Transcript of Post Interview With Bishop William Skylstad

Q: The document does not directly mention the sex abuse scandal but seems to refer to it indirectly in a couple of places. What is its relationship to the scandal?

Skylstad: "The document has been already five years in preparation so in a sense it was begun before the sexual abuse situation arose. Now certainly it has come up comcomitantly with that and has even been, in some ways, related to the visitation of seminaries. But its origins were in place five years ago. It's a very complex situation and we're dealing with human beings and we're dealing with the call of the church. This document hopefully will be of asistance to bishops, to formation folks in the seminaries, to formation directors, to spiritual directors, to make sure that we have appropriate candidates for priesthood who can relate to people in a very healthy way, who will not violate boundaries that are inappropriate in ministry."

Q: Some people will read this document as the church's answer to the sex abuse scandal and as blaming gay men. What do you say to that?

Skylstad: "There's no empirical evidence that sexual abuse of minors is directly connected to homosexuality. Having said that, however, the bishops have commissioned a study on the causes and context [of the scandal], as a followup to the John Jay study [on the scope of sexual abuse in the U.S. church since 1950]. This [sexuality] is a very complex and mysterious gift that we all have, and as we sort that out within the church and in the broader society as well, hopefully we can find out what some of the root causes are, and what are the accompanying circumstances of which we need to be aware. All of that I think needs to be moved ahead. I know that some people try to make the connection between the sexual abuse of minors with homosexuality, but as far as I know in the scientific community that connection has not been established."

Q: Your interpretation is clear  the document does not flatly rule out a man who is permanently gay, as long as it does not dominate his personality and he can live celibately.

Skylstad: "As long as he does not have that deep-seated tendency that would obstruct his appropriate relationships in ministry. That's my reading of the document. I'm sure that as we look to the future, too, we will continue to monitor how helpful this document is in terms of assessing appropriate candidates for the priesthood and will allow us, I think, as we look into the future to be in continuing discussion about this topic and how we really make the formation process and the selection process in our seminaries the best possible."

Q: You seem to be suggesting that the church might someday conclude that this document was not especially helpful.

Skylstad: "I hope it's helpful. It's a document that speaks to us at this particular moment. And as with so many documents in the church, as we implement those documents we continue to assess where you are. But given the nature of the high interest of society at large with regard to sexual orientation, the struggles that churches in general are having with this issue, and in our own context of the Roman Catholic Church to make sure that ministers in the church minister with a sense of deep dedication to the church and with pastoral charity, and to make sure they don't cross boundaries in terms of human relationships that are inappropriate."

Q: Is it possible that other bishops will read the document as a more flat prohibition? That they'll read 'deep seated tendencies' to rule out anyone who understands himself to be permanently gay?

Skylstad: "Each bishop has to make his decision in that regard. My sense would be that as long as that primary focus is on dedicating the whole person to the church and to authentic pastoral charity, if that condition is present, then that person would be fit for ministry. That's what the document itself says."