Edwin O’Brien, Arch-bishop for the U.S. military, is leading the Vatican's investigations of U.S. seminaries.

He spoke with Register correspondent Wayne Laugesen Aug. 25 in a story that thrust him into the spotlight because he said homosexuals should not be admitted into the seminary. The interview was quoted by hundreds of media entitites worldwide — often out of context. Here is the original context of the archbishop's remarks:

Please explain the basic concept of this visitation, because a lot of people don't know what it's about.

It was agreed upon in April 2002, by the cardinals in Rome and the leadership of our conference of bishops in the United States. The United States hierarchy invited the Holy See to get an objective look at our formation programs in the United States, especially as they approach moral theology, questions of human sexuality, and as they help form men to the priesthood who are mature and are knowledgeable of the history and spirituality of the celibacy they undertake and are able to live that celibacy in a purposeful way.

To that end, there is a handbook of points that should be addressed in the visitations that take place. The Holy See asked if I would develop a schedule of visitations and the numbers of visitors, which consist of about 45 bishops and 60 priests.

Where are the visitors from?

They're all from the United States.

Does that raise concerns about their ability to remain objective?

No. No. The visitors are as intent as anyone else in seeing that the goals of good human formation are being realized. The guidebook to be followed is the questions and the schema that's been drawn up by the Holy See. The number of visitors will depend on the size of the institutions. The visits will conclude early in May. There will be over 220 institutions visited, some very small, both on the college and theologate level.

What happens if the visitors find seminaries that are completely out of step with the Church regarding celibacy? Perhaps they're admitting homosexuals who are not living chaste and celibate lives.

The task of the visitors is to get an objective picture of what is taking place in the classroom and in the overall formation program of a seminary or a house of formation.

And admission practices?

Yes, criteria for admission, absolutely. And what is done throughout the years of formation, in terms of spiritual direction. How strong is the spiritual formation? What kind of spiritual direction is given, what spiritual direction is given in the classroom as well as what external aids are there for formation? Every seminarian will be interviewed individually. That interview is protected by secrecy.

The team will draw up its report based on interviews with seminarians and the faculty. That report will be written by the chair of each visitation, in consultation with the visitors, and it will be sent to Rome. There will be no exit report or anything like that. I will not see it, the rectors will not see it and it will be factual. This is what is taking place. Rome will review it and if they have concerns they'll be in touch with the bishop or the religious superior about it. An evaluation will be published by the Congregation for Education, but before that's done a draft will be sent to the local superior or rector to see if there are any factual errors in the report.

So the interpretation will be done not by the visitation team but in Rome once the facts have been given in a report that says, ‘Here is what seminarians have reported.’

Is there going to be a grand, final report when this process is completed?

After all visits are completed, it's expected there will be an overall assessment, and that will go public. It will be an assessment of overall formation in the Untied States. That could be a couple of years out.

When the reports go to the Holy See, where exactly do they go?

To the Congregation for Education. If it's about a religious institution, the Congregation for Education will pass the report on to the Congregation for Religious.

As you know, some people have concluded that seminaries are largely responsible for the Church sex scandal. Some critics say the last visitation, in the ’80s, was a whitewash.

I would disagree with them.

Were you involved with that visitation?

Yes, I did make one or two visits. Probably the most valuable work is done in preparation for the visit. Seminaries know what the Holy See is looking for, and they have ample time if they're not meeting some of the standards, to make those standards a reality, and that's what happened in the ’80s. Once the visits took place, most things were in place. You'll find out that a lot of the immoral activity that we unfortunately have seen in all the headlines took place in the ’60s, ’70s and into the ’80s. Seminarians formed in the ’80s and ’90s received much more solid formation than those who were formed soon after the Second Vatican Council, when all sorts of experimentation took place.

Theology was thrown up into the air as to the meaning of celibacy, the value of celibacy, and the discipline one was sworn to as a result of ordination. Everything was thrown into question, and I think that's why visitation was called for in the ’80s. Standards were set, and I know that many seminaries didn't even require philosophy after the Council.

The idea was to get them in and ordain them as soon as possible, and I think in many places a careless academic and spiritual formation took place. The Holy See was concerned. That's why visitation was called for, and by the time it was done, many seminaries found themselves changing and coming back to more solid formation programs and academic programs.

You look at any program from ’75 and compare it to ’85 and you'll find that it became a lot more solid program somewhere in those 10 years.

Is that why the visitation is scheduled years out, to allow for preparation?

I wouldn't say it's the most important reason. But a critical contribution is made just in the preparation itself.

Is there any concern that a seminary out of compliance would prepare just to pass, and then go back to the way things were?

It would be tough to fudge. The seminarians will be key players in this whole thing.

Because they're protected by anonymity?

Yes. They'll be questioned individually, and if you get 50 out of 60 seminarians in an institution saying this was the case when I came in, and this is the way it is now, there's reason for credibility there.

How about former seminarians? Will you interview them?

Priests ordained in the last three years will be invited, should they wish, to take part. All full-time faculty will be required to participate in interviews.

Some people characterize seminaries as “liberal” or “conservative.” Would those kinds of distinctions have merit if all seminaries were brought in line with Church doctrine?

Externals can vary from place to place, but as far as the core of Catholic teachings, and expectations of the Church regarding formation in sexuality and celibacy, I think they have to be consistent from one institution to the next.

What more can you tell me about this process, that we haven't discussed?

I just want to say it's a positive program. It has been well received by people I've spoken with in seminary work. They think in the end it will be very helpful. Most I've spoken to see it as a very good time to do some self-examination. It's not an investigation, but a visit to help everyone get a clearer picture of what priesthood is and what formation toward priesthood should be.

You work with the military, where the issue of admitting homosexuals has been around for a while. Now we have this debate as to whether homosexuals should be allowed into seminaries. What's you're stand? Should someone who's ever been homosexual be denied admittance into a seminary?

I think anyone who has engaged in homosexual activity, or has strong homosexual inclinations, would be best not to apply to a seminary and not to be accepted into a seminary.

Even if he has been chaste for say, 10 years?

I would think so, yes.

You mean they should not be admitted?

Yes. And the Holy See should be coming out with a document about this before too long that should help us, too.

Wayne Laugesen writes from Boulder, Colorado.