STATEMENT BY BISHOP NICHOLAS DIMARZIO

DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN

ON VATICAN INSTRUCTION

NOV. 29, 2005

            I welcome the release of the Instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education on the admission of men with deeply-rooted homosexual tendencies to seminaries and to Holy Orders.

            This document does not depart from prior guidance from the Holy See and does not alter past practices of our Diocese. It does provide an opportunity to explain the course we follow when a man requests the opportunity to pursue studies for the priesthood.

When a man presents himself to us for consideration as a candidate, he undergoes a thorough and broad evaluation process, which includes psychological testing, designed to determine many and varied factors about how he lives his life, his readiness to accept the responsibilities of the priesthood and his potential ability to fulfill the priestly role. The process includes reaching a determination as to whether or not he has a clear understanding of the importance and value of the celibate life, and manifests a willingness to accept it. Ultimately, as the Instruction states, the candidate himself has the primary responsibility for his own formation.

Once these determinations are reached, and it is decided that he should be admitted to the seminary, throughout the subsequent years of the priestly formation process he is guided to a deepening appreciation of the many aspects of the important role to which he feels called, and the value of celibacy in his service to God’s people.

  Furthermore, each seminarian is periodically evaluated as to his personal qualities and ability to fulfill the role to which he aspires.  Likewise, together with his spiritual director, he continues to evaluate and develop the spirituality essential to the priestly call and his acceptance of the celibate life.  

The Instruction states clearly that the Church “while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or Holy Orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.’”

The Instruction will guide us in our selection process in regard to a potential candidate’s desire for admission to a priestly formation program. I would add that a mature sexual development and an appreciation of the requirement to live a chaste, celibate life applies as well to a heterosexual man who seeks to pursue a priestly vocation.

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