All my bags are packed and I am ready...

Once I said to a friend, starting with the phrase, "When I left the priesthood..." he stopped me and said: "No, you did not leave the priesthood. The priesthood left you." In a way, he is correct. In 2005, the Roman Catholic Church legislated that gay men are not eligible to become priests, BUT current priests who are gay may remain in the priesthood. I call this the Catholic version of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." I thought to myself: "Why are gay men not eligible for the priesthood, but I am gay and a priest and I am allowed to stay? Answer: Because the church did not want a huge labor shortage. If the church asked all gay priests, bishops and cardinals to get out of the priesthood over 50% of the clergy in the US would be gone! (I'm estimating here.) Looking at my own ordination class from seminary over half are gay. I think the quote from the movie "Sordid Lives" is appropriate here: "How can I embrace a church that won't embrace me?"