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	Vatican to Scour Seminaries for 'Evidence of Homosexuality' By Carol Eisenberg Newsday September 16, 2005 An intensive review of more than 220 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States, including those in New York and Long Island, will look for "evidence of homosexuality," faculty dissent from church teaching and how seminaries monitor men's behavior outside school, according to a Vatican document. The visitations by teams of bishops and seminary officials are slated to begin later this month against the backdrop of a papal review of a long-awaited document on whether gay men should be ordained as priests. "The overall focus of the visitations is on the formation for celibacy," said Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, spokesman for the U.S. bishops conference. "There's a special issue today with regard to homosexuality because we live in an era of gay rights, where some people have said that this is a permissible way to live, and even a priest might think he can be a priest even though he's active in a homosexual way, or an advocate of a homosexual lifestyle. Things like that need to be dealt with." Amid fears that the visits will become a "witch hunt," church officials said their focus is ensuring seminaries follow church teachings. The reviews were ordered by Rome in April 2002, at the height of the clerical sexual-abuse crisis. The 12-page instructions to bishops and seminary officials conducting the visits, which were obtained by Newsday, include such questions as: Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary? Do the seminarians know how to use alcohol, the Internet, television, etc. with prudence and moderation? How does the seminary monitor the seminarians' behavior outside the seminary? Is the seminary free from the influences of New Age and eclectic spirituality? How are the seminarians formed to celibate chastity in the areas of friendships? ... Do the formation faculty members watch out for signs of "particular friendships"? Though most experts say there is no connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, conservative Catholics and some bishops blame the priest sex-abuse scandals on seminaries that created a permissive atmosphere for gay priests. Liberals blame the church's policy of mandatory celibacy and a system that produced psychologically immature priests. While conservatives applaud the visitations, others expressed concern Thursday that gay seminarians and gay priests would unfairly be made scapegoats. "I do fear there will be a witch hunt," said Sister Jeannine Gramick, who was censured by the Vatican for her ministry on behalf of lesbian and gay people. "There's no evidence to show a causal connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse. When you start singling out homosexuals, that concerns me." Some also worried the visitations would force gay seminarians deeper into the closet, potentially fostering unhealthy attitudes and behaviors. "The guy who is honest and open with his superiors is the one who will be punished, while the guy who is screwing around on the side and not telling anyone is going to get away with it -- until such time as he gets caught," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest who was forced out as editor of America magazine last spring. Maniscalco insisted, however, that the focus of the visitations is on assessing institutions, not individual seminarians or faculty. "The teams are fact finders who pass onto Rome what seems to be the situation in the seminary, to make sure they are conveying to our future priests a firm, clear teaching about human sexuality so that the men who come to ordination are prepared for lifelong celibacy," he said. But not everyone is convinced of that agenda, especially after an interview given to a Catholic newspaper this week by Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, who is overseeing the process. "I think anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity or has strong homosexual inclinations would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into a seminary," O'Brien told The National Catholic Register. St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, run by the Archdiocese of New York, will be visited by a team of visitors in January, said archdiocesan spokesman Joseph Zwilling. A date for Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, run by the Diocese of Rockville Centre, could not be determined. The instructions say the visits should last a minimum of four days, and include confidential interviews with all faculty members, students, and priests who had graduated from the institution in the previous three years.
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