Why Did So Many Gay Men Enter the Prithood the 20th Century?

Contents:

• CATHOLIC PRITS: IT'S 'EMPIRIL FACT' THAT MANY CLERGY ARE GAY
• GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE
• 80 PERCENT OF PRITS THE VATIN ARE GAY: NEW BOOK
• WHY DID SO MANY GAY MEN ENTER THE PRITHOOD THE 20TH CENTURY?

CATHOLIC PRITS: IT'S 'EMPIRIL FACT' THAT MANY CLERGY ARE GAY

Gay and straight prits alike are cheerg Pope Francis's ments about homosexualy the prithood, sayg gay prits make up a signifint segment of the Catholic clergy and serve papal regnn. On a plane om Brazil Monday, Francis told reporters that, "if someone is gay and he search for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?

GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE

" It's a ment that stands stark ntrast to the policy of Francis's precsor, Pope Benedict XVI, who signed a document 2005 that said men wh strong gay tennci should not be prits. "It's an empiril fact that lots of men are gay who are prits.

"I would also observe that the numbers of gay men and women the church mistry is probably larger than the general populatn, precisely bee they are not seekg marriage. The notn that many Catholic prits are quietly gay is not new. Cozzens suggted that the prithood was creasgly beg a gay profsn.

Cozzens timated that as much as 58 percent of prits were gay, and that percentag were even higher for younger prits.

80 PERCENT OF PRITS THE VATIN ARE GAY: NEW BOOK

His numbers matched prev timat by soclogists who put the numbers of gay prits between 10 and 60 percent. Father Gary Meier, a gay, St. Louis-based Catholic clergymen, says there's a wi range of statistics out there on gay prits, but jok that his experience, "30 percent are gay, 30 percent are straight, and 30 percent are nial.

" "It is such a breath of h air to hear somethg different than the anti-gay hostily that we hear om so much of the hierarchy of our church, " he says.

"But this is also om the same person who lled gay marriage the work of the vil. " In 2010, when Francis was the archbishop of Buenos Air, he lled proposed laws on gay unns Argenta a "stctive attack on God's plan. " He later referred to gay marriage as "the vil's work.

WHY DID SO MANY GAY MEN ENTER THE PRITHOOD THE 20TH CENTURY?

What percentage of Catholic prits are gay? Gay prits: Breakg the silence.

He is one of very few openly gay prits. Father Green "me out" to his ngregatn this Milwkee suburb about three years ago, at age 51, when he announced, "I am a gay prit, and a celibate prit.