Pope Signals Openness to Gay Priests

[catbrooks]

Pontiff's Comments Suggest Greater Acceptance of Homosexuality Among Clerics

Comments

[fruitymangoes]

This might be the first pope I will actually like

[linda_lupos]

... this Pope confuses me so. He's so... human. O_o I *want* to distrust him but then he does and says things like this and I'm like "YES - wait, where's the catch?" And I'm not sure there is one!

But I really like that he's Pope, even if this change of direction isn't going to last (but oh, how I hope it does!).

[derezzed]

Are people actually reading this article? He's not saying he'd accept accept openly gay priests but gay, though not sexually active ones...

[the_glow_worm]

Um, yes? ALL priests are required to be celibate.

[lied_ohne_worte]

The Church's rules on homosexuality don't just apply to priests, but to all people working for the church. I know a number of gay people who work for the Catholic church, and who have to be extremely careful about hiding their private lives because anyone who has it in for them could report them, and the Church would be able to fire them right away. People who work for the church without being priests are not required to be celibate as long as they're heterosexual - and technically married, but that is treated far more leniently than homosexuality. So this really changes absolutely nothing except sounding nice.

[derezzed]

omg brainfart

[lied_ohne_worte]

Women, he said, couldn't be ordained as priests, because the issue had been "definitively" settled by Pope John Paul II. However, the pope wanted to develop a "theology of the woman," in order to expand and deepen their involvement in the life of the church.How kind of him. Member numbers and lack of priests being what they are, a lot of the work in the church is being done by women, as it always has been of course. It starts with the most basic volunteer work done on the ground, and in my country at least includes women who have a degree in theology and are employed as "pastoral assistants". They do most of the work priests do, except for handing out sacraments, naturally, and except for being subordinate to men who are actually able to become priests. There are nuns who are highly educated and run their own convents all on their own - but if they want to hear a mass or confess, they need to get in a priest from the outside, as of course they couldn't possibly be qualified to do these things on their own

[stormqueen280]

Yes, that was quite disappointing. He could change this if he wanted.

[saydeey]

omg well thats good!