IRELAND
One in Four
CANDIDATES for the priesthood should not be automatically disbarred simply because they are homosexual, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has said.
The comment is in direct contrast to a draft Vatican document that is likely to say gays should be barred from the priesthood.
Speaking to the influential British Catholic weekly, 'The Tablet', Archbishop Martin said: "You don't write off a candidate for the priesthood simply because he is a gay man."
It has been reported that the Vatican document is to be published within the next few weeks.