THE BLOW BY BLOW

A round-up of responses to the Hitch-Galloway debate.

“INSANE”: That’s how Catholic conservative Amy Wellborn describes the apparent new policy of the Catholic church to ban even celibate homosexual priests committed to the magisterium. I should say that her characterization of me is off-base. I do indeed dissent from Humanae Vitae and do not believe that all sex should be procreative in intent or potential. But I’m not a priest; and I’ve never said or argued that gay priests shouldn’t live by exactly the same standards as straight ones, i.e. celibacy; and I’ve never argued, for that matter, that my own beliefs about sexuality as a whole are compatible with the Church’s (I am joined in that by the vast majority of contraceptive-using heterosexual Catholics). The issue of celibacy itself – for gay and straight priests alike – is a separate matter to be discussed on another occasion. But I’m heartened by Amy’s view that the policy of “not-even-celibate-gays” is so extreme and so confused in its theology that it cannot be pursued. But we’ll see. Where I differ from Wellborn is her support for banning priests who self-identify as gay, rather than those merely privately tormented by same-sex desire. I think part of the problem that led to the hideous “acting out” of some emotionally stunted priests has been exactly the deep gay self-hatred among some gay priests, inculcated by the Church. So let’s be consistent here: If being gay is no sin, then there’s no sin in being open about it. In fact, if the Church is serious about urging gay men and women to be celibate even in their lay lives, shouldn’t celibate openly gay priests be key leaders of this effort? If more were open about both their sexual orientation and their commitment to celibacy, it seems to me it would be healthier for them and the church. And priests also emerge from the society they live in. The next generation will not grow up with the same prejudices about homosexuality that my generation did; and “gay culture,” if it exists as such, will change into something far more complex as well. Self-identifying as gay in a generation’s time will be no more dispositive about someone than saying you’re Latino or black; it’s a standard that won’t last five years, let alone five decades. The church should concentrate on forbidding sexual abuse, not stigmatizing sexual orientation. It’s an actual response to an actual problem – not scapegoating; and it’s the Catholic thing to do.