Cardinal George told the Sun-Times that US bishops were concerned that the timing of the document's publication would create the appearance that it was linked with the current Vatican visitation of American seminaries. "We asked them not not to publish it, but to delay it-- to wait-- otherwise it would color the visitations," the cardinal explained. He continued: "We said, 'If you do this, it will be taken as a commentary on the visitations and we'll get into this whole business that the gay community is so sensitive to of, 'You're blaming us for the pedophilia.'"? Vatican officials

Vatican officials were not persuaded by the American bishops' arguments, Cardinal George said, because the Instruction on homosexuality and the priesthood was intended for the whole Church. The Vatican concluded that the document's release date should not be based on circumstances only in the US, he said.

# posted by Squach : 10:21 PM   |