I do know this: There are a number of homosexual men either working as priests or in the seminary that take the promise of celibacy seriously and place their sexuality in a place behind their ministry or studies, this is what I like to think is asked of all men called to the priesthood. It was the method I used when I was studying as a seminarian to be successful in controlling the urges brought about by the different relationships with women that I was blessed with. I did not ignore my sexuality, I put it second or third or even further distant to the ministry of the Church. I still appreciated the sight of a beautiful woman and the friendship of many female companions but never made sex the focus of those things. I like to believe that we can allow our gay seminarians and priests the same latitude. I know many men that have mastered their sexuality and, while attracted to other men, don’t make it the focus of their relationships and dealings with those men. I think we need to reevaluate the way we appraoch admission to our seminaries. There must be a stronger evaluation and examination of every man to determine whether he is able to place his sexuality on the back burner and place their focus on the ministry of the Church and service to God. Finally, it wouldn’t hurt us to be a bit more open to criticism from the outside world. I know we are America and we do almost everything better than everybody else but, we can use a little help when it comes to ideas like humility and obedience.

Jeff