Why does the Vatican hate gay people?

So the new pope is going to be as bad about gay issues as the last pope. You have to ask yourself why. Why is the Vatican pathologically focused on gays? And by "gays", I mean gay men. You know in your heart that it's the men they hate. For the Vatican, women are always a side issue, and a very unimportant one.

So what's their problem? I think about this at times. One possibility that springs to mind is that they feel obliged to fight gay marriage because of their fears for the priesthood. Perhaps they've come to understand that priests will continue to rape children unless they allow them to marry -- women, of course. So they see this in their future.

Imagine that the Vatican says, "Okay, priestly fellows. You can marry now." And at the very same time, gay marriage becomes normalized in society, worldwide. You don't have to imagine this last bit. It's happening right now.

Perhaps the Vatican is worried that this will lead to two priests marrying. And then two more, and two more, until most of the Catholic priesthood is composed of men who are married to other men. "What then?!!!" the Vatican shrieks. Horrors!

Okay, so maybe that's not the reason. But do you doubt they consider such things in that horrid building in Rome? The specter of gay married priests probably haunts their dreams. If so, it would add to the vehemence of their attacks on anything gay.

Then again, maybe not. Why do you think the Vatican considers fighting gay marriage to be more important than, you know, saving souls? 

Married Catholic priests not so rare

There's an opinion piece in the NYT about celibacy and Roman Catholicism. It's written by the son of a former priest. He tells the tale of South American priests who married and remained priests. Sacre bleu!

Not only had Podesta married in 1972, he had also devoted the rest of his life to winning recognition for priests who had made similar choices, and for the women with whom they now shared their lives. Mandatory celibacy itself, Podesta suggested, was based largely on “the undervaluation of women” and the notion that men tainted by female contact should be prohibited from approaching the altar; to rectify this situation, he enlisted his wife as a concelebrant during Mass. 

I've never heard that before -- the bit about married men being tainted by women and thus unfit for altar service. But it sounds like it's right on the money. After all, that's how these "pious" men view women, as unclean creatures. This sentiment clangs through many religions, including Islam and the Jewish religion. It's sickening.

The article goes on to describe the new pope's interactions with the Podestas -- both the man and his wife -- while he was in Argentina. It seems there is a slim chance that this pope might change the church's tune on priestly celibacy. It's not a given, not by a long shot, but the article makes it seem possible. That would really be progress and would go a long way toward fixing what ails this sex-obsessed church.