Los Angeles Times
Steve Lopez
The Vatican has spoken, and once again we can only marvel.
If you've got "deep-rooted homosexual tendencies" or practice a "gay culture," the church says, don't bother knocking on the seminary door.
Unless, of course, your "transitory" homosexual tendencies have been driven into submission and "overcome" for at least three years.
I'm not sure how to translate any of this, but let me try.
If you have short-rooted gay tendencies rather than the deep-rooted variety, enjoy the theater but don't get carried away, or if you're capable of living in denial for periods of three years or longer, grab a robe and a pair of sandals and let's talk.
Frankly, I can't tell whether this is a sign of progress or further retreat into the Dark Ages. Church leaders might have been better off continuing to pretend there were no gays in the priesthood, or they could have stuck with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that's made for hundreds of years' worth of comfortable hypocrisy.