The language contained in the Vatican's document on homosexuality and the seminaries has revealed significant differences of interpretation among the Catholic bishops.

The president of the USCCB, Bishop William S. Skylstad, does not think the document completely bars a man with homosexual inclinations. Skylstad interprets the language of the document as saying the central issue is not a man's homosexual inclinations alone, but whether a man is "animated by a gift of his whole person to the church and by an authentic pastoral charity."

If this gift, "becomes paramount," Skylstad says, "then he can minister and he can minister celibately and chastely."

Bishop John M. D'Arcy (Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind.) called Bishop Skylstad's view of the document "simply wrong." It's very rare for one bishop to criticize another bishop in public.

Bishop D'Arcy added, "I would say yes, absolutely, it does bar anyone whose sexual orientation is towards one's own sex and it's permanent…I don't think there is any doubt about it."

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, DC lined up behind the Skylstad interpretation. His spokeswoman, Susan Gibbs, said, "There can be people whose orientation is homosexual if it's not such a strong part of their makeup that it interferes with their ability to live out church teaching."

The meaning of a single phrase used in the document - "deep-seated-homosexual tendencies" - is at the core of the disagreement. The document contains only about 1300 words, written in Italian, but it has been in preparation since 1996 when then Cardinal Ratzinger requested it from the Congregation for Catholic Education.

There can be little doubt, therefore, that its language was chosen very carefully.

The official title is difficult to say in a single breath, "Instruction on the Criteria for Vocational Discernment with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders." It was signed by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education and Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB; Secretary on November 28, 2005.

(Archbishop Miller, former president of the University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX, was interviewed by The Window two months ago on what makes a college truly Catholic.)

The disputed phrase, "deep-seated homosexual tendencies," is contrasted with tendencies that are "transitory" and "clearly overcome." (The original Italian is "tendenze omosessuali profondamente radicate").

Rev. James Bretzke, chairman of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco, who read the document in Italian, thinks the import of the document is being overstated.

Bretzke thinks "deep-seated" means no more than someone is actively living the gay lifestyle, not just having a same-sex attraction. "A lot will depend on where the bishop falls on the issue beforehand."

The official English translation of the document, however, even read superficially, contradicts Bretzke's interpretation. It distinguishes between "persons who practice homosexuality, [those who have] present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or [those who] support the so-called gay culture."

( To read the document in full go to: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20051104_istruzione_en.html

All three of these conditions disqualify a man from being admitted to seminary or receiving holy orders. None of these are considered a "transitory problem, such as, for example, an adolescence not yet complete. Such tendencies must be overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate."

But Rev. Bretzke is surely correct in saying that the interpretation of this document will depend on the attitudes of the individual bishops.

The question arises whether anyone in the church will attempt to define just what is meant by "deep-seated tendencies," or will the bishops be content with a laissez-faire approach to the document's interpretation.

One expert in the dynamics of homosexual attraction, Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons, has offered some preliminary thoughts on the difference between "deep-seated" and "transitory" same-sex attraction.

In a two-part interview for the news agency Zenit on Dec. 5-6, Dr. Fitzgibbons suggested that a man with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies would:

1. Identify himself as homosexual. "Those with mild homosexual tendencies do not identify themselves as homosexuals."
2. Be unwilling to examine the emotional conflicts that caused this tendency, especially, "profound weakness in male confidence."
3. Have "significant affective immaturity with excessive anger and jealousy toward males who are not homosexual…"

In addition to positing "denial, defensiveness, and anger" as signs of deep-seated same-sex attraction, Fitzgibbons points out that there are two psychological tests that are 90 percent accurate in identifying men with homosexual attraction - the Boy Gender Conformity Scale from the University of Indiana and the Clarke Sexual History Questionnaire.

It remains to be seen whether the bishops, in attempting to implement the recent document, will consult experts such as Dr. Fitzgibbons on what constitutes the level of homosexual attraction that could become an obstacle to the priesthood.

The issue of homosexuals in the priesthood is highly explosive. But the Vatican has set forth a criterion for accepting or rejecting homosexual candidates. Will the criterion remain vague, subject to contradictory interpretations, or will the Vatican or the bishops take steps to agree on its specific meaning?

We will see.

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