Pope’s warning to gay priests: stay celibate or leave your post

MEN with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be admitted to the Catholic clergy, and it would be better for priests who are actively gay to leave rather than lead a double life, Pope Francis has said in a new book.

While he has previously spoken of the need for better screening of candidates for the religious life, his comments suggesting that priests who cannot keep their vows of celibacy should leave are some of his clearest to date.

“The issue of homosexuality is a serious issue that must be adequately discerned from the beginning with the candidates,” the pontiff

(right) said with regard to would-be priests.

He added that those entrusted with training men to be priests must be certain that candidates are “humanly and emotionally mature” before they can be ordained.

This also applied to women who wanted to enter female religious communities to become nuns.

“In our societies, it even seems that homosexuality is fashionable and that mentality, in some way, also influences the life of the Church,” he said.

Francis made the comments in a book-length interview with Spanish priest Fernando Prado called ‘The Strength of Vocation’, in which he discussed the challenges of being a priest or nun today.

Francis said in the book, which is due to be published this week, that homosexuality in the Church “is something that worries me”.

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual tendencies are not sinful in themselves, but homosexual acts are.

Francis said there was “no room for this” in the lives of priests and nuns, adding that the Church had to be “demanding” in choosing candidates.

“For this reason, the Church urges that persons with this rooted tendency not be accepted into [priestly] ministry or consecrated life,” he said.

He urged homosexuals who are already priests or nuns to be celibate and responsible in order to avoid creating scandal.

“It is better that they leave the priesthood or the consecrated life rather than live a double life,” he commented.

The interview was conducted in mid-August.

Two weeks later, an archbishop claimed a “homosexual network” existed in the Vatican, whose members helped promote each other’s careers in the Church.