IRELAND
One in Four
The Pontificate of Benedict XVI has been relatively uneventful so far. This may be about to change.
It appears increasingly likely that a document banning homosexuals from joining the priesthood is about to be published, maybe before the end of the month.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has now entered the fray. At the end of a meeting of European Bishops in Brussels a fortnight ago, he was asked about the issue of homosexuals and the priesthood. His comments appear in the current issue of The Tablet, a Catholic weekly in Britain.
They appear to put him in direct opposition to the draft Vatican document and they would also appear to put him in the camp of those prelates who believe issuing the document would be counter-productive. He told The Tablet: "You don't write off a candidate for the priesthood simply because he is a gay man."