Details emerge on Vatican gay priest plan
If the church and the Christian faith continue on the current path of intolerance and fundamentalism ultimately it will be tossed aside as outdated an irrelevant in peoples lives and that here is the true shame. ( I highly recommend Rev. John Shelby Spong's book entitled "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism" Gays and Lesbians are in every single faith and every single walk of life, (we always have been) to expect that there are no gay priests or that there ever will be is merely refusing to accept truth. On the other hand - The Christ that I learned and have read about in the Bible would never deny his teachings or turn his back on anyone the way the Catholic Church has with regards to the gay community. On a less serious note, and I'm not Catholic , I think Pope Benedict or Ratzinger what ever the hell his name is does protest too much! Perhaps - he's taken it in the ass a few times himself and is feeling a little guilty for having enjoyed it so much. LOL - Yep now it's official, Catholics will say I'm headed "straight" to hell but I'm sure I'll see George Bush and the Pope when I arrive there, and they better be ready because I fully intend to take over!
Reuters:
New information about a forthcoming Vatican document on gay priests was published Friday by an Italian newspaper.
New details about a forthcoming Vatican document on gay priests -- the subject of speculation and press leaks in recent months -- were published by an Italian newspaper on Friday.
Il Giornale of Milan reported that the eight-page document, to be released on Nov. 29, disqualifies for priesthood "those who practice homosexuality, who possess deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or who sustain the so-called 'gay culture.'"
Gay candidates will not all be automatically rejected, however. Those who have been celibate for at least three years prior to being ordained deacons may be allowed. (The deacon stage usually precedes priesthood.)
The three-year prerequisite of chaste living was first revealed last month by another Italian newspaper.
The determination of a seminarian's "affective maturity" for priesthood rests with bishops, seminary rectors and religious superiors, according to Il Giornale's report.
Pope Benedict XVI reportedly approved the document, drafted by the Congregation for Catholic Education, at the end of August.
A Vatican official declined to comment to the Reuters news agency about the forthcoming "instruction."
Earlier in the week Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop whose 2003 consecration sparked a crisis in the Anglican Communion, criticized the Vatican's attempt to ban gay students from seminaries as "an act of violence against gay folk."
During a speech last Saturday in London, Robinson also suggested that the Vatican's crackdown on gays may result in converts to other Christian faiths.
"We are seeing so many Roman Catholics joining the church," he told the audience. "Pope Ratzinger may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church."
Reuters:
New information about a forthcoming Vatican document on gay priests was published Friday by an Italian newspaper.
New details about a forthcoming Vatican document on gay priests -- the subject of speculation and press leaks in recent months -- were published by an Italian newspaper on Friday.
Il Giornale of Milan reported that the eight-page document, to be released on Nov. 29, disqualifies for priesthood "those who practice homosexuality, who possess deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or who sustain the so-called 'gay culture.'"
Gay candidates will not all be automatically rejected, however. Those who have been celibate for at least three years prior to being ordained deacons may be allowed. (The deacon stage usually precedes priesthood.)
The three-year prerequisite of chaste living was first revealed last month by another Italian newspaper.
The determination of a seminarian's "affective maturity" for priesthood rests with bishops, seminary rectors and religious superiors, according to Il Giornale's report.
Pope Benedict XVI reportedly approved the document, drafted by the Congregation for Catholic Education, at the end of August.
A Vatican official declined to comment to the Reuters news agency about the forthcoming "instruction."
Earlier in the week Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay U.S. Episcopal bishop whose 2003 consecration sparked a crisis in the Anglican Communion, criticized the Vatican's attempt to ban gay students from seminaries as "an act of violence against gay folk."
During a speech last Saturday in London, Robinson also suggested that the Vatican's crackdown on gays may result in converts to other Christian faiths.
"We are seeing so many Roman Catholics joining the church," he told the audience. "Pope Ratzinger may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church."
posted by Shane at 7:46 AM
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