Vatican approves Italian guidelines allowing gay men to become priests

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican has approved caller guidelines from Italian bishops that let cheery men to participate seminaries arsenic agelong arsenic they abstain from sex, successful an unexpected accommodation to however the planetary Catholic Church considers imaginable aboriginal priests.

Although the Vatican had not explicitly barred cheery men from entering the priesthood successful the past, an earlier 2016 acquisition had said seminaries cannot admit men who person “deep-seated homosexual tendencies”.

The caller guidelines, posted without fanfare connected the website of the Italian bishops' league connected Thursday, accidental seminary directors should see a priestly candidate's intersexual preferences, but lone arsenic 1 facet of their personality.

“When referring to homosexual tendencies successful the enactment process, it is besides due not to trim the discernment to this facet alone, but ... to recognize its meaning wrong the full model of the young person’s personality,“ authorities the guidelines.

The Italian bishops said they approved the papers successful November. The substance is accompanied by a enactment from the Vatican's clergy office, confirming the guidelines arsenic effectual for a proceedings play of 3 years.

Pope Francis, person of the Catholic Church since 2013, has been credited with taking a much welcoming attack toward the LGBTQ community, and has allowed priests to bless same-sex couples connected a case-by-case basis.

But the admittance of cheery men into the priesthood has remained thing of a taboo subject. Priests who are cheery often explicit fearfulness astir discussing their sexuality.

Francis approved the 2016 Vatican instruction, which was mostly an update of a erstwhile papers issued by Pope Benedict XVI successful 2005.

The pope has called for cautious screening of seminarian candidates, and has successful the past sharply warned priests who prosecute intersexual relationships to permission the priesthood.

Francis besides reportedly utilized a derogatory connection astir cheery radical erstwhile discussing homosexuality successful seminaries successful a closed-door gathering past year, for which the Vatican issued a uncommon apology connected the pope's behalf.