I used to think that homosexuality was a relatively minor issue for the church, and that the natural law arguments for allowing an eternal part of God's creation some dignity and respect, along with all others who for unchosen reasons cannot partake in procreative heterosexual marriage, were strong. I have come to realize that the homosexual issue is at the very heart of the church's current crisis - and that the cruelty we see is the kind of cruelty inflicted by closeted gay men on those who have sought an honest life. This goes all the way to the very top of the church. Its secrecy and hypocrisy and self-hatred all played a part in the cover-up of mass child-rape for decades.
Pope Benedict XVI himself is a living embodiment of these profound and crippling contradictions. Until they are addressed, until they are fully acknowledged, reform on a whole range of issues will remain extremely hard.
--Andrew Sullivan
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