Italian daily publishes excerpts from long-awaited Vatican document on homosexuals in the seminary

Rome, Italy, Nov 10, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The Italian daily Il Giornale has published what it claims are excerpts from the upcoming Vatican document that will bar homosexuals from the priesthood.

The newspaper claims to have had access to the eight-page document that will be released under the auspices of the Congregation for Catholic Education and will be entitled, “Instruction for vocational discernment criteria regarding persons with homosexual tendencies in view of their admission to the priesthood and holy orders.”

The document will allegedly include an introduction and 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.”

Il Giornale says in the document the Vatican will reiterate that homosexual persons should be “treated with respect and kindness” and that “any sign of discrimination” against them must be avoided, but that they should be barred from entering the seminary because of their incompatibility with the priesthood.

The newspaper also maintains the document will affirm that “the Church cannot admit into the priesthood those who practice homosexuality or have homosexual tendencies or are close to the so-called ‘gay’ culture” as manifested through their opinions, their participation at gay protests or their embracing of the homosexual agenda.

The document will also reiterate that “there is no right to ordination” and that “discernment regarding the suitability” of future priests corresponds to the competence of Church, which must judge a candidate’s affective maturity, ability to live chastely, and whether or not he suffers from “sexual disorders incompatible with the priesthood.”

In the case of “serious doubt,” the candidate in question would not be allowed to enter the seminary, Il Giornale reports.

The Italian newspaper also explained that “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 maintains that homosexuality can “create obstacles in the correct relationship between men and women,” and in these cases, the spiritual director would have the obligation to “dissuade the candidate” from continuing his seminary formation.

According to Il Giornale, the Vatican document will be published on November 29.