Vatican releases information about papal meeting with priests, including discussion of homosexuality
June 13, 2024
» Continue to this story on L'Osservatore Romano (Italian)
CWN Editor's Note: Without offering a transcript, the Vatican has disclosed the topics discussed during the Pope’s June 11 meeting with 160 Roman priests who were ordained between 11 and 39 years ago. During the meeting, the Pontiff renewed his warning against homosexual influence in the clergy.
The topics in the closed-door discussion ranged “from ongoing wars to investments in weapons, contraceptives and cosmetic surgery; from a greater commitment to politics in times ‘of disengagement and abstentionism’ [i.e., not voting], to the welcome in the parishes towards ‘everyone, everyone, everyone’; up to the indication to be cautious when admitting people with homosexual tendencies into seminaries,” L’Osservatore Romano reported.
During the 90-minute meeting, which took place at the Salesian Pontifical University, the Pope also urged priests to accompany the elderly with God’s “closeness, compassion, and tenderness” and to seek out those who suffer from loneliness or drug addiction. Upholding Father Lorenzo Milani (1923-1967) as a model, the Pope said that “the Church is either prophetic or clerical: it is up to us to choose.”
“The Pope spoke of the danger of ideologies in the Church and returned to the theme of the admission of people with homosexual tendencies into seminaries, reiterating the need to welcome and accompany them in the Church and the prudential indication of the Dicastery for the Clergy regarding their entry into seminary,” the Vatican newspaper reported. In a 2016 document, the then-Congregation, citing a 2005 instruction, stated that “the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.’”
The Pontiff also praised Cardinal Angelo De Donatis for his “capacity to understand and forgive.” In a recent shake-up, the Pope ended the cardinal’s seven-year tenure as his Vicar for Rome and named him Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The Pope met on May 14 with Roman priests who had been ordained 40 or more years and on May 29 with priests ordained within the past ten years.
The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
