Washington D.C., Jun 16, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The U.S. bishops decided Friday to approve a $1-million budget for new research on the "Causes and Context Study" of the sex-abuse scandal.
However, the committee warned that the total cost could only be estimated until the scope and parameters of the study are determined. The estimates to date are between $2 million and $5 million.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Francis George said, homosexual men should not be admitted into seminaries.
The archbishop of Chicago and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in light of the sexual abuse crisis, bishops are paying closer attention to the sexual backgrounds of men interested in entering the priesthood. Part of the commitment is that a man is celibate when he enters the seminary.
"Also, anyone who has been part of a gay subculture or who has lived promiscuously as a heterosexual would not be admitted ... no matter how many years in his background that might have occurred," the cardinal said.