In the Pope’s sermon at Fatima on May 13, 2000, he alluded to Chapter 12 of the Book of the Apocalypse, and warned the Church that "The message of Fátima is a call to conversion, alerting humanity to have nothing to do with the ‘dragon’ whose ‘tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth’ (Rv 12: 4)."

        The common interpretation of this passage, as the Pope surely knows, is that the stars swept from Heaven are consecrated souls falling from their exalted states as priests and religious. Here the Pope seems to refer to the Third Secret, which Mother Angelica, yours truly and millions of others believe has yet to be revealed in full. Indeed, there is nothing in what has been published by the Vatican to support the Pope’s own linkage of the fall of consecrated souls to the Message of Fatima. So it must be found in some other, not yet revealed, part of the Secret. (The just-published book The Secret Not Revealed by prominent Italian journalist Marco Tosatti is bound to ratchet up this controversy to new levels.)

        The fall of consecrated souls obviously includes the current scandal of homosexual infiltration of the priesthood. With each passing day a new cover-up is revealed, and more victims step forward, indicating the terrifying depth of this form of corruption of the Church.

        And yet, in the midst of these revelations, the men who govern the Church seem to be determined, for the most part, to overlook the cause of this scandal: the abandonment of the traditional stricture against ordaining known homosexuals. With (it would appear) only one exception (Archbishop Bevilacqua of Philadelphia), neither the American bishops nor the bishops of any other national hierarchy seem willing to enforce the Vatican’s 1961 Instruction that "those affected by the perverse inclination toward homosexuality or pederasty should not be admitted to religious vows or holy orders."

        For example, we read in Newsweek magazine (May 20, 2002) that St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, described as "one of the most respected training grounds for Catholic priests in the nation," has no intention of excluding openly homosexual men from the path to priestly ordination, so long as they give assurances they will be "celibate." According to Newsweek, St. John’s "may be one of the country’s gayest facilities for higher education. Depending on whom you ask, gay and bisexual men make up anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent of the student body at the college and graduate levels." A seminary filled with men who find other men - and no doubt each other - attractive. And this is considered acceptable practice in one of the "most respected" seminaries in America?

        It is not as if the seminary administration denies that St. John’s has become a magnet for homosexuals. Newsweek notes that Rt. Rev. Helmut Hefner, the school’s rector, "accepts that his gay enrollment may be as high as 50 percent…" The Vatican Instruction, then, is simply being ignored.

        Newsweek rightly notes that "for a church where priests preach that homosexuality is an ‘intrinsic evil,’ it is at the least incongruous that so many would-be priests are gay.’" Indeed, it is. According to Notre Dame history professor Scott Appleby: "People I know quite well have left the seminary either in disgust because people are not keeping vows, or in alienation because they’re not gay. In some cases it’s a serious problem." Newsweek further reports that Bishop Wilton Gregory, head of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, admitted (under questioning from this writer at the recent Vatican summit on the crisis) that "[T]here does exist a homosexual atmosphere or dynamic that makes heterosexual men think twice," about entering or remaining in the seminary.

        Newsweek observes that "St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia is believed to be the only [seminary] in America that bans gays outright, seminary officials say. Most others, like St. Patrick’s Seminary near San Francisco, have no restrictions. ‘Shouldn’t you consider a homosexual as equally fit? I would think yes,’ says the Rev. Gerald Coleman, the rector there."

        So the ordination of homosexuals will go on. And given the critical shortage of vocations (in two-child families with only one son, parents will generally not encourage their one son to enter the seminary), the continued "lavendarization" of the priesthood in America is assured - and with a new harvest of scandal for the Church.

        Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.