Vatican City, Nov 28, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Today, the Vatican officially released its hotly debated new document regarding the admission of homosexuals to the priesthood. An Italian Catholic news agency leaked the document last week and a Vatican source had confirmed its authenticity, making the document’s contents already known.
No major changes came in the official "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders" released by the Congregation for Catholic Education, and dated November 4th.
As watchers had expected for months, the Instruction affirms the Church’s long-held teaching that men with “deep seeded” homosexual tendencies should not be admitted to the priesthood.
It adds that such tendencies "gravely” hinder potential priests “from relating correctly to men and women."