In "The Changing Face of the Priesthood" (2000) Rev. Donald B. Cozzens claimed the priesthood was increasingly becoming a gay profession in the US. Cozzens estimated that as much as 58% of priests are gay, and that percentages were higher for younger priests. The article says sociological estimates varies from 10% to 60%. So no consensus.
Really? That's a bit surprising. I would've figured that it would be declining as irreligion and open homosexuality became socially acceptable.
One can easily assume that young priests aren't irreligious.
Right, but conversion/apostasy isn't a cold, logical process. One would think that given an accepting secular environment, a young homosexual Catholic would be significantly more likely to say "t'hell with it" than in 1950.
Yes, they probably would. A significant number of heterosexual young Catholics would also say 'to hell with it'. That's why 60-70 years ago most Catholic extended families had at least one priest, now few do. Given that homosexuality in western Catholic majority/minority nations is not as tolerated as 'carefree' heterosexuality, it makes sense that a more disproportionate number of heterosexual Catholics think 'to f-ck' with the priesthood which, by extension, leaves a core number of homosexuals who aren't able to do the same. It's not that there are 'more' gays in the priesthood, it's that there are less heterosexuals (and less gays too in raw number I would imagine but making up a larger proportion)
Indeed, having a very large number of sexually repressed and self loathing homosexuals in the Church as the numbers taking the vocation fell was probably the catalyst for the Church codifying it's opposition to gays (On Pastoral Care etc) so strongly in the 1980's when before hand, it was generally indifferent.
