Posted on 10/07/2005 9:08:56 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative
The Vatican will allow gay men into the priesthood if they can show they have been celibate for at least three years, leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Friday.
But it said the Vatican will ban men who "publicly manifest their homosexuality" or show an "overwhelming attraction" to homosexual culture "even if it is only intellectually."
The Vatican views on gay priests are contained in a secret 16-page document which is expected to be released next month.
The document, an "instruction" by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education, covers one of the most sensitive issues in the Roman Catholic Church.
Officials at the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Vatican press office could not be reached for immediate comment.
The Corriere report said: "Candidates who show a homosexual tendency will not be allowed into the priesthood unless they can demonstrate that they have been able to remain chaste for at least three years."
Media reports last month, primarily in the United States, said the document would bar all gay men from being ordained priests, even those who are celibate.
Those reports caused concerns in many quarters in the Church that many good men would be excluded by a total ban.
The Church teaches that homosexuality is not a sin but that homosexual acts are, and it expects all priests, whether homosexual or heterosexual, to remain celibate.
Corriere and the weekly Panorama magazine both reported on Friday that Pope Benedict had approved the document this summer.
Panorama said its release would be accompanied by a written explanation by "an internationally known psychologist."
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LOL!
May have been said already, but, there have been enough of these type stories lately that it would appear some people are trying to influence a decision they believe will go against them.Hopefully, it won't work.
you can be heterosexual or homosexual and be celibate.
Priest that accept that know what they are doing. It is their decision.
Sorry Bigots. The Church knows the difference between a sin (homosexual act) and a person with homosexual tendencies. If you don't like it join a protestant church. Have some respect for Church authority.
Have you read St. Paul? If you have, you know what you speak is poppycock.
You might want to return to your studies on Catholicism and realize priests originally DID marry - up until circa. 1200.
The wives of the priests caused so much trouble because of the penury of living conditions, marriage was denied the priesthood - as I said earlier - because of economic conditions of the church having to support families.
You are merely reciting a revision to what actually happened within the church which has been distributed for more delicate palates.
Something is messed up here. This is not Pope Benedict XVI's message.
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