Monday, November 28, 2005

No More Pink Palaces

Tomorrow’s the big day. The Vatican is set to release its much anticipated document, approved by the Holy Father, barring all active gay men and those men who support the gay culture from entering the Church’s seminaries. These restrictions would not necessarily bar those men who have had same-sex attractions, but was during a time in their lives which is in the past and they have reformed and lived truly chaste lives for the past three years (at least according to all the reports that I’ve read in the blogosphere). Great news, huh? You might find yourself saying “It’s about time!”

Chew on this: these restrictions depend on the Church’s bishops to enforce. After all, many if not most seminaries in the Church are diocesan seminaries (correct me if I’m wrong on this one). Knowing the infamous job performance of American bishops, do you expect our bishops to enforce these restrictions? I’m not holding my breath. This document is a great first step, but the job won’t be done until our terrible bishops—some of whom I suspect either support the gay culture or are gay themselves—are dealt with. What this means is that those bishops who do not obey the Holy Father are severely reprimanded, up to and including removal from their sees and even the possible excommunication or two. We’ll just have to wait and see.