DOUBLE STANDARD FOR STRAIGHT AND GAY CLERGY

How long will Catholics continue to ignore this problem?

In the early Church, when most Catholic clergy were heterosexuals, the Council of Nicea in 325 decreed: “This great synod absolutely forbids a bishop, presbyter, deacon or any of the clergy to keep a woman who has been brought in to live with him, with the exception of course of his mother or sister or aunt, or of any person who is above suspicion.” Effectively, Nicea prohibited clergy from cohabiting or marrying after receiving holy orders. It did not preclude them from marrying before ordination, like Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic clergy. The Council participants believed that allowing clergy to live together with women with whom they were not married could lead them to engage in sexual relations and even beget children.

Today, when most Catholic bishops, priests, and seminarians are homosexuals, why do Church leaders and the laity not want to address how homosexual seminarians and priests are not only tempted if they are living together, but, in many cases, are engaging in gay sex? When studies show that most Catholic clergy are homosexual and unfaithful to their vow of chastity or promise of celibacy, with some gay priests even being buried together, why is it that recent seminary studies and an apostolic letter on the priesthood by Pope Leo XIV give the false impression that seminarians and priests are both heterosexual and celibate? It is highly doubtful that the current prefect for the Dicastery for the Clergy, when presented with studies showing that at any moment in time no more than half of all priests are leading celibate lives, would echo the words of one of his predecessors, Filipino Cardinal José Tomás Sánchez, who said, “I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of those figures.”

Catholics were scandalized to learn that David Salvato, the former Chancellor of the Joliet Diocese under Bishop Ronald Hicks, recently left his job to “marry” another man. It was also reported that Salvato previously worked for 10 years as a canon lawyer for Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, and that Hicks’ Vicar General, Joliet Father Richard Smith, attended Salvato’s gay wedding.

Why is it that neither Pope Leo nor many Catholics expressed dismay when Father Steve Rosera moved into the home of Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester after having been married to another man for ten years? Are Catholics supposed to believe that pro-LGBTQ Archbishop Wester is a heterosexual and that there is no emotional or sexual connection between these two clerics?

If I were an associate pastor and returned to the rectory, arm in arm, with an attractive young woman whom I brought to my bedroom, I doubt that the pastor, regardless of his sexual orientation, would tolerate such behavior. Yet, why do the Pope and bishops allow this to happen with homosexual priests? Might it be the same reason neither Pope Leo nor Cardinal Timothy Dolan said or did anything when ABC News anchor Gio Benitez, an openly gay man living in a same-sex marriage, was confirmed at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan?

Another example of how sexually active homosexual priests are handled differently from heterosexual priests involves a Charleston priest who informed his ordinary, Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone, that he had married a man. Imagine how most gay bishops would react if a heterosexual priest confessed to having married a woman while still pastoring a parish? Guglielmone, who would later be accused of abuse, congratulated the gay priest, left him in his parish, and counseled him to keep his “marriage” relationship secret.

Pope Julius III was involved in a homosexual relationship with 15-year-old Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte whom he made a cardinal at the age of 17. Pope Leo XIV made Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga his secretary and a monsignor after the pope befriended
Rimaycuna when he was a young, teenage seminarian. Even if Pope Leo has never
been sexually involved with Rimaycuna as Julius was with Ciocchi, should they
both be living together in the papal apartments if they are both closeted homosexuals
like Springfield, IL, Monsignors Kenneth Steffan and John Renken, who co-pastored a parish together for 10 years before being outed? When Leo recently held a Christmas meeting with cardinals and bishops residing in Rome, it should not have come as a surprise, as reported by InfoVaticana and Complicit Clergy, that the Pope fired his Papal Master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Marco Agostini, after he outed them on an open microphone as “culattoni tutti insieme” (all the faggots together).

Papal Master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Marco Agistini, with Pope Leo XIV

If Pope Francis engaged in homosexual relations with Jesuit novices as he was accused of doing by both Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and an Argentine priest working in the Midwest, should he have placed Monsignor Battista Ricca in charge of his residence, Casa Santa Marta? Note that in 2013, Ricca was a known sexually active homosexual about whom Francis said, “Who am I to judge?” How might Pope Leo or a local bishop deal with a priest who is living with a younger single woman who may appear to be as close to him as Ricca was to Patrick Haari, his alleged Swiss lover in Uruguay, or as close as Cardinal Stanisław Dzwisz (St. John Paul II’s former secretary) is reported to be with Deacon Andrea Nardotto in Kraków? Might this not constitute a double standard?

Msgr. Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga and Pope Leo XIV / Msgr. Battista Ricca and Pope Francis / Deacon Andrea Nardotto and Cardinal Stanisław Dzwisz

What most lay Catholics don’t understand is that celibacy, like marriage, is not just about sex. If more straight than gay seminarians and priests are leaving, it’s because homosexual priests, even if they are not sexually involved, can experience emotional and psychological bonds with other gay clerics that straight clergy can never develop with their brother clergymen. While a straight priest can feel something just having dinner with a beautiful woman, a gay priest, instead of looking into the woman’s eyes, would be more interested in the male waiter. While most straight priests find themselves living alone today, they see that this is not the case with Pope Leo and many closeted gay bishops who, in most cases, live with gay priest secretaries.

As I wrote in a previous article entitled, “Homosexual Clergy Destroy Heterosexual Vocations,” I spoke with a former priest who was assigned to a parish where his gay pastor frequently invited men to the rectory where they engaged in sex in his bedroom. After reporting the matter to his bishop, instead of the gay priest being disciplined, the straight priest was transferred to another parish where the pastor was constantly propositioning him for sex. When straight priests have these kinds of experiences, why should Catholics be surprised to read reports about young priests leaving ministry today?

The problem of accepting homosexual behavior on the part of clergy like Salvato in Albuquerque and laity like Benitez in Manhattan originates in Catholic seminaries. While a straight seminarian would be dismissed if a woman were seen leaving his bedroom, nothing is said about what two homosexual seminarians might be doing behind closed doors in seminaries. Because I am a heterosexual, if you were to have asked me if my North American College (NAC) classmate from my diocese was homosexual, I would have said, “No, I don’t think so.” However, when a NAC homosexual seminarian was asked that same question about him, the inquirer was told, “Yes, and he’s sleeping with both faculty and students.” After he was ordained, my homosexual classmate was later reported for also preying on teenage boys which often happens when a priest is groomed in the seminary and looks upon the homosexual behavior as a form of love and friendship.

When retired Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali moved in with Nashville Bishop Richard Stika who had been Rigali’s Chancellor in St. Louis, they also invited Polish seminarian Wojciech Sobczuk, to live with them. Both Rigali and Stika were aware that Sobczuk had been dismissed from two seminaries in Poland and one in the United States for homosexual misconduct. Rigali and Stika were accused of sheltering and financing Sobczuk, who, according to court documents, allegedly “raped and sexually harassed” a parish organist. A lawsuit filed by the organist in the Circuit Court for Knox County, Tennessee, points out that “Stika and Rigali took a summer vacation with Sobczuk during August 2021.” Contrast how Rigali, who made Timothy Dolan his auxiliary bishop in St. Louis, treated homosexually active Sobczuk, with the way Cardinal Dolan unjustly got rid of heterosexually oriented seminarian Anthony Gorgia for reporting NAC vice rector, Father Adam Park, for preying on NAC seminarians, and NAC rector, Father Peter Harman, alleged in court documents of having engaged in gay sex with then-Springfield Bishop George Lucas in the presence of three seminarians.

Knights of Columbus Supreme Chaplain, Archbishop William Lori, with Father Peter Harman and Supreme Knight, Mr. Patrick Kelly

If closeted homosexual Church leaders argue that seminaries are staffed with heterosexual members and populated with heterosexual seminarians, then why have the Archdiocese of New York and the NAC retained multiple law firms in an effort to get the New York Appellate Court to dismiss Gorgia’s lawsuit? Interestingly, the Sixth Cause of Action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 involves discrimination based on sexual orientation. The complaint reads, “Defendants acted against GORGIA to preserve their positions and to cover up the homosexual predations at the NAC because Gorgia was a heterosexually oriented seminarian who had witnessed and was made aware of grooming activities.”

With billions of dollars in New York Archdiocesan assets and organizations like the Knights of Columbus demonstrating support for homosexual defendants like Harman, the deck appears to be stacked against Gorgia and all the straight seminarians in the United States he represents. Catholics can either continue funding gay clerics who live opulent and comfortable lives while traveling together to exotic gay resorts, or they can financially support the sexual discrimination lawsuit, which, if allowed to go forward, can strike a blow on behalf of straight seminarians everywhere.

Readers who would like to hear Anthony Gorgia’s story can watch “Save Our Seminarians” and “Clerical Orgies: The Rome Connection.” Those who would like to know how the Gorgia family has suffered emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually, as a result of how unjustly Anthony was treated, are invited to read, “A Mother’s Cry for Justice.” Finally, those who are fed up with the double standard applied to gay and straight clergy are invited to support the ongoing lawsuit by contributing to the “Save Our Seminarians” Fund.

Gene Thomas Gomulka is a sexual abuse victims’ advocate, investigative reporter, author, 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. Email him at msgr.investigations@gmail.com.