Vatican Adopts 'Instructions' on Gay Priests
The controversial Catholic document restricting the ordination of homosexuals was adopted on Tuesday, sparking protest from liberals and widespread praise from conservatives.
The controversial Catholic document restricting the ordination of homosexuals was adopted on Tuesday, sparking protest from liberals and widespread praise from conservatives who had warned against the growing gay subculture within contemporary Catholic seminaries.
The document, entitled “Instructions,” had already sparked controversy after leaks in the past few weeks. It says practicing homosexuals, men with “deep-seated” homosexual tendencies and those who support gay culture should be barred from entering the priesthood.
However, the document makes a distinction between those with homosexual tendencies and those with “the expression of a transitory problem.” It also says those with a transitory problem may be ordained, should the candidate overcome all homosexual tendencies at least three years before admission to the deaconate – a position one step short of priesthood.
"Deep-seated homosexual tendencies, which are found in a number of men and women, are also objectively disordered and, for those same people, often constitute a trial," the eight-page Vatican document stated. "Such persons must be accepted with respect and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”
“Instructions” come at a pivotal time in U.S. Catholicism, where the rampant sexual abuse of teenage boys by clergy led many to re-evaluate the impact of homosexuality in the priesthood.
Conservative Catholics welcomed the document as an important step in reforming the priesthood, particularly in the United States, where they say seminaries have become venues for a thriving gay subculture.
Liberals and gay-rights groups meanwhile criticized the document as unfairly targeting homosexuals for what is a pedophilic problem.
The U.S.-based Human Rights campaign, a gay-rights group, said it will call on all Catholics to complain to their local pastors about the document.
"We're speaking to Catholics in the pews and urging them to consider what Jesus would do if he saw his neighbor treated this way," the group said in a statement.
Instructions is the first major document adopted under Pope Benedict’s reign. It does not affect men who are already priests, but only those entering seminaries.
