ROME - In a move that could have far-reaching consequences on the nature of the Catholic Church in the 21st century, the Vatican has decided to discourage people with “deep-seated" homosexual leanings from taking up priesthood.
This particular policy is designed to deal with the pedophile scandals that affected clergy in 2002. The document, which allegedly has the blessings of Pope Benedict XVI, was leaked to an Italian news agency and says that people with homosexual tendencies and practicing homosexuals should be barred from becoming priests. However, the document offers a caveat for those people who have overcome their "transitory" sojourn into the world of gays. These people must have shunned the practice for at least three years before deciding to become monks. The document also says that a candidate for priesthood should not hide his sexual preferences before ordination, “Such an inauthentic attitude does not correspond to the spirit of truth, loyalty and availability that must characterize the personality of one who considers himself called to serve Christ,” the document allegedly states.
The Christian world was divided in its opinion about this directive. While the conservatives welcomed this decision, gays' rights campaigners condemned it and said that it would mean that the Church would lose a large number of practioners in the United States. "There are lots of excellent gay priests and seminarians, and we have a priest shortage. We're not exactly in a buyer's market here. If you're not going to ordain gay men, and not going to ordain married men, and not going to ordain women, well then who's left? It's not exactly a big pool," opined the Rev. James Bretzke, who supervises the department of theology and religious studies at the San Francisco University. However, it is a well-known fact that the Church has never had a linking for gay priests and today's revelations should come as no surprise. Gay rights campaigners like Harry Knox of the Human Rights Campaign say that Jesus would not exclude and that this decision was not in the best interests of the Church.
Clearly, the last word has not yet been heard on this touchy topic.
