Homosexuality question for seminary visitations sparks flap

Published: 2005-09-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Of 56 questions that will serve as the framework for apostolic visitations of U.S. Catholic seminaries this academic year, one -- "Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary?" -- sparked a big media flap in mid-September. One of the main purposes of the visitations is to assess how well U.S. seminaries are preparing their students for a lifelong commitment to celibacy as priests. "The church is trying to put out a very clear signal" that those seeking ordination "must embrace a life of celibate chastity," said Father Stephen J. Rossetti, president of St. Luke Institute, a facility in the Washington suburbs that specializes in treating priests and religious who suffer addictions or behavioral, emotional or psychological problems. "The question of homosexuality is an important one," he told Catholic News Service Sept. 16. He said there is a need to determine when it is appropriate and when it is not to ordain someone who is homosexually oriented.

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