Father
James,
a
gay
Catholic
priest
living
in
California,
isn’t
sure
if
the
Vatican’s
planned
ban
on
gay
men
in
seminaries
will
affect
his
position
but
the
psychological
effect,
he
says,
is
the
same.
“It’s
like
having
your
family
reject
you,”
he
said
in
a
telephone
interview.
“You
feel
a
call
to
service
as
a
priest,
then
you
find
a
document
that
says
anybody
like
you
is
unfit
to
do
the
work
you’re
called
to
do.
It
hurts.”
Father
James
asked
that
his
identity
be
protected
because
some
“self-appointed
watchdogs”
scour
the
Internet
looking
for
gay
priests
to
report
to
the
bishop.
Anxiety
among
gay
priests
has
intensified
since
reports
emerged
that
the
Vatican
is
planning
to
ban
gay
seminarians.
The
details
on
who
would
be
excluded
or
how
it
could
be
enforced
are
still
unknown.
The
announcement
came
shortly
before
church
officials
began
visits
to
American
seminaries
to
question
students
on
a
range
of
topics,
including
whether
they
know
of
any
gays
in
their
seminary.
The
move
to
remove
gays
amounts
to
scapegoating
for
the
church’s
sex
abuse
crisis,
critics
say.
Several
sources
contacted
by
the
Blade
said
gay
seminary
students
and
priests
are
afraid
to
talk
to
the
media,
even
anonymously.
“No
one
wants
to
talk
on
the
record,”
said
Mark
Jordan,
a
professor
of
religion
at
Emory
University.
“There
is
a
fear
of
retaliation.”
Walter
H.
Cuenin,
a
pro-gay
Boston
priest
and
outspoken
critic
of
the
church’s
handling
of
the
sex
abuse
crisis,
was
recently
forced
to
resign
from
Our
Lady
Help
of
Christians
in
Newton,
Mass.
Throughout
Cuenin’s
tenure,
officials
have
reprimanded
him
for
supporting
gay
rights.
Operation
Rescue
Boston
posted
on
its
Web
site
a
letter
by
a
church
official,
dated
July
8,
criticizing
Cuenin’s
church’s
support
of
a
Gay
Pride
parade.
The
letter
has
not
been
authenticated,
an
archdiocese
spokesperson
told
the
Boston
Globe.
Rev.
Richard
G.
Lennon
wrote,
on
behalf
of
Archbishop
Sean
P.
O’Malley,
“I
note
in
your
letter
and
in
the
material
that
you
sent
specifically
the
point
that
you
bring
to
the
archbishop’s
attention
is
Father
Cuenin’s
bulletin
announcement
inviting
parishioners
to
participate
in
the
‘Gay
Pride’
parade.
Please
know
that
the
archbishop
is
very
disturbed
by
the
information
that
you,
along
with
others,
have
sent
to
him
regarding
this
event
and
the
involvement
of
Father
Cuenin.”
Cuenin’s
replacement
will
be
Rev.
Christopher
J.
Coyne,
a
supporter
of
traditional
church
teaching
on
gays
and
former
spokesperson
for
Cardinal
Bernard
F.
Law.
Cuenin
helped
organize
a
campaign
to
pressure
Law,
who
was
at
the
center
of
the
Boston
sex
abuse
crisis,
to
resign.
The
archdiocese
insists
that
Cuenin
broke
the
rules
by
receiving
a
$500
monthly
stipend
and
a
leased
Honda
Accord,
the
Boston
Globe
reported.
The
ousting
of
Cuenin,
coupled
with
the
seminary
visits
and
proposed
ban,
indicate
to
many
Catholics
that
the
church
is
not
interested
in
stopping
sex
abuse
—
it’s
trying
to
attack
gays
and
supporters
of
their
rights,
critics
said.
“This
is
not
about
faith,
it’s
about
power,”
Father
James
said.
Unlike
many
seminary
students
who
are
in
their
20s,
Father
James
went
to
school
when
he
was
40.
He
had
already
been
living
as
a
gay
man
for
close
to
20
years.
His
openness
about
his
sexual
identity
helped
him
to
be
a
better
priest,
he
said.
“I
was
a
person
before
I
became
a
priest,”
he
said.
“Once
I
was
established
in
my
identity
as
a
gay
man
I
could
answer
the
call
to
become
a
priest.
Knowing
who
I
am,
the
process
of
coming
out
—
it’s
very,
very
beneficial
to
my
service
as
a
priest.”
Many
Catholics
fear
that
the
ban
will
add
another
layer
of
secrecy
to
church
life
—
and
secrecy,
they
point
out,
is
what
caused
the
sex
abuse
crisis
to
begin
with.
The
policy
will
mean
some
gay
men
will
leave
the
church,
but
others,
they
say,
will
stay
and
lie.
“What
the
church
does
with
this
policy
is
it
condemns
them
to
an
immature
understanding
of
their
sexuality
or
repressed
sexuality
which
will
lead
to
acting
out
behaviors,”
said
Bob
Silva,
president
of
the
American
National
Federation
of
Priests’
Councils.
He
noted
that
there
is
no
connection
between
pedophilia
and
homosexuality.
“The
fact
of
the
matter
is
with
pedophilia
accessibility
is
the
key
–
not
whether
it’s
a
boy
or
girl,
it’s
who
they
have
access
to,”
he
said.
“Priests
have
access
to
boys
in
very
intimate
ways.”
Jody
Huckaby,
executive
director
of
PFLAG
who
studied
to
become
a
priest,
agreed
that
the
Vatican
is
missing
the
real
issue
entirely;
officials
should
be
looking
for
child
molesters,
not
gays.
When
Huckaby
was
in
the
seminary
school
system,
he
felt
comfortable
being
a
gay
man
and
said
there
were
open
discussions
about
sexual
orientation.
“Conservative,
unhealthy
people
might
be
attracted
to
the
church,”
he
said.
“If
you
require
celibacy
you
would
think
the
church
would
require
a
solid
understanding
of
human
sexuality.”
However,
as
Huckaby
and
several
other
sources
said,
the
Vatican’s
ban
is
just
another
example
of
the
disconnect
between
Rome’s
policies
and
parishioners,
which
has
already
driven
many
away
from
the
church.
“A
lot
of
lesbians
I
know
aren’t
involved
...
