AS TIME GOES BY (CHRONICLE) - PAULO REIS
The comments of Pope Francis, in a private meeting with Italian bishops, about gays have been the target of many comments. People, in general, was surprised, as Pope Francis has been giving steps considered to be "revolutionary" in a still very conservative church. The Pope already talked about blessing same-sex couples in some circumstances and has frequently talked of gay people being welcome in the Church.
Some of those steps were even contested by part of church, with bishops and priests from several African countries announcing that they will not follow the "advice" of Pope Francis about blessing homosexuals.
To put some fuel in the fire, several non-identified sources mentioned that the Pope used a specific word - "frociaggine" - something that can be translated as "bichas" in Portuguese - a extremely derogatory word.
But this step forward was followed by another one, on the opposite direction. When asked if gay men should be allowed to train for the priesthood as long as they remained celibate, Pope Francis told the bishops a blunt "no". The explanation of Pope Francis for this decision was something surprising. Not allowing gay men to train for the priesthood was justified by the fact that in the church there was already “too much of an air of frociaggine”.
Most people considers this statement as a kind of confession. The existence of a reasonable number of not only homosexuals but also child abusers in churches all over the world has been a scandal in the last decades and became the target of investigations and criminal accusations.
I understand the difficult position of Pope Francis. I have a personal knowledge of what used to be - and still is - happening in the dark alleys of seminars and churches. My late father spend around 18 years as a student in a seminary. He quit when he was in his twenty's and volunteered for the army. Many years ago, when I was a teenager, we used to talk about his life in the seminary.
On one side, the church gave him a education that prepared him for succeeding in the outside world. On other side, he witnessed what were the darkest aspects of the church - a perspective that had a lot of influence in his decision to left the path of priesthood. He was lucky, because he never was the target of one of those abusers that preyed in young boys.
The words of Pope Francis show that he knows the reality of what still goes on, in many houses of God. His harsh words may reflect the frustration of somebody that, having a difficult task, feels unable to finish it.
And I agree the clear "no" of the Pope, when asked if homosexuals should be allowed to train for priesthood, as long as they remained celibate. This idea seems to me like giving a fox the job of protecting a hen house.
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