Benedict XVI Caves To Pressure

It looks as though Pope Benedict XVI has realized the split he may have caused in the church by banning all men showing gay tendencies from the priesthood. ABC News is carrying a Reuters story that the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera is reporting: The Vatican will allow gay men into the priesthood if they can show they have been celibate for at least three years. Now how hypocritical is that. Just a few weeks ago the headlines screamed that The Vatican would ban all gays from the priesthood, and now it seems that Benedict is realizing that he is eliminating a large part of the male population that would enter the priesthood. As Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said to the British Catholic newspaper The Table of the earlier report that the document would ban even celibate gays "You don't write off a candidate for the priesthood simply because he is a gay man." It seems to me that pronouncement would not only alienate gay men from even considering entering the priesthood right at a time when enrollment in all seminaries are down markedly, but it also will cause many devout Catholics to feel even more like outcasts in the only religion they have ever known and loved. There may be yet another reason Benedict has reversed course besides dropping numbers in the priesthood. It could also cause dropping $$$$ to the Vatican's coffers. As the old saying goes, if you want to facilitate change, hit 'em in the pocketbook. Perhaps if the majority of women started withdrawing financial support the powers that be at the Vatican would again reverse course and we will eventually see a headline saying "Devout Women To Be Allowed In Priesthood". Now that would be REAL reform. MORE....