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Sexuality in the seminary
- Written by: Alex Walker
12/05/2001 The Tablet
Sexuality in the seminary
James O'Keefe
A high proportion of homosexuals is found in some local Churches among Catholic priests and Catholic seminarians. Does it matter? How should these Churches react? These questions are considered by the rector of the Ushaw seminary in Durham.
THE questions raised by Mark Dowd in his Tablet article ("Gays in the priesthood", 5 May) and in his television programme Queer and Catholic are very important.
We must be clear, however, for a start, that the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not say that homosexual orientation is "intrinsically disordered". It does say that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered".
Mark Dowd writes in his Tablet article that Archbishop Bertone, secretary to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared recently that "men with a homosexual orientation should not be admitted to seminary life". The quotation comes from a Catholic News Service (CNS) report following the publication of the book La Confessione, containing conversations with a homosexual priest, by the Italian journalist Marco Politi. The CNS report went on: "In a written statement provided to CNS, Archbishop Bertone said: âIt cannot be denied that when homosexuality becomes widespread or acceptable in a certain cultural or geographical region, this can have negative effects even within the priesthood.' Although the homosexual inclination is not sinful in itself, it âevokes moral concern' because it is a strong temptation to actions that âare always in themselves evil', the archbishop said."
Some believe that the archbishop described the homosexual orientation as "objectively disordered". This is not what the report says. CNS itself, however, is quite inaccurate when it goes on to remark that "the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the homosexual inclination âobjectively disordered'". It does not. At the very least, there needs to be consistency of expression, clarity and compassion in approaching this extremely sensitive subject. Many people are hurt and confused not only by the language, but by what can appear to be a different approach when an "official statement" differs from a statement in the catechism.
I know from those of my friends who are gay in orientation that the Church's uncompromising stand does present a real challenge for many. It need not be a particular problem for seminary rectors, however, because of the Church's expectation that priests in the Catholic Church are to be chaste celibates. Men and women who can embrace chastity and celibacy can offer courageous witness in our world to non-possessive love, to an openness to vulnerability, availability and personal integrity.
I would personally be very sad if there was ever a time when there was no witness to celibacy among secular priests. Of course celibacy is a matter of discipline in the Catholic Church, not an intrinsic dimension of ordained priesthood, and the present rule could change at some time in the future.
The current presumption is that there are more gay seminarians and priests today than there were in the past. How can we know? I started in junior seminary in 1959; we simply did not have the language to talk about the affective side of our lives, or about sexuality or orientation. It is true, however, that a significant number of priests gave up active ministry after 1968, and many of them married. It may be that these departures left a higher proportion of homosexuals in the secular priesthood.
Certainly, the proportion of gay men in formation for ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church is higher than that in the population as a whole. I am very cautious about the percentages suggested by the American seminary rector Donald Cozzens, who appeared on the television programme, and the researcher Richard Sipe. Some of my colleagues in the United States are very critical of the ways they have reached these conclusions. None the less, the proportion of gay men in Catholic seminaries and the Catholic priesthood does raise questions.
One adverse effect of these large proportions of homosexuals may be that heterosexuals who have made the sacrifice involved in accepting celibacy for the sake of the kingdom begin to feel that the sign value of what they have done is being negated. For while they have had to give up the prospect of marrying, becoming a parent and having children, no such choice has been made by gay men. Some (not many) seminarians have given as their reason for leaving the seminary and formation the preponderance of homosexual seminarians in the community. Men whose own human development needs to include relationships with women are at some disadvantage.
Homosexual students and priests have their own difficulties to overcome. There are very few role models for them. As one friend of mine says: "What is missing is the narrative." In other words, the story of gay priests cannot yet be told; many of us might not know how difficult it is for gay clergy to operate in a society which is still so prejudiced.
I do not believe for one moment, however, that Sr Jeannine Gramick is right, as quoted by Mark Dowd, when she says that "homosexuality is a time bomb ticking in the Church". I am certain that seminary rectors are more concerned about the personal, spiritual, academic and pastoral formation of all their students than the sexual orientation of any of them.
Our society is obsessed with sex (not the same as sexuality), but is not well informed about it. We are only approaching the low foothills in our appreciation of the mystery of sexuality and the integration of sexuality into our personality. It is only since the first half of the 1900s, following the work of Freud and Jung and others, that we have been able to talk about these things. It is only 50 years ago that the advice to seminarians before their summer holidays included the phrase: "And beware of women, especially those of the opposite sex."
THE real issue for us is maturity and integrity, not orientation. It is vital that future priests are able to relate at real depth to a wide range of people. If a student is misogynist or homophobic or only comfortable with other gay men, then I believe that he is not called to diocesan priesthood. I do not believe that a seminarian should be asked to leave a seminary just because his orientation is homosexual. It is far more important that he is passionate about being a herald of the Gospel, can preach and preside in the local community.
The work and guidance of the Holy Spirit is what fundamentally attracts us to the Catholic priesthood, but it is always useful for us to reflect at the human level on our motives, which are unconscious as well as conscious. We could benefit from some honest reflection on what it is about the local worshipping community that attracts a preponderance of gay men to enter the priesthood. Various explanations have been advanced: that these men feel safer in a virtually all-male environment; that gay seminarians are relieved at not having to admit that they are not attracted to women; that the priesthood has resemblances to the caring and acting professions, for elements of both are included in the role of the priest. Others wonder if the pull is towards a cultic or conservative priestly profession which can appear to give clarity and security in a complex world.
It seems that we are not yet able to have an informed and honest discussion about such things. We certainly need clarification about judgements such as "intrinsic disorder". I would have serious concerns about a student who seemed only interested in pursuing comfort or status. I am inclined to call these intrinsic disorders, yet we do not use such language about the abuse of power. The effects of original sin are alive and well in all of us. At the same time, our baptismal commitment invites us to make moral choices which are increasingly life-giving and motivated by real love.
So there are questions to be asked about the sexual integration and maturity of all future priests, including those who are gay. We need to look carefully at the basic principles involved in human and personal development, affirming that we are all loved by God and that our sexuality is a gift from God.
Observers and commentators such as Mark Dowd are pushing a political agenda alongside pastoral concern for gay people in general and seminarians in particular. There is nothing wrong with that, but the two need separating out. The political debate needs to be carried on with rigour and consistency. Pastoral attitudes must be compassionate and open to change. But conversion of heart must always be the beginning and end of any truly Christian approach.
Sexuality in the seminary
James O'Keefe
A high proportion of homosexuals is found in some local Churches among Catholic priests and Catholic seminarians. Does it matter? How should these Churches react? These questions are considered by the rector of the Ushaw seminary in Durham.
THE questions raised by Mark Dowd in his Tablet article ("Gays in the priesthood", 5 May) and in his television programme Queer and Catholic are very important.
We must be clear, however, for a start, that the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not say that homosexual orientation is "intrinsically disordered". It does say that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered".
Mark Dowd writes in his Tablet article that Archbishop Bertone, secretary to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared recently that "men with a homosexual orientation should not be admitted to seminary life". The quotation comes from a Catholic News Service (CNS) report following the publication of the book La Confessione, containing conversations with a homosexual priest, by the Italian journalist Marco Politi. The CNS report went on: "In a written statement provided to CNS, Archbishop Bertone said: âIt cannot be denied that when homosexuality becomes widespread or acceptable in a certain cultural or geographical region, this can have negative effects even within the priesthood.' Although the homosexual inclination is not sinful in itself, it âevokes moral concern' because it is a strong temptation to actions that âare always in themselves evil', the archbishop said."
Some believe that the archbishop described the homosexual orientation as "objectively disordered". This is not what the report says. CNS itself, however, is quite inaccurate when it goes on to remark that "the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the homosexual inclination âobjectively disordered'". It does not. At the very least, there needs to be consistency of expression, clarity and compassion in approaching this extremely sensitive subject. Many people are hurt and confused not only by the language, but by what can appear to be a different approach when an "official statement" differs from a statement in the catechism.
I know from those of my friends who are gay in orientation that the Church's uncompromising stand does present a real challenge for many. It need not be a particular problem for seminary rectors, however, because of the Church's expectation that priests in the Catholic Church are to be chaste celibates. Men and women who can embrace chastity and celibacy can offer courageous witness in our world to non-possessive love, to an openness to vulnerability, availability and personal integrity.
I would personally be very sad if there was ever a time when there was no witness to celibacy among secular priests. Of course celibacy is a matter of discipline in the Catholic Church, not an intrinsic dimension of ordained priesthood, and the present rule could change at some time in the future.
The current presumption is that there are more gay seminarians and priests today than there were in the past. How can we know? I started in junior seminary in 1959; we simply did not have the language to talk about the affective side of our lives, or about sexuality or orientation. It is true, however, that a significant number of priests gave up active ministry after 1968, and many of them married. It may be that these departures left a higher proportion of homosexuals in the secular priesthood.
Certainly, the proportion of gay men in formation for ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church is higher than that in the population as a whole. I am very cautious about the percentages suggested by the American seminary rector Donald Cozzens, who appeared on the television programme, and the researcher Richard Sipe. Some of my colleagues in the United States are very critical of the ways they have reached these conclusions. None the less, the proportion of gay men in Catholic seminaries and the Catholic priesthood does raise questions.
One adverse effect of these large proportions of homosexuals may be that heterosexuals who have made the sacrifice involved in accepting celibacy for the sake of the kingdom begin to feel that the sign value of what they have done is being negated. For while they have had to give up the prospect of marrying, becoming a parent and having children, no such choice has been made by gay men. Some (not many) seminarians have given as their reason for leaving the seminary and formation the preponderance of homosexual seminarians in the community. Men whose own human development needs to include relationships with women are at some disadvantage.
Homosexual students and priests have their own difficulties to overcome. There are very few role models for them. As one friend of mine says: "What is missing is the narrative." In other words, the story of gay priests cannot yet be told; many of us might not know how difficult it is for gay clergy to operate in a society which is still so prejudiced.
I do not believe for one moment, however, that Sr Jeannine Gramick is right, as quoted by Mark Dowd, when she says that "homosexuality is a time bomb ticking in the Church". I am certain that seminary rectors are more concerned about the personal, spiritual, academic and pastoral formation of all their students than the sexual orientation of any of them.
Our society is obsessed with sex (not the same as sexuality), but is not well informed about it. We are only approaching the low foothills in our appreciation of the mystery of sexuality and the integration of sexuality into our personality. It is only since the first half of the 1900s, following the work of Freud and Jung and others, that we have been able to talk about these things. It is only 50 years ago that the advice to seminarians before their summer holidays included the phrase: "And beware of women, especially those of the opposite sex."
THE real issue for us is maturity and integrity, not orientation. It is vital that future priests are able to relate at real depth to a wide range of people. If a student is misogynist or homophobic or only comfortable with other gay men, then I believe that he is not called to diocesan priesthood. I do not believe that a seminarian should be asked to leave a seminary just because his orientation is homosexual. It is far more important that he is passionate about being a herald of the Gospel, can preach and preside in the local community.
The work and guidance of the Holy Spirit is what fundamentally attracts us to the Catholic priesthood, but it is always useful for us to reflect at the human level on our motives, which are unconscious as well as conscious. We could benefit from some honest reflection on what it is about the local worshipping community that attracts a preponderance of gay men to enter the priesthood. Various explanations have been advanced: that these men feel safer in a virtually all-male environment; that gay seminarians are relieved at not having to admit that they are not attracted to women; that the priesthood has resemblances to the caring and acting professions, for elements of both are included in the role of the priest. Others wonder if the pull is towards a cultic or conservative priestly profession which can appear to give clarity and security in a complex world.
It seems that we are not yet able to have an informed and honest discussion about such things. We certainly need clarification about judgements such as "intrinsic disorder". I would have serious concerns about a student who seemed only interested in pursuing comfort or status. I am inclined to call these intrinsic disorders, yet we do not use such language about the abuse of power. The effects of original sin are alive and well in all of us. At the same time, our baptismal commitment invites us to make moral choices which are increasingly life-giving and motivated by real love.
So there are questions to be asked about the sexual integration and maturity of all future priests, including those who are gay. We need to look carefully at the basic principles involved in human and personal development, affirming that we are all loved by God and that our sexuality is a gift from God.
Observers and commentators such as Mark Dowd are pushing a political agenda alongside pastoral concern for gay people in general and seminarians in particular. There is nothing wrong with that, but the two need separating out. The political debate needs to be carried on with rigour and consistency. Pastoral attitudes must be compassionate and open to change. But conversion of heart must always be the beginning and end of any truly Christian approach.
Gays in the priesthood
- Written by: Alex Walker
05/05/2001 The Tablet
Gays in the priesthood
Mark Dowd
There has been an influx of homosexuals into the Catholic priesthood. This taboo subject is to be explored in a Channel 4 film today. Its presenter, a former Dominican friar, thinks the phenomenon demands a revision of Catholic teaching.
âHOMOSEXUALITY is a time-bomb ticking in the Church and I think it could explode very soon." These aren't the words of the gay-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, nor of some trendy sociologist, but of Sr Jeannine Gramick, the School Sister of Notre Dame who has refused to obey the Vatican's silencing order on this most taboo of all subjects. What does she mean and is she right?
Time to put some cards on the table. I am a gay Catholic and a former Dominican friar. I've always been intrigued by the conundrum of why a Church that describes the homosexual orientation as "a strong tendency towards an intrinsic moral evil" should have so many gay men in its ranks. Donald Cozzens only stated in his book The Changing Face of the Priesthood last year what many have felt secretly for a long time, namely that in many parts of the world the priesthood is becoming a gay profession. Fr Cozzens is in good company. The outgoing rector of Allen Hall, James Overton, recently backed up Cozzens in The Tablet, as does the present rector of St John's seminary at Wonersh, Kevin Haggerty. He told me that "a reasonable proportion" of men in seminary life are gay, and warns of the dangers of students dividing into cliques along gay or straight lines.
Kevin Haggerty also told me that the issue switches on "amber lights if not red lights" for the Catholic hierarchy. In Rome Archbishop Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated recently that "men with a homosexual orientation should not be admitted to seminary life". The very orientation itself, it seems, is suspect. Cardinal Ratzinger's deputy says being gay evokes "moral concern" because it is "a strong temptation towards acts that are always in themselves evil". It's the irony of all ironies: a Church with a growing manpower crisis depends on a large cohort of men whose very sexual orientation it treats with grave suspicion.
Does all this really matter? "Celibacy makes equals of us all", is the common refrain. Yes, it does matter in my opinion and here is why.
First, it is not in the wider Church's interest to have a large number of its priests being described as "objectively disordered" by the teaching authority. It flies directly in the face of much of the common-sense teaching that the Pope evoked in his encyclical on priestly formation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, in the early 1990s, which emphasised an acceptance of all the priest's complex psychological make-up and humanity. Instead, present doctrine leaves whole swaths of the clergy feeling second-rate and flawed.
Those who are concerned about the disproportionate numbers of gay men in priestly life need look no further than the heady cocktail of the Vatican's hostile language on the matter and the celibacy law for an explanation. If a young homosexual man takes these words to heart, does not the priesthood appear to offer him, perhaps unconsciously, the promise of a life which will guarantee sexual abstinence and a way of dealing with the marriage question? I remember the relief I felt as a young Dominican when I was able to head off enquiries from curious relatives about the conspicuous absence of a girlfriend on the scene. "Oh, but of course you can't tie the knot with a young girl can you, you're giving your life to God and the Church?" Quite. I am not suggesting that thousands of clergy are acting in bad faith: vocations are subtle and complex mixtures of psychological and spiritual forces. But I am convinced that, at least in part, a combination of obligatory celibacy for the secular priesthood and the Vatican's utterances on homosexuality have fed off each another to bring us to our present position.
The psychological testing and questioning introduced at the selection stage prior to entry to seminary have been introduced to give superiors a clearer idea of the sexual make-up of aspiring candidates. Whatever one might think of such procedures (and I have nothing against them myself), it is patently contradictory to encourage ease and openness about sexuality in prospective seminarians who are homosexual against the backdrop of the Church's hostile language on the subject.
It was notable in James Overton's interview with The Tablet that he was hasty to point out that there was no evidence of sexual practice among gay men at Allen Hall. I have no reason to doubt his sincerity. But I heard a different side to this matter from two former students of the English College in Rome, Chris Higgins and Dennis Caulfield. These are men of deep integrity who managed to square the nightmare situation of being lovers in a seminary by ultimately acting out of honesty: leaving their priestly surroundings and living out the truth of their lives with family and friends. But their accounts of the underground world of sexual repression in Rome give food for thought.
Such was the taboo nature of this subject that a number of gay students "acted out" their sexual inclinations in a climate where they felt they could not discuss the matter with superiors or spiritual directors. Admission of "failure" on homosexual practice was thought to carry certain threat of expulsion. Chris and Dennis recall men going off to parks in Rome and clubs for sexual liaisons and then later adamantly justifying that their celibate status was still intact. "For some men", says Chris, "celibacy was simply defined as not falling in love so you could have sex with someone without getting involved and still remain âcelibate'. What you did with your body was just flesh."
THAT is not all. Chris's partner Dennis recalls that there were other extraordinary mind-games at play among the students. "Some of the people who were the most anti-gay and inclined to invoke the Church's teaching to put other people down were people who I knew to be gay themselves", he says, "and mixed in gay circles with other gay men."
The tabloid press will no doubt home in on these incidents and depict them as salacious and scandalous. The real scandal is what lurks beneath all this behaviour: the inability of the Catholic Church to have a serious and truthful dialogue about an issue which goes right to the very heart of its power structures and sexual teaching. The brave Fr Cozzens told me that this subject is a "can of worms" for the hierarchy because it begs so many questions about those aspects of Catholic life that we have come to see as part of the furniture. The emerging gay sexual identity of large numbers of the priesthood is an advancing and unwelcome gift for the Church. I will be mocked for using the word "crisis" but even compared with five years ago, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle and the contradictions are more evident than ever before.
The option that Rome should take seems to me clear-cut: come clean and attempt an intelligent theological explanation of the phenomenon. Explain why God might want to call to priestly service a number of "objectively disordered" men which is out of all proportion to the numbers of gays in society. Or if that does not suit, then have a re-think. Perhaps the gay orientation is not "disordered" after all, and if it isn't, then I am not the only homosexual Catholic waiting to see how my Church can fashion a way forward that allows me to express my love for another human being unreservedly while being relieved of the label "sinner", "self-indulgent" and "morally evil".
Gays in the priesthood
Mark Dowd
There has been an influx of homosexuals into the Catholic priesthood. This taboo subject is to be explored in a Channel 4 film today. Its presenter, a former Dominican friar, thinks the phenomenon demands a revision of Catholic teaching.
âHOMOSEXUALITY is a time-bomb ticking in the Church and I think it could explode very soon." These aren't the words of the gay-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, nor of some trendy sociologist, but of Sr Jeannine Gramick, the School Sister of Notre Dame who has refused to obey the Vatican's silencing order on this most taboo of all subjects. What does she mean and is she right?
Time to put some cards on the table. I am a gay Catholic and a former Dominican friar. I've always been intrigued by the conundrum of why a Church that describes the homosexual orientation as "a strong tendency towards an intrinsic moral evil" should have so many gay men in its ranks. Donald Cozzens only stated in his book The Changing Face of the Priesthood last year what many have felt secretly for a long time, namely that in many parts of the world the priesthood is becoming a gay profession. Fr Cozzens is in good company. The outgoing rector of Allen Hall, James Overton, recently backed up Cozzens in The Tablet, as does the present rector of St John's seminary at Wonersh, Kevin Haggerty. He told me that "a reasonable proportion" of men in seminary life are gay, and warns of the dangers of students dividing into cliques along gay or straight lines.
Kevin Haggerty also told me that the issue switches on "amber lights if not red lights" for the Catholic hierarchy. In Rome Archbishop Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated recently that "men with a homosexual orientation should not be admitted to seminary life". The very orientation itself, it seems, is suspect. Cardinal Ratzinger's deputy says being gay evokes "moral concern" because it is "a strong temptation towards acts that are always in themselves evil". It's the irony of all ironies: a Church with a growing manpower crisis depends on a large cohort of men whose very sexual orientation it treats with grave suspicion.
Does all this really matter? "Celibacy makes equals of us all", is the common refrain. Yes, it does matter in my opinion and here is why.
First, it is not in the wider Church's interest to have a large number of its priests being described as "objectively disordered" by the teaching authority. It flies directly in the face of much of the common-sense teaching that the Pope evoked in his encyclical on priestly formation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, in the early 1990s, which emphasised an acceptance of all the priest's complex psychological make-up and humanity. Instead, present doctrine leaves whole swaths of the clergy feeling second-rate and flawed.
Those who are concerned about the disproportionate numbers of gay men in priestly life need look no further than the heady cocktail of the Vatican's hostile language on the matter and the celibacy law for an explanation. If a young homosexual man takes these words to heart, does not the priesthood appear to offer him, perhaps unconsciously, the promise of a life which will guarantee sexual abstinence and a way of dealing with the marriage question? I remember the relief I felt as a young Dominican when I was able to head off enquiries from curious relatives about the conspicuous absence of a girlfriend on the scene. "Oh, but of course you can't tie the knot with a young girl can you, you're giving your life to God and the Church?" Quite. I am not suggesting that thousands of clergy are acting in bad faith: vocations are subtle and complex mixtures of psychological and spiritual forces. But I am convinced that, at least in part, a combination of obligatory celibacy for the secular priesthood and the Vatican's utterances on homosexuality have fed off each another to bring us to our present position.
The psychological testing and questioning introduced at the selection stage prior to entry to seminary have been introduced to give superiors a clearer idea of the sexual make-up of aspiring candidates. Whatever one might think of such procedures (and I have nothing against them myself), it is patently contradictory to encourage ease and openness about sexuality in prospective seminarians who are homosexual against the backdrop of the Church's hostile language on the subject.
It was notable in James Overton's interview with The Tablet that he was hasty to point out that there was no evidence of sexual practice among gay men at Allen Hall. I have no reason to doubt his sincerity. But I heard a different side to this matter from two former students of the English College in Rome, Chris Higgins and Dennis Caulfield. These are men of deep integrity who managed to square the nightmare situation of being lovers in a seminary by ultimately acting out of honesty: leaving their priestly surroundings and living out the truth of their lives with family and friends. But their accounts of the underground world of sexual repression in Rome give food for thought.
Such was the taboo nature of this subject that a number of gay students "acted out" their sexual inclinations in a climate where they felt they could not discuss the matter with superiors or spiritual directors. Admission of "failure" on homosexual practice was thought to carry certain threat of expulsion. Chris and Dennis recall men going off to parks in Rome and clubs for sexual liaisons and then later adamantly justifying that their celibate status was still intact. "For some men", says Chris, "celibacy was simply defined as not falling in love so you could have sex with someone without getting involved and still remain âcelibate'. What you did with your body was just flesh."
THAT is not all. Chris's partner Dennis recalls that there were other extraordinary mind-games at play among the students. "Some of the people who were the most anti-gay and inclined to invoke the Church's teaching to put other people down were people who I knew to be gay themselves", he says, "and mixed in gay circles with other gay men."
The tabloid press will no doubt home in on these incidents and depict them as salacious and scandalous. The real scandal is what lurks beneath all this behaviour: the inability of the Catholic Church to have a serious and truthful dialogue about an issue which goes right to the very heart of its power structures and sexual teaching. The brave Fr Cozzens told me that this subject is a "can of worms" for the hierarchy because it begs so many questions about those aspects of Catholic life that we have come to see as part of the furniture. The emerging gay sexual identity of large numbers of the priesthood is an advancing and unwelcome gift for the Church. I will be mocked for using the word "crisis" but even compared with five years ago, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle and the contradictions are more evident than ever before.
The option that Rome should take seems to me clear-cut: come clean and attempt an intelligent theological explanation of the phenomenon. Explain why God might want to call to priestly service a number of "objectively disordered" men which is out of all proportion to the numbers of gays in society. Or if that does not suit, then have a re-think. Perhaps the gay orientation is not "disordered" after all, and if it isn't, then I am not the only homosexual Catholic waiting to see how my Church can fashion a way forward that allows me to express my love for another human being unreservedly while being relieved of the label "sinner", "self-indulgent" and "morally evil".
Bishops agree on child abuse shield
- Written by: Alex Walker
SATURDAY APRIL 28 2001
Bishops agree on child abuse shield
BY RUTH GLEDHILL, RELIGION CORRESPONDENT
ROMAN Catholic bishops have agreed to accept all the recommendations of the Nolan review into child abuse by the Church's priests. They are to advertise for a person to head a new national child protection unit to root out child abusers by vetting clergy, lay staff and volunteers.
The bishops pledged that this person need neither be ordained nor be a Catholic, though they would "not be prejudiced" against a Catholic.
Announcing the rapid implementation of the proposals Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, said: "We are committed to ensuring the Church becomes the safest of places for children, and indeed an example of best practice in the whole field of child protection."
Bishops agree on child abuse shield
BY RUTH GLEDHILL, RELIGION CORRESPONDENT
ROMAN Catholic bishops have agreed to accept all the recommendations of the Nolan review into child abuse by the Church's priests. They are to advertise for a person to head a new national child protection unit to root out child abusers by vetting clergy, lay staff and volunteers.
The bishops pledged that this person need neither be ordained nor be a Catholic, though they would "not be prejudiced" against a Catholic.
Announcing the rapid implementation of the proposals Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, said: "We are committed to ensuring the Church becomes the safest of places for children, and indeed an example of best practice in the whole field of child protection."
Therapeutic hideaway for wayward priests
- Written by: Alex Walker
Therapeutic hideaway for wayward priests
Steven Morris and Stephen Bates
Wednesday April 18, 2001
Our Lady of Victory near Stroud, Gloucestershire, is one institution where errant Roman Catholic priests have long been sent for rehabilitation. Built on a terrace in a picturesque valley with lawns sloping down to woods, it has the appearance more of a Cotswold manor house than a clinic.
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