Pope Francis has asked the Italian bishops’ conference not to allow gay men to enter the seminary to train for the priesthood, according to Italian media.
The pope’s words surprised many given his openness to the LGBT community throughout his pontificate. Francis replied: “Who am I to judge? » when asked about a “gay lobby” at the Vatican during the flight back from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.
But in his remarks to the bishops, the pope expressed the Vatican’s official position since 2005, when the Congregation for Catholic Education, with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, issued a document on the issue, titled “Instruction Concerning the criteria for the discernment of vocations with regard to people with homosexual tendencies with a view to their admission to the Seminary and to Orders. This document was subsequently approved by Pope Francis in 2016.
Francis made the remarks during a 90-minute closed-door meeting in the Vatican’s ancient synodal hall with more than 200 members of the Italian bishops’ conference last Monday (May 20).
Since the start of his pontificate, Francis has participated in question-and-answer sessions at the conference’s biannual meeting. There is so far no official text of the pope’s remarks at last Monday’s conference. These remarks, first reported by Dagospia, a media outlet specializing in confidential information and scoops, were later reported by the main Italian dailies, La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, but have not been officially confirmed.
An informed source, who wished to remain anonymous, said America that he first heard the news on May 21 from three Italian bishops present at the meeting.
The issue of homosexuality and seminarians has been debated for some time by the Italian bishops’ conference and, according to Corriere della Sera, at their meeting in Assisi last November they “approved a new document ‘Ratio Formationis Sacerdotalis ‘, not yet approved by the Holy See, regulating admission and training in (Italian) seminaries, in which it approved by majority an amendment which recognized the distinction between simple homosexual orientation and “deeply rooted tendencies “.
This, the newspaper reported, meant “in essence, that a homosexual person could be admitted to the seminary if, like the heterosexual, he guaranteed that he knew how to live the discipline of celibacy.” The implication is that it is harder for gay people because they will be living in an all-male community for many years. But, the newspaper observes, “it seems that Pope Francis has a more radical vision: to avoid problems of this kind, homosexual people should not be admitted to the seminary. Complete stop!”
La Repubblica reports much the same thing, but adds that two or three bishops raised questions about it during last week’s meeting with the pope, and one of them explicitly asked Francis what he should do as a bishop “when an openly declared homosexual knocks at the door”. of the seminar. » The newspaper specifies: “The pope, who had already expressed his opposition to this (entry) in the past, responded in a firmly negative manner, while emphasizing that respect is due to everyone, whatever their sexual orientation. »
According to La Repubblica, Francis declared that “it is necessary to set guidelines and avoid the risk that the homosexual who chooses the priesthood ends up living a double life, continuing to practice homosexuality, while suffering from this concealment.
Il Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica and Dagospia report that Francis, whose native language is Spanish and not Italian, and who often uses colloquial language in his conversations, surprised the bishops by using the Italian word “frociaggine.” , which is a derogatory term for “queerness”. ” in Italian. It is unclear whether he was aware of the offensive nature of the word. Major Italian dailies quoted him as saying that “there are too many frociaggine in seminars. » Various sources claim that the Pope’s use of “frociaggine” was a blunder on the Pope’s part, rather than an insult, given the Pope’s question: “Who am I to judge?” attitude towards homosexual priests.
The Vatican document published in 2005 states:
(C)on Dicastery, in agreement with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to clearly specify that the Church, while deeply respecting the people in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, exhibit deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support so-called “gay culture.”
La Repubblica notes that this question appears to be on the agenda of one of the ten study groups that Pope Francis has constituted in relation to the Synod on Synodality, which will hold its final session next October. It is unlikely that the results of the working groups will be ready in time for this assembly, but they can nevertheless make a contribution.
Correction, May 27, 2024: Due to an editing error, this article originally incorrectly stated that World Youth Day Rio took place in 2016.
News Source : www.americamagazine.org
Gn world
