On the issue of gay priests...

In this week's (Dec. 12) Time magazine, there is an excellent opinion piece on the back page concerning Pope Benedict's decision to bar gay men from pursuing the priesthood. As a result of this act, men who have had persistent homosexual tendencies (as opposed to transient ones, which are OK, and which I never knew existed, Thanks Pope!) for more than three years, as well as men who "support the gay culture" (whatever that even means) can not enter the seminary, and if they are already in the seminary, they can be booted out.
First of all, I would love to know what the difference is between persistent homosexual tendencies and these so-called "transient" ones. Previous Vatican regimes have said that homosexuality appears to be innate, so I don't understand how then that a person can experience transient homosexual tendencies, if in fact their sexuality is innate to them. I certainly don't experience transient heterosexual tendencies, nor have I heard of any straight person that does, so this concept does not make sense to me. Look, you're gay or straight...unless you're bi, so what's with the semantics?
Second, this proclamation does not in any way affect gay men (even those out of the closet) who are already priests. They are fortunate enough to be "grandfathered" in, their jobs are safe. The hypocrisy here, I think, is astounding. The justification for this proclamation in the first place, according to the Vatican, is that gay men are a threat to "priestly life" and have "problems in the psychic organization." Well, if gays who want to become priests have these problems, shouldn't gays who are ALREADY priests have these problems as well? Apparently not, using the Vatican's logic.
It seems to me as if this proclamation doesn't really have anything to do with gay men. Rather, I think this is a direct result of the sexual abuse scandal that has been rocking the Church for the past several years. Pope Benedict is scapegoating gays for the conduct of the truly sick men who have used their positions of authority and ministry to abuse young boys. Well, I got news for you, Pope-man, if you think getting rid of gays from the priesthood is going to end pedophilia amongst the men of the cloth, you are sorely mistaken. Not only are you not addressing that problem at its source (the root problems involved here are for another post, but the only role homosexuality played in those scandals was that the children abused ended up being boys, and not girls), there's no telling how many great men you will prevent from becoming great priests.
Take, for example, Fr. Mychal Judge, mentioned in the Time article. He was the chaplain for the NYFD, and on 9/11, Fr. Judge died helping his firefighters clear the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center. Fr. Judge also happened to be openly gay. There is a truly moving photograph in the center of the article of a dead Fr. Judge, still wearing his Roman collar, being carried off by his firefighters. Fr. Judge, aside from being a true American hero, was also a true disciple of Jesus Christ. He performed the greatest act of all, he laid down his life for his friends. Pope Benedict, I would love for you to try and tell those firefighters who knew Fr. Judge, who were consoled by Fr. Judge in times of despair, that he had "a problem in the psychic organization." Ohh, how I would love to see you try, Pope Benedict, because I think those firefighters would laugh in your face, if you're lucky. They could just as easily punch you in the stomach for disrespecting a man they new and loved. Fr. Judge was no less of a priest because he was gay, he was a great priest because he took to heart the message of Christ, and it was ultimately his faith that led to his demise. Under the new rules, men like Fr. Judge wouldn't even get let in the door of the seminary. At a time where now, perhaps more than ever, the Catholic Church needs priests who will be true examples of Christ's message of love, needs strong moral leadership from its priests, needs priests like Fr. Judge, those men would be denied that chance, all because they woke up one day and realized, in the same way that all of us straight people realized our sexual identity, that they are gay.
I hope you've given a lot of thought concerning the ramifications your decision will have on the Church, Pope Benedict, because they are very serious ones, indeed. I hope you've thought about the priest shortage we have in this country, and how your new rule is only going to make it worse. I hope you thought about those New York City firefighters. But something tells me that you didn't.