The Age
By Michael B. Kelly
November 29, 2005
THOSE red-blooded heterosexuals in the Vatican have finally done it. After decades of increasingly shrill condemnations of homosexuality, they have actually banned gay priests. You almost wonder what took them so long.
A document expected to be issued in Rome this week by the Congregation of Catholic Education intensifies the church's stance against gay priests. The document, reported to have been approved by Pope Benedict XVI on August 31, prohibits from the priesthood active homosexuals, those judged to have deep-seated homosexual tendencies and those who support "gay culture".
The Italian newspaper Il Giornale recently quoted the document as saying the church should avoid discriminating against gays, but it could not ordain them. For a priest, it said, homosexuality represents "a situation that impedes the building of correct relationships with men and women".