Abstract

In view of the social normalization of homosexuality and the painful awakening to the reality that a not-negligible percentage of priests, especially in the Western world, is homosexually oriented, the question of why this orientation is irreconcilable with ordination has become more urgent. The decisive arguments are theological and have to do with the prospective priest’s full manhood. These arguments are in harmony with modern psychological insights into homosexuality as a personality defect that blocks the person’s growing to mature manhood. It is argued that only after having demonstrably overcomehomosexual tendencies should a candidate be admitted to the seminary.