Who knew that the Society of Jesus, aka the Jesuits, was the go-to religious order for gay men wanting to become priests?

In a damaging indictment of the congregational order to which Pope Francis belongs, ex-Jesuit seminarian Ben Brenkert claims that the elitist organization covers up the activities of its homosexual priests. He also avers the official teachings of the Catholic Church are dead wrong on the topic.

In the Daily Beast, Brenkert writes:

But I saw homosexuality and Catholicism in the most holistic way, and I put my needs for self-preservation last because I wanted to make a difference in the life of LGBTQ youth. I thought I could change things from the inside, but to do this right I had to enter the Church’s most gay friendly order, an order with political and social connections that rivaled the Beltway.

Even then I knew it would take years and years to undo the damage done to the LGBTQ community by the Church, damage I hoped to help repair in my lifetime as a priest. [snip]

There were the gay Jesuits who were so closeted that they hid behind conservatism, leaving the Jesuits for formation programs in dioceses across the United States. There were gay Jesuits who were put in clerical prison for embracing undergrads too long, and others who attended Sexaholics Anonymous, or whose personal collection of pornography was mistakenly played during high school lectures. 

I myself was groomed for sex by several older Jesuits. I saw the vehement internalized homophobia of some Jesuits, and knew of certain gay pastors removed from jobs so that less out and more passable gay Jesuits replace them at gay-friendly parishes.

Contrary to what he may believe, Brenkert’s offering of an inside look at the underbelly of the gay culture in the Jesuits doesn’t support his cause of getting the Roman Catholic Church to fully embrace practicing homosexuals.

In fact, his admission that “I’m back on the market, dating, and using Apps like Tinder, to look for a man with whom I can share the joys and sorrows of life, a man with whom I can marry, and love, and raise children,” suggests the man has a skewed view of what it means to be a priest in the church.

Brenkert’s lack of acceptance of church doctrine may not be entirely his fault. His indictment of some gay priests that desire to keep their lifestyle quiet while benefitting from the perks of the Jesuit order sheds light on the confusion occurring within the seminaries; a confusion which should be clarified and settled.

Ann Kane is former editor of Watchdog Wire North Carolina, and blogs at ExZOOM.net.