VATICAN CITY
North County Times
By: Associated Press
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican official responsible for an upcoming new document allowing gays in the priesthood under certain conditions told a meeting of the world's bishops that the education and formation of priests was key in helping Roman Catholics understand the Mass.
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, did not mention the pending document in his Friday speech to the Synod of Bishops, according to a summary of his remarks released Saturday.
But he said "there is still a lot of work to be done" in many seminaries to make sure priestly candidates are properly educated in all aspects of the Mass, from its theology to its liturgical norms and beyond.
"This formation of seminarians is of maximum importance and must be underlined, because the way the Eucharist is celebrated and the way it is perceived and lived by the faithful, depends principally on the priest," he said.
The Vatican confirmed in 2002 that Grocholewski's congregation was preparing new guidelines for seminaries that would address whether gays should be admitted. The issue had gained attention following the U.S. clerical sex-abuse scandal and surveys showing that most victims were adolescent boys.