Vatican, celibacy and gays in the priesthood

Re “Pope Benedict, why isn’t celibacy enough?” Opinion, Nov. 25

What R. John Kinkel begins to document sounds like nothing less than a war by the Vatican hierarchy upon the Roman Catholic priesthood, both gay and straight.

This sounds strange, but such a war is not without precedent.

Upon taking power in the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin directed his purges against the good and decent people in the Communist Party, of which there were many, in order to convert the party into a dependable instrument of his will.

Pope Benedict XVI is obviously no Stalin, but some of his overall concerns do sound unhappily familiar.

JOHN MCCUMBER

Los Angeles

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The Nov. 23 article “Vatican Issues a Qualified Ban on Gays in Priesthood” notes that the recently leaked Vatican ban on gay priests makes exception for celibate gays who “do not flaunt any aspect of a gay culture, which church officials have defined as the use of gay movies, books and websites, and participation in gay pride events.”

The labeling of any public acknowledgment of homosexuality as “flaunting” has long been used to keep gays in the closet and invisible.

The Times’ decision to use it in reference to what would appear to be largely private activities seems particularly inappropriate; would The Times similarly refer to the consumption of books or movies with heterosexual themes as a “flaunting” of straight culture?

JULIE HOLLAR

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

New York

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The Times reports that the Roman Catholic Church has partially banned gays from becoming priests in an effort to stem church child-abuse scandals.

The problem with this is that study after study have shown that gays are not involved with the repeated incidents of child molestation reported in the Roman Catholic Church.

Abuse of young men by predatory Roman Catholic priests is not being perpetrated by gay priests; rather, this has been shown to be a problem with sexually deviant heterosexual priests. These are crimes of improper exercise of power by these priests over their young male parishioners.

Rape has long been shown to be not a sexual crime but one of power over women by the rapist. The same, as studies have shown, is true of male sexual abuse by heterosexual priests engaging in acts of domination over vulnerable young male churchgoers.

It is time that the church -- and society -- stop blaming gays for the repeated sexual scandals in the Roman Catholic Church. Until that happens, no meaningful solution will be found to a problem that lies with criminally deviant heterosexual priests.

Preventing gays from becoming priests is a religious version of a “snipe” hunt.

RICHARD HUFF

San Diego