Sodomy is singled out. It is singled out Biblically as being an abomination. And the Orthodox-Catholic Church teaches that it is one of:

peccata clamantia – The four sins that cry to Heaven for Vengeance

1. Murder. Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. ...
   — Genesis 4:8-10 —
2. Sodomy. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth, and said, “My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the street.” But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.
   — Genesis 19:1-7 —
   You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
   — Leviticus 18:22 —
   If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.
   — Leviticus 20:13 —
3. Oppression of the Poor. In the course of those many days the king of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came up to God.
   — Exodus 2:23 —
4. Defrauding Workers or Cheating them out of their Just Wages. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
   — James 5:4 —

English (Revised Standard Version, RSV, except as otherwise indicated)

2 Kings 23:1-8 (in particular 2:Kings 23:7, the balance provided for context;
and see the KJV, which renders "male cult prostitutes" as sodomites:
"And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house
of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.")

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts ["ἀρσενοκοῖται" = "a male who lies with males."], 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (RSV)

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous[a] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ["ἀρσενοκοῖται" = "a male who lies with males."] [b] 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.(Footnotes: [a] Or wrongdoers; [b] The two Greek terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts.) (ESV)

9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ["ἀρσενοκοῖται" = "a male who lies with males."] [a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.(Footnote: [a] The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.) (NIV)

9 Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, ["ἀρσενοκοῖται" = "a male who lies with males."] [a] 10 thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom. 11 That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.(Footnote: [a] Or submissive and dominant male sexual partners) (CEB)

5 whereas the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith. 6 Certain persons by swerving from these have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions. 8 Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 immoral persons, sodomites, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. (RSV)

5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. 8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound[b] doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. (ESV)

5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. 8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (NIV)

5 The goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Because they missed this goal, some people have been distracted by talk that doesn’t mean anything. 7 They want to be teachers of Law without understanding either what they are saying or what they are talking about with such confidence. 8 Now we know that the Law is good if used appropriately. 9 We understand this: the Law isn’t established for a righteous person but for people who live without laws and without obeying any authority. They are the ungodly and the sinners. They are people who are not spiritual, and nothing is sacred to them. They kill their fathers and mothers, and murder others. 10 They are people who are sexually unfaithful, and people who have intercourse with the same sex. They are kidnappers, liars, individuals who give false testimonies in court, and those who do anything else that is opposed to sound teaching. 11 Sound teaching agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God that has been trusted to me. (CEB)

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, being very eager to write to you of our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For admission has been secretly gained by some who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I desire to remind you, though you were once for all fully informed, that he who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day; 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (RSV)

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (ESV)

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (NIV)

1 Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James. To those who are called, loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus Christ.2 May you have more and more mercy, peace, and love. 3 Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. 4 Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago. 5 I want to remind you of something you already know very well. The Lord, who once saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn’t maintain their faith. 6 I remind you too of the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but deserted their own home. The Lord has kept them in eternal chains in the underworld until the judgment of the great day. 7 In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning. (CEB)

Let us follow a strand, shall we.

When one is within the Realm of Mortal Sin, it may quite justly be posited in opposition to any efforts to draw distinctions among the mortal sins: what is the difference, if any one of them, without repentance, firm purpose of amendment and absolution, sends the sinner to Hell?

And yet we have seen above that sodomy in fact is singled out for special opprobrium even within the vile company of the rest of mortally sinful behavior, and that this is on the authority of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition and the Holy Magisterium, the authoritative teaching office of the Church. Sodomy is set apart as one of the peccata clamantia – the four sins that cry to Heaven for Vengeance. In Leviticus 20:13 we see that — apart from the incomparably more weighty matter of the eternal disposition of the offenders' souls — even on this earth and during this life, the Divine plan includes the provision that any homosexual act should be met with the death penalty. (One might add as an aside that, when such Divine injunction was enshrined in the Law, justice was swift indeed. No three decades to come around to repentance while on "death row" in those days.) So too, with the specific sentence of condemnation at Romas 1:27, but as more fully explained in Romans 1:18-32, we see the very homosexual orientation, not as some ailment affficting some people particularly, like disease that is the lot of Fallen Man generally. Rather by contrast, we see the homosexual orientation, men and women being given over to such passions, as a punishment by God for the antecedent culpable crimes of idolatry and of the betrayal of one's duties to worship and honor and obey God.

In the 22nd Chapter of the Book of Genesis, near the end of the chapter we are informed, along with Abraham, that Abraham's brother, Nahor, supplemented the eight children his wife Milcah bore him with four more from his concubine, Reumah. This information comes to us in Genesis without any sense of consternation or reproach conveyed. Whether Nahor wanted a variety of women, and four extra children were the (by)product, or whether Nahor was not satisfied with eight children, but wanted twelve, we are not informed. It could be the case that Milcah at first could not conceive. So — like his brother Abraham arranged with his wife's servant Hagar (Genesis 16:1-4) — Nahor might have turned to the (a?) concubine so as to avoid dying childless, only to later discover that, lo and behold, Milcah could bear children! It could even be the case that this sequence followed Divine instructions on the matter. The circumstances that angelic or still more direct Divine intervention are not mentioned; that wife Milcah's children are mentioned first (Genesis 22:20-23) and concubine Reumah's children are mentioned afterward (Genesis 22:24); and of course the fact that Milcah's children came to be eight in number, all this argues against the supposition that Nahor and Milcah found themselves in the extremity which lead Abraham (Abram) and Sarah (Sarai) to devise a desperate measure to address.

These details bear discussion because of the lessons which can or must be taken by all humanity therefrom regarding degrees of departure from the right and natural order, and in like matter regarding degrees of sin.

Understand the context. (Re-reading those first twenty-two chapters of Genesis would aid understanding. One can also find a fuller account of all the shenanigans Abraham pulled with women. And in Genesis 26 we see Isaac pulling the exact same stunts!) But by the point of time in salvation history being recounted at Genesis 22, Creation had already occurred; the Divine order of the Universe had been established by God; and the family of Abraham had been set aside by God Almighty as the central-most human family in the Divine plan on Earth. Abraham had already obeyed God regarding the sacrifice of Isaac. God had already established the Covenant relationship.

Reflect also on the lesson:

And yet in this context we see that most set-apart of men, Abraham, doing with Hagar, and we see Abraham's brother, Nahor, doing with Reumah – and in circumstances which seem even more without justification and ... recidivist – that very thing, that behavior which in Galatians 5:19, infra, will be labeled as adultery or fornication, and which will be positioned at the front of the list of mortal sins which send a man to Hell!

So what is going on?

At Genesis 22, Abraham's brother Nahor, a member of the then, so to speak, "first family of humanity" having had sex with a woman not his wife is recounted nonchalantly, And there is more. At Genesis 25:5-6, we read: “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons [plural] of his concubines [plural] Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.”

And yet some time earlier, and recounted in Genesis 19, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah — all the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah — were burned to death by God because of the homosexuality which went on in those cities!

And to top all this off, we see God Almighty Himself, after Abaham's death and during an appearance to Isaac, passing the Judgment:

All this seems like a rather stark contrast in the Divine view of matters, does it not, regarding, on the one hand, a man having sex with multiple women, and on the other hand, a man having any sexual contact whatsoever with another man?

Again, what is going on? Are we seeing unfold in these instances within the Divine plan a distinction between malum prohibitum , a think wong because it is prohibited, and malum in se, in which the evil subsists within the conduct itself? Is this tied in with the circumstances that the vile villany of sexual conduct so in violation with the Natural Order of the Divinely created Universe as is homosexual conduct leaves the perpetrator so spiritually marred such that it is simply more difficult and problematic to truly repent and embrace a firm purpose of amendment? Make no mistake. When it is God issuing the prohibition, one ignors any jot or tittle at one's extreme peril. Yet the lesson is unmistable still. Homosexuality is different. Homosexuality is an abomination.

So what is going on then, in the Biblical narrative taken as a whole and in the constant conflict to that narrative coming in from every angle in Fallen societies? Comes the obvious answer:

And so too, and all the more so, with those already fundamentally disordered with the homosexual orientation: The smarter among them know the Biblical prohibitions against the heterosexual sins, and those and all the rest will perceive at once, but nay, will always have understood through whatever is left of the consciences they were given at conception, that the more prevalent the heterosexual sins, the more abundant the images of naked women, the more widespread the wankers, the more freeranging the fornicators, the more abounding the adulterers, the more estopped will be the episcopacy, the priesthood and all Christians, and their political and military leaders, to do anything about that most pernicious individual, community, societal and civilizational rot which is Homosexualism and homosexuality.

And so now, XXI century-wise, we have the more "conservative" politicians approving openly practicing homosexuals as grade- (elementary-) school teachers and character formers of children; we see the same approving the sodomites to lead the kids in the Webelos and the youngest men in the Boy Scouts. Men in the military, maybe about to face violent death and and crippling disability in filthy ditches are strickly prohibited from offering up prayers as a unit to the only God, but they will be lead by sodomites and transsexuals and drag queens.

And people consumed utterly with a life-long process of working through their own psycho-sexual disturbances will imagine that they are the ones to be sorting through theological and ecclesiological issues and disputes within the Church! And people will go through ten years in the most exalted "Christian" philosophy and theology university departments and academies, in places like Oxford and Boston-Cambridge, and come out thinking that homosexual men should be mentoring orphans; that the heresy of Dual Covenant "Theology" is probably true, but it does not matter anyway, because there is no Hell; and likewise that atheist-cum-Talmudic Jews provide models to be followed by Church and Christendom and that their Satanism-flavored kabbalah is just nifty, and also a path to be followed and embraced for developing spiritual depth; and while clinging to all of this most tenaciously, still managing to see themselves as opponents to and champions against Modernism. Wow!

When demoniac disorders come, they come not single spies but in battalions.

1973, Oh What a Year

When demoniac disorders come,
they come not single spies
but in battalions.

Unfortunately, the no-holds-barred commitment to the truth which so many self-styled conservative Catholics purport to embrace does not extend to telling the truth about some matters of first importance, chiefly:

• Orthodoxy (including the Oriental Orthodox);
• the Popes and the history of papal claims;
• or the Jews.

As to the Orthodox and the Oriental (non-Chalcedonian) Orthodox these conservative Catholics are probably largely ignorant. As to the Popes, this is a deliberate religious choice. But if they were to get smarter about early Church history and the interactions among Popes and the Seven Ecumenical Councils and Orthodoxy, they might just become the kind of men who could make decisively important contributions to refining the idea and structure of the Standing Apostolic Synod, and with it to solving the millennium-old conflict within the Orthodox-Catholic Church.

At all events, for all their excellent work for the Church, the most major component of the ecclesiological position of the Good Tsar, Bad Boyar– contingent in the Catholic Church is simply untenable. Absolute monarchs can not as a matter of reason have it both ways, can not maintain as sacrosanct and God-ordained an ecclesiology under which they choose every bishop and thereafter exercise original primary jurisdiction to police their every statement and action at will, but then stand holy and aloof from the results which unfolded on their watch.

Seven percent homosexuality within the priesthood and episcopacy would be a serious problem. Seventy percent is a catastrophe. Who bequeathed us this? And when disorders come, they come not single spies but in battalions.

Regarding the silence of this same Good Tsar, Bad Boyar– contingent on the vanguard role of the atheist and Talmudic Jews in all this evil — a silence which one might add is even more inexplicable, even more indefensible, than for example silence on the role of traitor priests, bishops and cardinals within the Catholic Church, the evil-enabling silence of what might be called the the Good Tsar and Good Boyar too– contingent in the Catholic Church, the Catholic and Lovin' It– crowd at the now transmogrified EWTN, and so forth — this is difficult to account for ... or is it?

Maybe if follows quite naturally from the "conservative" Catholic view that Pope John Paul II is Pope Saint John Paul the Great. Peter Kreeft of Kreeft and Chrislam infamy called JPII "the best man in the world," in a move typical of Kreeft's Christian humility, wisdom and doctrinal soundness. If political correctness is an ideology-based, disciplined refusal to acknowledge the truth, maybe this is a conservative Catholic version of political correctness, one of several.

At all events, we will point out here some facts, readily verifiable, to these men and others who should be among the staunchest and most effective advocates for, and collaborators in, the project which is United European Christendom.

As the first edition, DSM-I of 1952, degenerated into the now current fifth edition, the DSM-5 (published 18 May 2013), the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has now become noteworthy for its medicalization of human distress and general lack of intellectual and scientific integrity. But back in the day it was a useful tool for classification and enhanced understanding of mental disorders. ... well, maybe. Robert Spitzer, emeritus professor of psychiatry at Columbia University was the chief architect and driving force behind the changes which became the DSM-III of 1980, but years earlier Spitzer spearheaded the American Psychiatric Association's 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from DSM's list of mental disorders, a scientifically groundless, purely political move.

"I came up with a definition in 1973 that made it possible to argue the homosexuality was not a mental disorder." — Robert Spitzer, Editor in Chief, DSM III —

An Aside on the use of the imagery of war, of armed struggle — The Church Militant.

Allow us to save for another day questions of great import touching on ... well no, delving into, whether exclusively spiritual struggle can be meant, or rather if the struggle is to involve the shedding of blood and red martyrdom – this ultimate witnessing to the faith.

Is it God's Will (are we to discern to the best of our limited abilities that it is God's Will), that the role of every faithful Orthodox-Catholic Christian is to meekly submit our necks to the swords and daggers of the evil, such as the sodomite celebrators? Might it rather be the case that we are called upon to witness to the faith through acts of physical courage which do not involve the assumption, the reasonable hope, that our put-on meekness will win the hearts and minds of sodomite sympathizers?

And how adapt Just War theory to current realities, the state power being in the service of evil utterly and the fact that there is no holy Pope to Call the Kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross, but in the place of a man like Pope Saint Pius V we now must confront Talmud and Islam, Usury and Sodomy, ignorant Nationalism and deracinated Internationalism under the leadership of a Pope Francis or whoever this College of Cardinals will elect to succeed him?

"Irreconcilable differences which have caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage," with both "irreconcilable differences" and "irremediable breakdown" described in the broadest possible terms, actually became the law of the land governing divorce in California, the first jurisdiction to do so within Christendom, in 1969. Evidence of marital misconduct of the type Christ decreed was declared to be "improper" and "inadmissible."

The prestigious National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws came on board with "No-Fault" divorce in 1967 under the leadership of Professor Robert J. Levy of the University of Minnesota Law School.

And the American Bar Association (ABA) approved the UMDA in its 1973 (slightly) revised form. By 1989, 49 states and the District of Columbia had adopted the "modern no-fault divorce" standard, substantially along the lines of the Levy and Kay standard. (The hold out is Arkansas, which requires a whopping 18-month-long period of separation as a sufficient ground for divorce.)

The change in California's law was lead by Herma Hill Kay, then and now of Boalt Hall, the Law School of the University of California at Berkeley. Wife of Carroll Brodsky; a friend of R.B. Ginsburg; a director of the Rosenberg Foundation; the recipient of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of American Law Schools; purveyor extraordinaire of a militant anti-Christian view of feminism, this sickening enemy of the Church, of Christian women and of Christendom would need to be made an honorary Jewess were she not already one.

Robert J. Levy — take a wild guess — spearheaded what became the NCCUSL's Uniform Marrige and Divorce Act (UMDA) in 1970: adultery can not be considered for property division.

Pornography

A Printable and Broadcastable Lobotomy

Dream weapon of the Enemies of Church and Christendom

Near Complete Jew Monopoly of the Pornography Industry

In pre-Shoah Germany and Europe and in XXI century America

And round about them will (serve) youths of perpetual (freshness): If thou seest them, thou wouldst think them scattered Pearls. And when thou lookest, it is there thou wilt see a Bliss and a Realm Magnificent. Upon them will be green Garments of fine silk and heavy brocade, and they will be adorned with Bracelets of silver; and their Lord will give to them to drink of a Wine Pure and Holy. "Verily this is a Reward for you, and your Endeavour is accepted and recognised."

Qur'an Verses 76:19-22 (and see in the
same vein Verses 52:24 and 56:17)

— Incompatability of Homosexuality with Holy Orders and service in God's priesthood —

God's holy priesthood is not to be used by disturbed men as their crucible for acting out or working through their psycho-sexual disturbances.

"... Advantage to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers. ..."

RELIGIOSORUM INSTITUTIO

By the faithful observance of all these directives, the task of investigating the canonical fitness of candidates for the state of perfection and Sacred Orders will meet with success; those who are not fit will be barred in time and at the very outset, and only those worthy and fit will be admitted to Sacred Orders. These, in turn, properly instructed and trained, will effectively promote the glory of God and the salvation of souls to the honor of the Church and the state of evangelical perfection.

In the audience graciously granted on 23 January, 1961, to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious, our Holy Father, Pope John XXIII, deigned to approve this Instruction and ordered that it be communicated to superiors of institutes of evangelical perfection.

Rome, the 2nd day of February, feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year 1961.

Sacred Congregation for Religious

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Section 2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

Section 2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

Section 2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with

Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders

Introduction

In continuity with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and, in particular, with the Decree Optatam Totius[1] on priestly formation, the Congregation for Catholic Education has published various Documents with the aim of promoting a suitable, integral formation of future priests, by offering guidelines and precise norms regarding its diverse aspects.[2] In the meantime, the 1990 Synod of Bishops also reflected on the formation of priests in the circumstances of the present day, with the intention of bringing to completion the doctrine of the Council on this theme and making it more explicit and effective in today's world. Following this Synod, Pope John Paul II published the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis.[3]

In light of this abundant teaching, the present Instruction does not intend to dwell on all questions in the area of affectivity and sexuality that require an attentive discernment during the entire period of formation. Rather, it contains norms concerning a specific question, made more urgent by the current situation, and that is: whether to admit to the seminary and to holy orders candidates who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies.

1. Affective Maturity and Spiritual Fatherhood

According to the constant Tradition of the Church, only a baptized person of the male sex[4] validly receives sacred Ordination. By means of the Sacrament of Orders, the Holy Spirit configures the candidate to Jesus Christ in a new and specific way: the priest, in fact, sacramentally represents Christ, the head, shepherd and spouse of the Church[5]. Because of this configuration to Christ, the entire life of the sacred minister must be animated by the gift of his whole person to the Church and by an authentic pastoral charity[6].

The candidate to the ordained ministry, therefore, must reach affective maturity. Such maturity will allow him to relate correctly to both men and women, developing in him a true sense of spiritual fatherhood towards the Church community that will be entrusted to him[7].

2. Homosexuality and the Ordained Ministry

From the time of the Second Vatican Council until today, various Documents of the Magisterium, and especially the Catechism of the Catholic Church, have confirmed the teaching of the Church on homosexuality. The Catechism distinguishes between homosexual acts and homosexual tendencies.

Regarding acts, it teaches that Sacred Scripture presents them as grave sins. The Tradition has constantly considered them as intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law. Consequently, under no circumstance can they be approved.

Deep-seated homosexual tendencies, which are found in a number of men and women, are also objectively disordered and, for those same people, often constitute a trial. Such persons must be accepted with respect and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. They are called to fulfil God's will in their lives and to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter[8].

In the light of such teaching, this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question[9], cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called "gay culture"[10].

Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies.

Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem - for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate.

3. Discernment by the Church Concerning the Suitability of Candidates

There are two inseparable elements in every priestly vocation: the free gift of God and the responsible freedom of the man. A vocation is a gift of divine grace, received through the Church, in the Church and for the service of the Church. In responding to the call of God, the man offers himself freely to him in love[11]. The desire alone to become a priest is not sufficient, and there does not exist a right to receive sacred ordination. It belongs to the Church - in her responsibility to define the necessary requirements for receiving the sacraments instituted by Christ - to discern the suitability of him who desires to enter the seminary[12], to accompany him during his years of formation, and to call him to holy orders if he is judged to possess the necessary qualities[13].

The formation of the future priest must distinctly articulate, in an essentially complementary manner, the four dimensions of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral[14]. In this context, it is necessary to highlight the particular importance of human formation as the necessary foundation of all formation[15]. In order to admit a candidate to ordination to the diaconate, the Church must verify, among other things, that the candidate has reached affective maturity[16].

The call to orders is the personal responsibility of the Bishop[17] or the major superior. Bearing in mind the opinion of those to whom he has entrusted the responsibility of formation, the Bishop or major superior, before admitting the candidate to ordination, must arrive at a morally certain judgment on his qualities. In the case of a serious doubt in this regard, he must not admit him to ordination[18].

The discernment of a vocation and of the maturity of the candidate is also a serious duty of the rector and of the other persons entrusted with the work of formation in the seminary. Before every ordination, the rector must express his own judgment on whether the qualities required by the Church are present in the candidate[19].

In the discernment concerning the suitability for ordination, the spiritual director has an important task. Although he is bound to secrecy, he represents the Church in the internal forum. In his discussions with the candidate, the spiritual director must especially point out the demands of the Church concerning priestly chastity and the affective maturity that is characteristic of the priest, as well as help him to discern whether he has the necessary qualities[20]. The spiritual director has the obligation to evaluate all the qualities of the candidate's personality and to make sure that he does not present disturbances of a sexual nature, which are incompatible with the priesthood. If a candidate practises homosexuality or presents deep-seated homosexual tendencies, his spiritual director as well as his confessor have the duty to dissuade him in conscience from proceeding towards ordination.

It goes without saying that the candidate himself has the primary responsibility for his own formation[21]. He must offer himself trustingly to the discernment of the Church, of the Bishop who calls him to orders, of the rector of the seminary, of his spiritual director and of the other seminary educators to whom the Bishop or major superior has entrusted the task of forming future priests. It would be gravely dishonest for a candidate to hide his own homosexuality in order to proceed, despite everything, towards ordination. Such a deceitful attitude does not correspond to the spirit of truth, loyalty and openness that must characterize the personality of him who believes he is called to serve Christ and his Church in the ministerial priesthood.

Conclusion

This Congregation reaffirms the need for Bishops, major superiors and all relevant authorities to carry out an attentive discernment concerning the suitability of candidates for holy orders, from the time of admission to the seminary until ordination. This discernment must be done in light of a conception of the ministerial priesthood that is in accordance with the teaching of the Church.
Let Bishops, episcopal conferences and major superiors look to see that the constant norms of this Instruction be faithfully observed for the good of the candidates themselves, and to guarantee that the Church always has suitable priests who are true shepherds according to the Heart of Christ.

The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, on 31 August 2005, approved this present Instruction and ordered its publication.

Rome, 4 November 2005, Memorial of St Charles Borromeo, Patron of Seminaries

Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski
Prefect

J. Michael Miller, C.S.B.
Tit. Archbp. of Vertara
Secretary

Endnotes

[1] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on priestly formation Optatam Totius (28 October 1965): AAS 58 (1966), 713-727.
[2]Cf. Congregation for Catholic Education, Ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis (6 January 1970; second edition 19 March 1985); The Study of Philosophy in Seminaries (20 January 1972); A Guide to Formation in Priestly Celibacy (11 April 1974); On the Teaching of Canon Law to Those Preparing to be Priests (2 April 1975); The Theological Formation of Future Priests (22 February 1976); Epistula circularis de formatione vocationum adultarum (14 July 1976); Instruction on Liturgical Formation in Seminaries (3 June 1979); Circular Letter Concerning Some of the More Urgent Aspects of Spiritual Formation in Seminaries (6 January 1980); Educational Guidance in Human Love: Outlines for Sex Education (1 November 1983); Pastoral Care of People on the Move in the Formation of Future Priests (25 January 1986); Guide to the Training of Future Priests Concerning the Instruments of Social Communication (19 March 1986); Circular Letter Concerning Studies of the Oriental Churches (6 January 1987); The Virgin Mary in Intellectual and Spiritual Formation (25 March 1988); Guidelines for the Study and Teaching of the Church's Social Doctrine in the Formation of Priests (30 December 1988); Instruction on the Study of the Fathers of the Church in the Formation of Priests (10 November 1989); Directives Concerning the Preparation of Seminary Educators (4 November 1993); Directives on the Formation of Seminarians Concerning Problems Related to Marriage and the Family (19 March 1995); Instruction to the Episcopal Conferences on the Admission to Seminary of Candidates Coming from Other Seminaries or Religious Families (9 October 1986 and 8 March 1996); The Propaedeutic Period (1 May 1998); Circular Letters Concerning the Canonical Norms relating to Irregularities and Impediments both ad Ordines recipiendos and ad Ordines exercendos (27 July 1992 and 2 February 1999).
[3] Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992): AAS 84 (1992), 657-864.
[4] Cf. CIC, can. 1024 and CCEO, can. 754; Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis on reserving priestly ordination to men alone (22 May 1994): AAS 86 (1994), 545-548.
[5] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the ministry and life of priests Presbyterorum Ordinis (7 December 1965), n. 2: AAS 58 (1966), 991-993; Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 16: AAS 84 (1992), 681-682. With regard to the priest's configuration to Christ, Bridegroom of the Church, Pastores Dabo Vobis states that "The priest is called to be the living image of Jesus Christ, the Spouse of the Church.... In his spiritual life, therefore, he is called to live out Christ's spousal love toward the Church, his bride. Therefore, the priest's life ought to radiate this spousal character, which demands that he be a witness to Christ's spousal love" (n. 22): AAS 84 (1992), 691.
[6] Cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, n. 14: AAS 58 (1966), 1013-1014; Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 23: AAS 84 (1992), 691-694.
[7] Cf. Congregation for the Clergy, Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests (31 March 1994), n. 58.
[8] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church (editio typica, 1997), nn. 2357-2358. Cf. also the various Documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Declaration Persona Humana on certain questions concerning sexual ethics (29 December 1975); Letter Homosexualitatis Problema to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the pastoral care of homosexual persons (1 October 1986); Some Considerations Concerning the Response to Legislative Proposals on Non-discrimination of Homosexual Persons (23 July 1992); Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons (3 June 2003). With regard to homosexual inclinations, the Letter Homosexualitatis Problema states that "Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder" (n. 3).
[9] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church (editio typica, 1997), n. 2358; cf. also CIC, can. 208 and CCEO, can. 11.
[10] Cf. Congregation for Catholic Education, A memorandum to Bishops seeking advice in matters concerning homosexuality and candidates for admission to Seminary (9 July 1985); Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Letter (16 May 2002): Notitiae 38 (2002), 586.
[11] Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, nn. 35-36: AAS 84 (1992), 714-718.
[12] Cf. CIC, can. 241 1: "A diocesan Bishop is to admit to a major seminary only those who are judged qualified to dedicate themselves permanently to the sacred ministries; he is to consider their human, moral, spiritual and intellectual qualities, their physical and psychic health, and their correct intention"; cf. CCEO, can. 342 1.
[13] Cf. Optatam Totius, n. 6: AAS 58 (1966), 717. Cf. also CIC, can. 1029: "Only those are to be promoted to orders who, in the prudent judgment of their own Bishop or of the competent major superior, all things considered, have integral faith, are moved by the right intention, have the requisite knowledge, possess a good reputation, and are endowed with integral morals and proven virtues and the other physical and psychic qualities in keeping with the order to be received"; cf. CCEO, can. 758. Not to call to orders those who do not have the necessary qualities is not an unjust discrimination: cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Some Considerations Concerning the Response to Legislative Proposals on Non-discrimination of Homosexual Persons.
[14] Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, nn. 43-59: AAS 84 (1992), 731-762.
[15] Cf. ibid., n. 43: "The priest, who is called to be a "living image' of Jesus Christ, head and shepherd of the Church, should seek to reflect in himself, as far as possible, the human perfection which shines forth in the incarnate Son of God and which is reflected with particular liveliness in his attitudes toward others": AAS 84 (1992), 732.
[16] Cf. ibid., nn. 44 and 50: AAS 84 (1992), 733-736 and 746-748. Cf. also: Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Circular Letter to the Most Reverend Diocesan Bishops and Other Ordinaries with Canonical Faculties to Admit to Sacred Orders Concerning: Scrutinies regarding the Suitability of Candidates for Orders (10 November 1997): Notitiae 33 (1997), 507-518, particularly Enclosure V.
[17] Cf. Congregation for Bishops, Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops Apostolorum Successores (22 February 2004), n. 88.
[18] Cf. CIC, can. 1052 3: "If... the Bishop doubts for specific reasons whether a candidate is suitable to receive orders, he is not to promote him". Cf. also CCEO, can. 770.
[19] Cf. CIC, can. 1051: "The following prescripts regarding the investigation about the qualities required in the one to be ordained are to be observed: ...there is to be a testimonial of the rector of the seminary or house of formation about the qualities required to receive the order, that is, about the sound doctrine of the candidate, his genuine piety, good morals and aptitude to exercise the ministry, as well as, after a properly executed inquiry, about his state of physical and psychic health".
[20] Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, nn. 50 and 66: AAS 84 (1992), 746-748 and 772-774. Cf. also Ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis, n. 48.
[21] Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 69: AAS 84 (1992), 778.