The Australian
Jill Rowbotham, Religious affairs writer
November 30, 2005
THE Vatican has warned young homosexual Catholics who want to be priests against hiding their sexual preferences in order to enter the church.
"It would be gravely dishonest for a candidate to hide his own homosexuality in order to proceed, despite everything, towards ordination," say long-awaited instructions released yesterday.
The sternly worded document, authorised by the Pope, said "such a deceitful attitude" contradicted the required personality of a priest, which should be characterised by a "spirit of truth, loyalty and openness".
Details in the document have been leaked in recent months, so it was no surprise that one key condition for eligibility was that a candidate should have been celibate for three years before being ordained a deacon. It also reminded prospective candidates that their own feeling of vocation was secondary to other considerations.