Oct 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
A parish priest says the “wise prohibition” of homosexuals from the priesthood should remain and be enforced.
In his regular column in the San Mateo Times, Fr. James Garcia said he is reserving judgment on the press reports, based on anonymous sources, that the Vatican will issue a document that sets conditions for homosexuals to enter the priesthood. “They just don't square with past Vatican teachings that kept the door firmly closed,” he said.
Ordained 35 years, Fr. Garcia said he doesn’t know why anyone would abolish the ban.
“The Catholic Church is just beginning to extricate herself from the greatest scandal and financial payout in her American history,” he wrote. He referred to last year’s John Jay Report, which indicated that 80 percent of the clergy sexual abuse victims in the past 50 years were boys between the ages of 11 and 17, “making both the sin and the crime homosexual in nature.”