of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a key department within The Vatican. Under his directorship, the papacy of Jean Paul II issued charming statements in which homosexuality was called “intrinsically disordered,” “evil,” and a host of other epithets.

Let’s also keep in mind Benedict XVI was recently served with legal papers for his role, as cardinal, in actively covering up the sex abuse scandals and protecting abusive priests. The United States says the pope, as a head of state (i.e. The Vatican), is immune from such legal proceedings and cannot be subjected to a subpoena.

Catholic catechism states people with “deep-seated” homosexual tendencies must live in chastity (actually, “chastity in continence” i.e. no sex) because “homosexual acts are intrinsically and objectively disordered” but, then, so is masturbation apparently.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action…”.

However, there are a few reasonable voices still left in the hierarchy.

The Rev. Donald B. Cozzens, a former seminary rector who five years ago claimed “the priesthood is, or is becoming, a gay profession” is quoted in the New York Times article as saying he was concerned the seminary review would lead the Church to request celibate faculty members and seminarians withdraw from seminary.

“That would be a major mistake from my perspective,” said Father Cozzens, who teaches in the religious studies department at John Carroll University in Cleveland. “First, I think it’s unfair, if not unjust, for committed gay seminarians and faculty who are leading chaste lives. And secondly, I don’t know how you can really enforce [withdrawal].”

The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit and sociologist who, under pressure from the Vatican, resigned in May as editor of the Jesuit magazine “America”, is quoted as saying the church cannot afford to dismiss gay seminarians.

“You could have somebody who’s been in the seminary for five or six years and is planning to be ordained and the rector knows they’re a homosexual,” said Father Reese… “What are they going to do, throw them out? It’s much healthier if a seminarian can talk about their sexuality with a spiritual director, but this kind of policy is going to force it all underground.”

Celibacy is a difficult vocation to follow and many, both within the Church and outside it, disagree with enforced celibacy. Be that as it may, there are many priests who are homosexual who successfully answer the call to celibacy, if indeed it is a calling rather than some rule imposed by the hierarchy for reasons of its own - just as there are many heterosexual priests who are also successfully celibate.

Over the years I have been acquainted with a few homosexual clerics, both diocesan priests as well as what is termed ‘religious’, or those in seminary and religious community. Every one of them were warm, caring, loving, thoughtful men who used their gayness as an expression of their compassion. Not, I will quickly point out, the sexuality of their gayness, but rather the internal awareness of their gayness. To my knowledge, they were chaste and celibate but it was their gayness, that inner awareness we all carry as gay and bisexual men (and lesbian women…I’ve known one or two lesbian nuns in my day, as well) that made them good priests.

I am also aware of the devastating psychological damage the Church’s view on homosexuality, whether practiced or not, has had on individuals who, had they been allowed to serve as the priests they wanted to be, would have been wonderful additions to any parish or community they were assigned. Instead, they were rejected when they spoke of their desire to be openly gay celibate priests, and were mentally and, in my view, spiritually abused until forced to desert their vocation. Some never recovered and will likely live out the balance of their lives profoundly damaged, and a loss to us all.

This latest witch hunt is exactly that; a purge. It is mis-focused window-dressing. If the Vatican was to send apostolic visitations to root out mentally and emotionally unstable individuals or actual pedophiles, or establish better systems to prevent such individuals from entering seminary, then perhaps that might be something to consider – although on second thought, given the Church’s history of bungling the psychological care of its own members, to say nothing of its adherents, perhaps not.

Stephen Lock is the Regional Director for Egale Canada and the Calgary Representative for The Canadians For Equal Marriage Coalition. He is also the producer and host of a semi-monthly glbt radio show, Speak Sebastian, airing at 9pm on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month on CJSW FM 90.9.

We are still looking for contributions to the Goliath’s Defence Fund. Donations can be made by cheque or money order, payable to “Stephen Lock (trustee).” In the memo section write “to be held in trust for the Goliath’s Defence Fund” and mail to: The Goliath’s Defence Fund, c/o The Calgary Eagle, 424-a 8th Ave SE, Calgary AB T2G 0L7. All proceeds go to defray the legal costs of the man charged as a found-in.