Two dozen gay priests and seminarians from 13 states shared intimate details of their lives in the Catholic closet with The New York Times over the past two months. A priest in Florida put it this way: “A third are gay, a third are straight and a third don’t know what the hell they are.” One priest in Wisconsin said he assumed every priest was gay unless he knows for a fact he is not. Some priests say the number is closer to 75 percent. But gay men probably make up at least 30 to 40 percent of the American Catholic clergy, according to dozens of estimates from gay priests themselves and researchers.
The stories of gay priests are unspoken, veiled from the outside world, known only to one another, if they are known at all.įewer than about 10 priests in the United States have dared to come out publicly.
