New York: A Vatican letter sent privately to Roman Catholic bishops worldwide instructs them to bar men "with homosexual tendencies" from being rectors or teachers at seminaries.
The cover letter, dated Nov. 4, accompanied advance copies of the "instruction" on gays in the priesthood that was released publicly on Tuesday by Rome's Congregation for Catholic Education. That congregation also is currently supervising inspections of all 229 US seminaries and has directed visiting teams to look for "evidence of homosexuality" on campus.
The cover letter was first reported on by America's Catholic News Service and will be published in Origins, its periodical that prints texts of church documents. The letter tells bishops that the new Vatican document "does not call into question the validity of" previous ordinations of priests "with homosexual tendencies" or of priests for whom "such tendencies have manifested themselves after ordination," although they are expected to maintain celibacy.
It then prohibits gays from leading or teaching at seminaries. "Because of the particular responsibility of those
charged with the formation of future priests, they are not to be appointed as rectors or educators in seminaries," the letter says.
The Vatican instruction itself prohibits seminary enrollment and ordination for men who are actively gay, have "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" or "support so-called gay culture." Those with only "transitory" homosexual tendencies must be celibate three years before ordination.
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