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Vatican: Gays can't be priests
11/11/2005 20:58 - (SA)
Rome - A long-awaited Vatican document says sexually active homosexuals and those with "deeply rooted" gay tendencies or who support gay culture cannot be admitted to the priesthood, an Italian newspaper reported on Friday.
Any candidate with "passing" homosexual tendencies that were never acted on must have overcome them for at least three years for them to be ordained, Il Giornale, a conservative daily, reported.
It said the eight-page document from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education would be made public on November 29.
Il Giornale said it had seen the document and provided full quotes in its report. Previous reports have cited only sources familiar with the document, and provided only partial citations from the text.
Priesthood
"The church cannot admit to the priesthood those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or who support the so-called 'gay culture"', the newspaper said, citing the document.
"Such men can't be priests because they live in a situation that represents an "obstacle to a correct relationship with men and women," the newspaper said.
"Bishops, spiritual directors of seminaries and superiors of religious orders have the responsibility to discern candidates' "emotional maturity" to determine if they are suitable for the priesthood, and should bar them if there is any "serious doubt," it said.
That includes verifying that the candidate practices celibacy and has no "sexual disturbances that are incompatible with the priesthood."
"Those tendencies that might be just an expression of a passing problem, such as from adolescence that hasn't been acted on, must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination as a deacon," the document says, according to Il Giornale.
The document stresses that homosexuals should be treated with respect and that all forms of discrimination concerning them should be avoided, the newspaper said.
- AP
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