While the preparation for this document had started ten years before its publication,[1] this instruction was seen by many critics as a response by the Catholic Church to the clerical sexual abuse crisis.
[3] The 1961 papal instruction Careful Selection And Training Of Candidates For The States Of Perfection And Sacred Orders (Religiosorum institutio)[4] stated that "Advantage to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers."
Two months before his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II, troubled by the sex scandals in the US, Austria and Ireland,[1] had written to the Congregation for Catholic Education: "Right from the moment young men enter a Seminary their ability to live a life of celibacy should be monitored so that before their ordination one should be morally certain of their sexual and emotional maturity.
[17] Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has been quoted as saying that the Vatican's directive was not tout court a "no-gays" policy.
[18] In response to "numerous requests for clarification received by the Holy See", Pope Benedict XVI reiterated in 2008 that the Instruction applied to "all houses of formation for the priesthood".