LifeSiteNews.com

Friday November 11, 2005



Vatican Document on Homosexuality and Priesthood to Bar Men Who Support Gay Agenda says Report


SHARE: E-mail E-MAIL  Print PRINT     

By John-Henry Westen

VATICAN, November 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Italian Vatican reporter Andrea Tornielli writes today in Il Giornale that he has seen a copy of the Vatican document on homosexuality and the priesthood and publishes what he claims are excerpts from the document.  Tornielli says the eight--page document entitled "Instruction for vocational discernment criteria regarding persons with homosexual tendencies in view of their admission to the priesthood and holy orders," will be released on November 29 and was approved by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, head of the Congregation for Education, on November 4.

The report confirms that the document will bar homosexuals from the priesthood as well as men with "deep rooted homosexual tendencies."  Claiming to quote the document the paper reports, "the Church cannot admit into the priesthood those who practice homosexuality or have homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay' culture".

The document, says the report, would leave the door to the priesthood open to those who experienced confused sexuality in their youth, as long as they can demonstrate they have overcome the problem.  "Tendencies that would indicate a transitional problem, such as in the case of an adolescent who has not yet fully matured, would have to be overcome for at least three years before ordination to the diaconate," the document is reported as saying.

The document reportedly repeats the church's teaching against unjust discrimination towards persons with homosexual inclinations but also notes that there is "no right to ordination" and that church authorities are bound to detect "sexual disorders incompatible with the priesthood."

The report also says that the document contains three chapters: "Affective maturity and spiritual paternity," "Homosexuality and the ordained ministry," and "Discernment of the suitability of candidates on the part of the Church."

Read the full report in Il Giornale (In Italian):
http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=42098&START=1644&XPREC=0

Back to Top Back to Top

SHARE: E-mail E-MAIL  Print PRINT     



MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.