San Francisco Chronicle
Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Roman Catholic priests and seminary students with "homosexual inclinations" can be good priests and should not fear discussing the issue with their superiors, Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement scheduled for release this morning.
As head of church leadership in the United States, Skylstad sets the tone for how Vatican edicts are carried out in this country.
Skylstad made the statements in a news release timed to today's planned release in the Vatican of a document called an "instruction" that clarifies the church's stand on whether gay men can enter the priesthood.
The Vatican instruction -- according to a leaked copy posted on the Catholic World News Web site -- prohibits the ordination of men to the priesthood who "are actively homosexual, have deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture."