Since the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI's strict ban on gay men training as priests, members of the Catholic Church in New Zealand are afraid that liberals and homosexuals are being scared away. New Zealand Church officials say it is not yet known whether seminaries here will be investigated for “evidence of homosexuality” as they are in America, although gay Catholics are already deeply concerned of the implications cast on them. “It implies that if you're homosexual, you're unlikely to be able to carry through with your celibacy,” says Michael Bancroft, a gay former priest. He believes that the church are looking for scapegoats for pedophilia scandals emerging throughout the world, and are “wrongly linking pedophilia to homosexuality.” Around 15% of New Zealanders identify as Catholic. Estimates on the proportion of priests who are gay range from 10% to 60%. Foreign media reports have described gay subcultures of "high camp" in Catholic seminaries, with student priests having sex, calling each other girls' names, and cruising gay bars and parks. Another former priest who now lectures at Otago University says the hard line on gays being enforced by the new Pope “will be seen by many homosexual Catholics as an act of discrimination. They'll feel they are being pushed out.” Traditionally the church in New Zealand has distinguished between homosexual tendencies and homosexual acts, allowing gay men to become priests as long as they remain celibate. Catholic Church spokeswoman Lindsay Freer refused to comment on exactly how the new directives will be carried out in New Zealand. She said gay people were welcome in the church, and she did not believe celibate gay priests faced expulsion. "If they're living good lives and clearly celibate, I don't see why they would be."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 25th September 2005 - 12:00pm