ROME — Men who have "deep-rooted homosexual tendencies" or who sustain a "gay culture" may not be trained to become Roman Catholic priests, the Vatican says in a new document posted Tuesday on a Catholic news website.
However, the church says, if a man had "transitory" homosexual tendencies that have been "overcome" for at least three years, he may be admitted to a seminary, the school that trains priests.
The document was quickly criticized by some gay rights sympathizers, who say the church does not understand homosexuality. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said the instructions would have little, if any, effect on how seminaries in the Los Angeles area admit candidates.
The new instructions are basically a reaffirmation of the church's long-standing ban on ordaining active gays into the priesthood. They repeat a 1961 condemnation of homosexual acts but provide more specific guidelines that were ordered partly in response to the sexual abuse scandal plaguing the church.
"It should not be ignored that there are negative consequences that result from the ordination of people with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies," the document states. "Such people find themselves in a situation that is a serious obstacle to correct relationships with men and women."
Most of the document's key details were previously reported in the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. But the Internet publication Tuesday by Adista, an Italian Catholic news service, represented the first time the document in its entirety has been disclosed.
On Nov. 29, the Vatican is scheduled to formally release the instructions, which Adista said were signed by Pope Benedict XVI on Aug. 31 and by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski on Nov. 4. Grocholewski is the prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Vatican body in charge of drafting the guidelines.
As expected, the document -- years in the making -- stops short of ordering an absolute ban on homosexuals in the priesthood, as had been feared in some circles.
Instead, it allows for a more nuanced approach that in effect makes room for gays who are celibate, have been celibate for three years or do not flaunt any aspect of a gay culture, which church officials have defined as the use of gay movies, books and websites, and participation in gay pride events.
It also reiterates church teachings as contained in the Catholic catechism, which state that homosexual acts are immoral and a grave sin and that homosexual tendencies are "intrinsically disordered."
