Editor-DN
Rome:
Young gay men can train to become Catholic priests in Italy but only if they “support the so-called gay culture”, according to new church guidelines approved by the Vatican.
Underscoring the need for celibacy, guidelines from the Italian bishops’ conference — posted online Thursday — open the door for gay men to attend seminaries, or divinity schools that train young men to become priests. They train.
But they came with a caveat — that those who expressed their homosexuality should be banned.
A section of the 68-page guidelines was specifically directed at “persons with homosexual orientations who approach seminaries, or who discover such a situation during their training.”
“The Church, while deeply respecting the persons in question, cannot admit into seminaries and holy orders those who practice homosexuality, show deep-rooted homosexual tendencies or so-called homosexuals. support the culture of,” read the document.
The goal of training priests is “the ability to accept as a gift, the ability to freely choose and live a chaste life in celibacy.”
The new guidelines have been approved by the Vatican, the bishops’ conference said in an accompanying statement.
Pope Francis, 88, has encouraged a more inclusive church during his papacy, including for LGBTQ Catholics, although the church’s official doctrine still says that same-sex acts are “intrinsically are random”.
In 2013, just weeks after taking office, Francis famously said, “If someone is gay and is seeking the Lord and his will is good, who am I to judge him?”
However, in June, the pope used a homophobic slur in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops, setting off a minor firestorm, according to two Italian newspapers.
The pope expressed his opposition to gay seminaries, saying there was already too much “frociaggine” in schools — using an offensive Roman term that translates to “faggotry.”
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
