WHY POPE FRANCIS SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ORDAINED

One cannot help but question why closeted Jorge Bergoglio entered the seminary.

When I was teaching sacramental theology and liturgy to 20 diocesan seminarians and 10 Francisan brothers at St. Francis Seminary in Loretto, PA after earning a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in Rome, I voted at the end of the academic year to discontinue one of my students. The other faculty members disagreed with me and the rector decided to retain the seminarian on the condition that he repeat his first year of theology.  Although the seminarian was later ordained, he left the priesthood after being ordained less than a year. I would have preferred that I was wrong about him and that he would have proven to be a very dedicated, effective, and happy priest today.

After observing and reading about what Pope Francis has said and done since he was ordained a priest four days before his 33rd birthday in 1969, I have come to the conclusion that he should never have been ordained. 

Francis, from the very beginning of his pontificate, showed that he is incapable of making critical distinctions that impact both his theological positions and pastoral ministry. On a July 29, 2013, flight from Rio to Rome following his March 14, 2013 election, Francis was questioned by a Brazilian reporter about what he had to say about his friend Monsignor Battista Ricca who was reported for cohabitating with a Swiss homosexual friend, Patrick Haari; of getting caught with a gay prostitute in an elevator; and of being beaten up at night in a gay “cruising ground.” By responding, “Who am I to judge?” [my gay friend Battista], Francis failed to make a critical distinction between a person’s sexual orientation and one’s behavior.  If my married coworker were to invite me to his home for dinner, I should not be judged for being a heterosexual unless, of course, I were to make a pass at his wife. When a woman accused of committing adultery was brought to Jesus (John 8:1-11), he did not say to the crowd, “Who am I to judge?”  What Jesus did say to the woman, however, was, “Go and sin no more.” The fact that Francis did not address Ricca’s homosexual behavior and lied by saying that all of the allegations against Ricca were investigated and found unsubstantiated, helps to explain years later why he would promulgate “Fiducia Supplicans” allowing for the blessing of same-sex couples.  Francis’ failure to address the sinfulness of Ricca’s behavior may lead one to question Bergoglio’s own sexual history and wonder if he may have been asleep when his moral theology professor taught seminarians and novices how Christ has called them “to hate the sin but love the sinner.”

Francis also seems incapable of distinguishing correctly between Catholicism and other world religions when he argues that “God wills all religions” and “All religions are paths to God.” Interestingly, a Catholic janitor who works at a public school appears to have a better grasp of Catholic theology than the Pope.  When talking to a group of students about different world religions, he explained, using the spokes on a bicycle wheel, that while there are different paths to God, he finds Catholic Christianity to be infinitely superior to other paths because Jesus is God incarnate and not just a prophet like Moses or Mohammed who speaks for God. How is it that a Catholic janitor in addressing young people undertakes evangelization, unlike the Pope who fails to explain why people should believe in Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Is Pope Francis similar to Catholic politicians who defend their pro-abortion voting records by saying that they don’t want to impose their morality on others?

While the seminarian whom I recommended be discontinued was a very moral person, there were some students in our seminary who were dismissed for homosexual behavior. Even if there was no proof showing them engaging in gay sex, they were dismissed if they failed to deny that they were homosexuals. When Joseph Stefan was dismissed during his First Class (senior) year from the U.S. Naval Academy, it was because he admitted to being a homosexual to a fellow Midshipman and remained silent when asked by Academy officials if he engaged in homosexual conduct.  The judge who heard his case said that his silence constituted a rebuttable presumption that he engaged in homosexual behavior. Consequently, if he was dismissed, it was not because of his sexual orientation, but because of behavioral issues. 

When Francis was confronted with allegations that he engaged in gay sex with Jesuit novices in Argentina, he responded like Steffan by remaining silent. Because Francis knew that he had already been caught lying when he wrote in his book, On Heaven and Earth, “It [sex abuse[ never happened in my diocese,”  he knew that he could not afford to be caught in another lie.  Like his friend Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta who was sentenced for sexually abusing two seminarians, Francis was accused not once, but twice in 2015 and 2024 of sexual involvement with young men. Francis’ silence and his failure to deny the allegations create a rebuttable presumption of guilt on his part. If Jorge Bergoglio were in the seminary when I taught, he would have been dismissed immediately if he failed to deny sexual allegations as he is doing today.

Unlike in the past when heterosexually oriented seminary rectors appointed by straight bishops dismissed seminarians who engaged in homosexual relations, straight former seminarians like Anthony Gorgia, Timothy Passow, Stephen Parisi, and countless others have been dismissed in recent years for reporting sexual predation and homosexual misconduct.  Even chaste homosexuals like Joshua Metcalf who was discerning a vocation to the priesthood in 2020 was dismissed, not because he was caught engaging in homosexual acts, but because he refused to have sex with his formation director. When these cases were documented in the report, “Addressing the Present Day Culture of Sexual Predation and Cover-Ups in U.S. Seminaries” that was covered up even by the Knights of Columbus leadership and councils, not one rector, vocation director, or bishop disputed the findings. 

Unfortunately, Jorge Bergoglio not only made it through the seminary and was ordained a priest, but he also was ordained bishop and, as a cardinal, was elected pope. Insofar as all of the U.S. cardinals he has created like Gregory, McElroy, Cupich, Tobin, Farrell, and Prevost are thought to share his homosexual orientation, one cannot expect a heterosexual culture to return to U.S. seminaries. Heterosexuals who enter seminaries today will not remain any more than a straight man will stay in a bar he discovers caters to gay men. Chaste homosexuals who enter seminaries will likewise leave when they refuse to be used like “young meat” by gay faculty members and older seminarians. Unless the next pope is heterosexually oriented like most cardinals from Africa or Asia, or celibacy is made optional thereby reducing the potential for homosexuals to use the priesthood to hide their sexual orientation, Catholics should prepare to see the election of a cardinal who may choose the name, “Francis II.”

Gene Thomas Gomulka is a sexual abuse victims’ advocate, investigative reporter, and screenwriter. A former Navy (O6) Captain/Chaplain, seminary instructor, and diocesan respect life director, Gomulka was ordained a priest for the Altoona-Johnstown diocese and later made a Prelate of Honor (Monsignor) by St. John Paul II.  Follow Gene Gomulka on YouTube or email him atmsgr.investigations@gmail.com