There's more big news from the Catholic Church this week. As most of you probably already know, the Vatican is considering a ban on homosexuals from the priesthood. This is certain to create a new intense round of debate in the mass media on the nature of homosexuality and of the priesthood. I haven't had the time to do a thorough search yet of the coverage, but it seems that The New York Times is on top of the issue:
Investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review each of the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teaching, according to a document prepared to guide the process.
The Vatican document, given to The New York Times yesterday by a priest, surfaces as Catholics await a Vatican ruling on whether homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood.
In a possible indication of the ruling's contents, the American archbishop who is supervising the seminary review said last week that "anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity or has strong homosexual inclinations" should not be admitted to a seminary.
The Associated Press was onto the story two days before the Times, but I'm guessing the Times was merely waiting to make a big splash with exclusive documents and the like.
As this story unfolds, watch for quotes from the usual suspects, outrage from Andrew Sullivan, and much gnashing of teeth on both sides of the issue. And for some more background about this ongoing story, click here. Stay tuned.