Controversial Issue : Gay Priests: A Dilemma for Catholics

They spotted each other at a gay bar, two Catholic priests out for a drink on a Sunday night, both anxious about being seen by parishioners.

For Father Alan Eddington, the meeting was the first step toward openly acknowledging his homosexuality. He had been a priest for three years but had never discussed his private life, never told anybody in the church that he was gay.

“I did not feel fear when I saw the other priest, only relief, relief that there was somebody else like me,” said Eddington, the pastor of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Huntington, W. Va. “I’d thought I was alone all this time.”

Eddington, who had met the other priest before but had not known he was gay, soon joined a support group in his diocese and later was named executive director of Communications, an organization for homosexual Catholic clergy in the United States. He estimates that about half of the 200 priests in his diocese have a gay orientation; some of them are sexually active.

‘Intrinsically Evil’

There are no statistics on the number of gay priests in the United States; church officials say the percentage is the same as in the general population, others say it is higher. Regardless of the number, the presence of homosexuals in the priesthood is a sensitive--and for some disturbing--issue in a church that teaches that homosexual activity is “intrinsically evil.”

The recent tension within the Roman Catholic Church was precipitated by a statement issued four months ago by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s chief enforcer in matters of doctrine. The statement, approved by Pope Paul II, reaffirmed the church’s view that homosexual acts are “an intrinsic moral evil,” “intrinsically disordered” and “self-indulgent.” Ratzinger instructed bishops to stamp out pro-homosexual views within the church.

Instead of quelling the homosexual controversy, however, Ratzinger’s statement appears to have exacerbated it. Some gay priests have decided to speak out openly about their homosexuality. One homosexual priest, Father John McNeill, criticized the statement and was expelled from the Jesuit order.

‘Hypocritical’ Stance

With an increasing number of priests and brothers contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome--about a dozen deaths have been reported--Catholic officials are in an extremely awkward position.

“The church is faced with a dilemma,” said Eugene Kennedy, a professor at Loyola University of Chicago, a former priest and author of “Reimagining American Catholicism.” “It has been cracking down on homosexuality, yet evidence suggests that many of its ministers are gay. The stance is hypocritical. The church needs to make a systematic inquiry into the situation, not deal with it in a P.R. (public relations) way.”

The situation is “obviously confusing to parishioners,” said Daniel Maguire, a moral theology professor at Marquette University and a former priest. “The church is saying the homosexual is disordered, yet the person who preaches to you, who baptizes your children, who gives you sacraments and commends you to God when you die is, increasingly, a homosexual.”

There is a higher percentage of homosexuals among Catholic priests and brothers than among the public--a figure usually estimated at around 10%--according to Father Henry Mancuso, former head of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors. Many other priests and educators agree.

Many church officials deny, however, that the number of gays priests is disproportionately high. Russell Shaw, spokesman for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, “That’s baloney. . . . The incidence is no higher among Catholic priests than the (general) male population. . . . Because priests are committed to celibacy . . . and because of the attention homosexuality has been getting in society, people have made unfounded speculation.”

Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Mahony also disagreed that there is a disproportionate number of gay priests. He acknowledged, however, that the Vatican was concerned enough about the issue to warn bishops several years ago to be “extremely cautious” when considering seminarians who have a homosexual orientation.

Orientation Is No Sin

The Roman Catholic Church does not consider homosexual orientation per se--as opposed to homosexual behavior--to be a sin or a bar to ordination. As long as as priests like Eddington contend that they are celibate, despite their orientation, they have not been disciplined.

The recent Vatican denunciation of homosexuality makes the position of gay clergy precarious, however, said a Los Angeles parish priest.

“I’d like to be more open, but I have so much to lose--my job, my place to live, the respect of my family,” said the priest, who requested anonymity. “Sometimes I feel like I’m living in two worlds--the church teaches you one thing, but you feel another. I’ve gone through years of trauma and therapy to come to terms with all this . . . and with myself. I think what I’ve been through could help some of the people in my church. But I’m afraid to share any of it with them.”

Gay Catholic clergy are finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile their view of homosexuality with church teachings. Some say that the church simply is wrong about homosexuality--as it has been wrong about other issues in the past--and that eventually it will recant. Some explain that they disagree with the church on a number of sexual issues--as do many parishioners--but do not believe that it is a reason to leave the priesthood.

Others say that as a result of the Second Vatican Council 25 years ago, which prepared Catholics to question the authority of the church when it appeared inconsistent with “informed conscience,” they are guided by their relationship with God and by their consciences, not by pronouncements from the Vatican.

‘Have to Be Disobedient’

“I cannot personally hold the church’s teachings on homosexuality, teach it or preach about it,” said Eddington, who until recently told only his bishop and a few parishioners that he is gay. “I have to be disobedient in that regard.”

He did not choose to be gay, Eddington said. He was born gay, he said, and considers his sexual orientation part of God’s plan. He said Ratzinger’s statement on homosexuality and other recent church actions are prejudicial and force gays to hide their sexual orientation.

Last week, the bishop of Brooklyn, N.Y., Francis J. Mugavero, told priests in his diocese that organizations that condone homosexual activity, like the gay Catholic group Dignity, will not be allowed to use church facilities for meetings or religious services.

The issue of homosexuality also played a part in the Vatican’s disciplining of two well-known U.S. church figures, Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen and Father Charles Curran.

Hunthausen was stripped of authority in five major areas, including moral issues dealing with homosexuality. He angered some church officials by allowing a national group of Catholic homosexuals to attend Mass at the Seattle cathedral. Hunthausen’s case was a dominant subject of the meeting of U.S. bishops last November.

Curran was barred from teaching as an official Catholic theologian at Catholic University in Washington because of his dissenting views on homosexuality and other sexual issues.

“Homosexuality is a common thread tying all these actions together,” said Kevin Gordon, a former brother who is the director of the Consultation, a San Francisco think tank that examines church issues, including homosexuality. “They realize now that a large number of their own people are gay and they’re extremely worried. So they’re sending out a message: ‘Don’t get too frisky.’ ”

More Than 30%

Many priests and church scholars interviewed contend that a significant percentage of the country’s 57,000 priests and monks have a homosexual orientation, although they may not be sexually active. Kennedy, the professor at Loyola University of Chicago, said, “Therapists I’ve talked to who work with priests, and priests in personnel work and the ones who have extensive experience, tell me the figure is over 30%.”

Maguire of Marquette said, “My estimate is more than 20%, but that’s being conservative. I’m coming in on the cautious side.”

Gays are drawn to professions like counseling, social work and religious life, said Mancuso, who formerly headed the church’s vocation directors, who counsel future seminarians.

“You’re going to have higher percentages in all helping professions. That’s just an observation on my part.”

For many gay men, religious life is an “escape,” said Father Robert Nugent, a priest from New Jersey who co-founded New Ways Ministry, an independent organization that serves Catholic homosexuals throughout the nation.

“The young priest simply does not have to deal with women,” said Nugent. “He can avoid all the family pressure to marry and raise a family. And some repressed men are drawn to the priesthood because they can’t cope with their homosexuality, so this is a way to just avoid it.”

When Maguire entered a seminary in 1949, he said, students were drummed out if their superiors detected “effeminate behavior.” Recently, he said, seminaries have been more open to gay candidates as long as they promise to be celibate.

Disappearing ‘Mystique’

Fewer heterosexuals enter the priesthood today, he said, because the “mystique” of being a priest and the “view that being celibate is a positive thing” are disappearing. And a greater percentage of heterosexual priests leave the church because of the desire for marriage and a family.

“In the past you didn’t question the idea of celibacy; it was simply the price tag of being a priest,” Maguire said. “But that’s changed.”

Bishop Francis A. Quinn of Sacramento said seminaries are more willing to accept candidates with homosexual orientation than they were 20 years ago. They are making the distinction, he said, not because of a need for priests but because of a “better understanding today about human sexuality.”

“But I still don’t think there are any great number of homosexually oriented priests,” he said. “My impression after spending 40 years in the priesthood is that the figures are about the same as the public at large, if not less.”

Richard Wagner, an Oakland brother, was dismissed from his order several years ago after writing a controversial doctoral thesis on gay priests. Although many priests--gay and straight--do not keep their vow of celibacy, he said in an interview, gay priests probably have a higher incidence of sexual activity. Of the 50 gay priests from throughout the country that he interviewed, 26% had a sexual partner and all but two had some sexual experience after they were ordained.

“Availability is the key factor,” Wagner said. “Most live in an all-male environment. And anonymous sex has been much more available to gay men.

“Most went in with the intention of being celibate, and over a period of years they changed. But it was not something they took lightly; many were very conflicted and desperately trying to make some sense of their lives.

‘Needs Are Different’

“A straight guy who goes in at 17 might have had some experience and then comes to terms with celibacy. But many gays at that age haven’t had the same kinds of social experience. . . . Their needs are different at 40.”

One Bay Area parish priest said in a recent interview that he was celibate until he was 41. When he entered the seminary at 20, he was “attracted to men, but I didn’t know what it meant.” Becoming a priest was a way to “run away” from the issue, he said.

“When I was in the seminary, homosexuality was a footnote in the Latin theology book along with bestiality. No wonder I didn’t know much; no wonder I didn’t want to say: ‘That’s me.’

“But a priest does not live in a bubble, and with the gay liberation movement and other things I began to learn more about being gay and more about myself. Then celibacy took on a different meaning because in the past, I had always placed it in the context of women and marriage. . . . And the issue with me was not really sex. I was lonely and I was looking for an intimacy beyond what I had in friendship.”

The American Psychiatric Assn. dropped homosexuality from its list of disorders in 1973, but the Catholic Church has ignored the scientific findings on the subject, said McNeill, who was dismissed this month from the Jesuit order for publicly opposing the church’s teachings.

Ten years ago, McNeill wrote “The Church and the Homosexual,” a book that maintained that homosexual behavior can be morally good and should be measured by the same standards as heterosexuality. He was ordered to stop speaking publicly and writing on the subject. McNeill, who calls himself a celibate gay, kept silent for the last decade, but after the recent statement by Ratzinger, he spoke out again.

‘So Vicious, So Mean’

“That letter was so vicious, so mean and so homophobic, I owed it to the gay community to speak out when it was under attack,” McNeill said. “All we’re asking for is an open debate on the subject and that the church should consider all the new evidence about homosexuality from the medical and scientific community. But the Vatican’s authority is being threatened and it’s become a power issue.

“In the past many gay priests hated themselves and gladly led others to hate their homosexuality. But priests now--in the light of new knowledge--are begining the accept themselves. The crackdown is trying to prevent that.”

Father John Harvey, director of Rest, Renewal and Re-creation, a ministry to gay priests based on official church teaching, contends that homosexual acts are “evil.” The organization, based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, receives financial support from a number of American bishops and sponsors weekend retreats and support groups.

“Twenty years ago priests kept homosexuality a secret, struggled harder with the issue and made more of an effort to accept the church’s teaching,” he said. “But now some priests are just saying: ‘I’m gay.’ That becomes a great problem when they’re counseling parishioners and undermining the church. Our Catholic faithful have a right to hear the church’s teachings, not some priest’s personal opinion.”

The Rev. Malcolm Boyd, an Episcopal priest at St. Augustine-by-the-Sea Church in Santa Monica, has become a “focal point” for gay clergy of all denominations since he began writing about his own homosexuality. Boyd said he has received more than 100 letters from confused gay Catholic priests and seminarians.

‘A Lot of Pain’

“The priests who write are questioning what the Catholic Church is saying about homosexuality and are in a lot of pain,” said Boyd, author of “Gay Priest.”

“I was at a retreat at a Catholic monastery and a very tormented monk approached me. He felt that because of his homosexual feelings he was bad and evil and could not be accepted by God. As we talked he began sobbing and seemed on the verge of a breakdown.

“I reassured him and told him that I accepted him and God accepted him and loved him. He seemed so relieved . . . so drained of the agony he had been going through.”