'Celibate gay priest' resigns as chaplain at Catholic university

Published: 2006-01-16

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (CNS) -- In response to a recent Vatican instruction on homosexuality and priesthood, a Benedictine priest who describes himself as a "celibate gay priest" resigned as chaplain and director of campus ministry at St. John's University, effective Jan. 15. In a Dec. 14 e-mail to administrators and students explaining his decision, Benedictine Father Robert Pierson told them about his sexual orientation and said he does not accept several of the Vatican document's assertions. The Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, which oversees seminaries around the world, issued a nine-page instruction Nov. 29 that said candidates should not be accepted for priesthood if they have "deep-seated homosexual tendencies," live a gay lifestyle or have been sexually active. "I do not believe my own sexuality is 'objectively disordered,' or that it puts me 'in a situation that seriously obstructs (me) from properly relating to men and women,'" Father Pierson said, quoting language used in the instruction. "I cannot remain silent about my disagreement in conscience with this document, or the church's teaching on homosexuality," he wrote.

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