The Vatican has approved new guidelines allowing young homosexual men train to become Catholic priests in Italy, as long as they do not “support the so-called gay culture,” according to a document from the Italian Bishops’ Conference.
The guidelines, posted online Thursday, emphasize celibacy while giving gay men a path to enter seminaries—schools that train future priests.
However, the guidelines include a caveat: those who openly display their homosexuality should be excluded from training.
A specific section of the 68-page document addresses “persons with homosexual tendencies who approach seminaries, or who discover such a situation during their training.” It states, “The Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary and to Holy Orders those who practise homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called gay culture.”
The document stresses that the goal of priestly formation is the ability to “accept as a gift, to freely choose and live chastity in celibacy.”
The Vatican has approved these guidelines, according to the Italian Bishops’ Conference.
Despite the Church’s official position that same-sex acts are “intrinsically disordered,” Pope Francis, 88, has advocated for a more inclusive stance toward LGBTQ Catholics.
In his papacy, he has repeatedly emphasized compassion, famously saying in 2013, “if someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?”
However, controversy arose in June when the pope reportedly used a derogatory gay term, “frociaggine,” in a private meeting with Italian bishops, expressing opposition to gay men in seminaries.
The term, which translates as “faggotry,” sparked a minor uproar.
A prominent US Jesuit priest and advocate for LGBTQ Catholics, James Martin, commented on the new guidelines, noting that it marks the first time a Vatican-approved document has suggested that eligibility for seminary admission “cannot simply come down to whether or not he is gay.”
Martin interpreted the rule to mean that “if a gay man is able to lead a healthy, chaste and celibate life he may be considered.”
