With Pope Francis’ approval, the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy has reiterated that men with “deeply rooted homosexual tendencies” shouldn’t become Catholic priests.
“If a candidate [for the priesthood] practices homosexuality or presents deep-seated homosexual tendencies, his spiritual director as well as his confessor have the duty to dissuade him in conscience from proceeding towards ordination,” the document released this week says ….
Although there are a handful of exceptions, the new guidelines have a global scope, meaning, they’re to be implemented not only by bishops’ conferences but also by religious orders.
The head of the Congregation for Clergy, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, was appointed by Pope Francis in September 2013. In June 2014, the pope reconfirmed most members of the Congregation and named three new members.
(Betty Clermont is author of The Neo-Catholics: Implementing Christian Nationalism in America and "Duped by the Media on Pope Francis, Progressives Wonder How Republicans Get Elected.")