By Christopher Cappiello

The Vatican plans to send more than 100 bishops and seminary staff to U.S. seminaries in the 2005-06 academic year to look for "evidence of homosexuality" and to find faculty members who do not support all church teachings, according to a Sept. 15 New York Times report.

This major initiative aims to get a handle on the scope of homosexuality in the American priesthood, which has been variously estimated at 25-60 percent, according to press reports. The effort is part of a Vatican review in reaction to the thousands of cases of sexual abuse brought against American priests since 2002. It also foreshadows an as-yet unpublished Vatican document that many believe will recommend that gay men be banned from the priesthood, regardless of their adherence to vows of celibacy.

"There are some priests, I don't think there are many, some ordained people with same-sex attractions and they've done very well," Archbishop Edward O'Brien, the American bishop supervising the seminary review, told the Associated Press. "But generally speaking, in my experience, the pressures are strong in an all-male atmosphere. And if there have been past failings, the church really must be on the safe side ... The same-sex attractions have gotten us into some legal problems." A church-commissioned study last year determined that approximately 80 percent of the sex abuse victims were boys.

The Roman Catholic Church currently operates 229 seminaries in the United States, with 4,556 students enrolled last year. The visiting examiners will interview every student, faculty member, and graduate of the last three years. The New York Times received a copy of the Vatican questionnaire, and states that it includes such questions as, "Is there evidence of homosexuality in the seminary?" Interrogators are also encouraged to ask seminary faculty if they "watch out for signs of particular friendships."

The study is being overseen by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, the same arm of the church that is reportedly developing the new guidelines for barring gay men from seminaries. "Anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity, or has strong homosexual inclinations, would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into the seminary," Archbishop O'Brien told the National Catholic Register.

"O'Brien is well connected, and probably knows what the thinking in Rome is," James Hitchchock, a church historian at St. Louis University, told the Washington Post. "Officially, he's not speaking for the Vatican, but he's not speaking out of tune with the Vatican either." O'Brien is the archbishop for the U.S. military, so he does not have a geographic archdiocese to answer to and therefore enjoys a certain amount of autonomy that his fellow bishops do not have.

"You could have somebody who's been in the seminary for five or six years and is planning to be ordained and the rector knows they're a homosexual," the Rev. Thomas J. Reese told The New York Times. Father Reese resigned this spring as editor of America, a Jesuit magazine, following pressure from the Vatican about his coverage of the papal transition. "What are they going to do, throw them out? It's much healthier if a seminarian can talk about their sexuality with a spiritual director, but this kind of policy is going to force it all underground." Reese also points out that the U.S. church faces a crippling shortage of priests that requires many parishes to go without clerical leadership on a regular basis. To force out gay priests, including those adhering to their vows, would only aggravate this growing crisis.

"That would be a major mistake from my perspective," the Rev. Donald B. Cozzens told the Times, referring to the rumored ban on gay priests. Cozzens, a religious studies professor at Cleveland's John Carroll University, caused a controversy with a 2000 book that described the priesthood as "a gay profession." "First, I think it's unfair if not unjust for committed gay seminarians and faculty who are leading chaste lives. And secondly, I don't know how you can really enforce that."

Gay British Soldiers to Live in Marriage Quarters

In a marked contrast to the U.S. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Great Britain's Ministry of Defense announced that gay and lesbian soldiers who register their partnerships later this year will be given access to marriage quarters previously reserved for heterosexual couples. When the Civil Partnership Act takes effect in December, same-sex couples in Britain will have access to many of the same legal and tax privileges afforded to married heterosexual couples.

"The Civil Partnership Act comes into force in December this year, and it will apply to the civil forces," a Defense spokesman was quoted as saying in the British Aldershot News. "Consequently, we will extend the same entitlements, allowances and benefits to same-sex couples, who choose to register with the civil partnership recognized in law, that are granted to married couples."

"What it's doing is giving equal opportunities to gay and lesbian soldiers, which is what we have been fighting for," said Andy Forrest, spokesperson for Stonewall, a British LGBT civil rights organization, in a statement. "It will be giving the message across that the Army treats same-sex couples as they do opposite sex couples."

The government of Great Britain removed its ban on gay and lesbian soldiers in 2000. In 2004 a group of active duty members of the Royal Air Force were the first members of the armed services to participate in a Pride event when they marched in the Manchester Pride Parade. According to the BBC, this year saw the first involvement from the Army, with 10 soldiers marching in the August parade in Manchester. "It is new, it's different and I think it shows that the Army accepts change and is very progressive, open-minded, embracing diversity, showing a higher degree of tolerance," Maj. Glenville Lindsay told BBC News in August.

Clinton to Get Free AIDS Drugs to China

In the latest in a series of moves over several years to combat AIDS around the globe, former President Bill Clinton's Clinton Foundation confirmed Sept. 11 that it would provide free antiretroviral drugs to children in China. "We don't know the actual number of kids who need the drugs, but we'll treat up to 2,000 and we're actually going to work with the government to try and identify more kids and if there are more," Jessica Haberer, a research advisor for the foundation, told the AFP. "We will not leave them uncared for."

"One in every six AIDS deaths each year is a child," Clinton said at an April news conference, announcing a related $10 million program for pediatric AIDS treatments. "Yet children represent less than one of every 30 persons getting treatment in developing countries today. These children need hope, and we know what must be done. The global community has the means to save many lives, and we must meet that responsibility as quickly as we can."

While China admits to at least 840,000 HIV infections, organizations like UNAIDS estimate that the country has approximately 1.5 million people living with HIV. In addition to aiding children, Clinton's program aims to provide second-line antiretroviral drugs for patients who are resistant to first-line medications. The foundation plan also makes an effort to increase access to care in China's rural areas. "Most of the expertise in dealing with HIV/AIDS is found in urban areas," Clinton said at a Beijing ceremony on Sept. 11, according to AFP. "But most HIV/AIDS patients are in rural areas."

Porn Charges Against Russian Activist

Maxim Lagarev, a gay rights activist in the Komi Republic of the Russian Federation, was charged on Sept. 6 with advertising pornography on the Web site for his organization, Another Life. Komi is a northern republic that sits within the Arctic Circle, more than 1,000 miles northeast of Moscow.

"Prosecution for advertising pornographic materials on the gay site is the first of its kind in Russia," Nikolai Alexeyev, head of Project GayRussia, said on his organization's Web site. "It is not clear yet whether this is an individual action against a prominent local gay activist or a start of a major campaign of Russian law enforcing authorities." Syktyvkar police raided Lazarev's apartment and confiscated his computer. Another World's Web site, www.komiproekt.com, does not contain pornography, and no pornographic images were found on its server. The Web site is part of a banner network, and it was on one of the banner link's that questionable images were discovered.

Lazarev has been an outspoken advocate of gay rights in his region, and has called for a gay pride parade in Syktyvkar. Last year Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov made it clear he would veto a Pride parade in Moscow, the largest European city to never host such an event.