Vatican Defends Ban On Gay Priests

The Vatican just released its long-awaited statement on homosexuals and the priesthood, saying that those with "deep-seated" gay tendencies should not be ordained. The document, which is the first major policy statement of Pope Benedict XVI, also bans "supporters of gay culture" from entering the priesthood, but says that the church will accept as priests men who have "overcome" their homosexuality for at least three years.

The document is not supposed to affect men who have already become priests but only those entering seminaries to prepare for priesthood. Gay rights groups have criticized the document, claiming that it will force new clergy members to hide their sexuality, while also creating morale problems among existing priests.

In the British Catholic weekly paper the Tablet, Father Timothy Radcliffe, former master of the Dominican order, wrote "Having worked with bishops and priests, diocesan and religious, all over the world, I have no doubt that God does call homosexuals to the priesthood, and they are among the most dedicated and impressive priests I have met."

"And we may presume that God will continue to call both homosexuals and heterosexuals to the priesthood because the church needs the gifts of both," he wrote.

Conservatives, on the other hand, are hoping that the document may help reverse the "gay culture" that has grown in many US seminaries. Some estimates have suggested that as many as 50% of US seminaries may be gay. The US have long had a shortage of catholic priests and opponents of the document now fear the the Vatican's new move will further escalate this problem.