According to Italian news reports, one of the ideologies he specified was a gay culture, referring to it, however, by using the same derogatory slang term in Italian that he reportedly used in a closed-door meeting with members of the Italian bishops' conference in May when describing some seminaries as being marked by a gay culture. Continue reading

Pope Francis is alleged to have told Italian bishops: "If you have even the slightest doubt, it's better not to let them enter because these acts or deep-seated tendencies can lead to scandals and can compromise the life of the seminary, as well as the man himself and his future priesthood."

However, there has been no Vatican confirmation of what Francis told the bishops in a closed-door session last week.

Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, who is the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, answered a journalist's question in a way that appeared to confirm that Francis had discussed homosexuality when addressing Italy's crisis of priestly vocations.

If Francis's alleged views have been correctly quoted, they match up with a 2005 Vatican document about gay men's vocations.

The document is called "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders."

It was issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education.

In 2016, the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy released another document called The Gift of the Priestly Vocation.

It says "If a candidate practices homosexuality or presents deep-seated homosexual tendencies, his spiritual director, as well as his confessor, have the duty to dissuade him in conscience from proceeding towards ordination."

Neither of the documents was signed by the pontiffs of the day - Pope emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Though Francis has not addressed the topic publicly, he alluded to problems of homosexuality in seminary formation during a recent meeting with Chilean bishops.

In a letter written to the bishops which was leaked to Chilean media, Francis corrected Chilean prelates for systematically covering up clerical abuse.

He said the abuses were not limited to just one person or group, but were the result of a fractured seminary process.

In the case of many abusers in Chile, Francis noted how problems had been detected while they were in the seminary or the novitiate.

Rather than expelling these individuals, some bishops or superiors "sent priests suspected of active homosexuality to these educational institutions."

Source

• Crux Now
• Eurasia Review
• Image: American National Catholic Church

About 100 worshippers at the 10am service at the Anglican St Matthew-in-the-City on March 6 heard the shouting from outside, which included the word "abomination".

St Matthew's is known for being supportive of LGBTI causes.

Continue reading

At a press conference after the release of the synod's half way report (relatio), Archbishop Bruno Forte said "it seems obvious to me that humans have different experiences [and] have rights that must all be protected".

He did not equate same-sex unions with traditional marriage.

But he said: "Naturally, this does not mean that we should rule out looking for a way to describe the rights of people living in same-sex unions."

"It is a question - I think - of being civilised and respecting people's dignity."

At the press conference, when the synod's relator general, Cardinal Peter Erdo, was asked about the report's conciliatory statements on gay people, he turned the microphone over to Archbishop Forte.

"He who wrote the text must know what it is talking about," the cardinal said.

Queried about the statement that "homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community", Archbishop Forte said that "the fundamental idea is the centrality of the person independently of the sexual orientation".

Archbishop Forte was also asked to reflect further on the "positive elements" in cohabitation and same-sex unions.

"I think the document intends to find positive aspects wherever these are to be found and they do exist of course," he said.

"Rejecting something is easy, but recognising and giving value to all that is positive, even when dealing with these kinds of experiences, I think is an exercise in intellectual honesty and spiritual charity."

Some of the synod fathers have said the first week of discussions at the synod have recalled the spirit of Vatican II's Gaudium et Spes, Archbishop Forte said.

"[This is] the Church that looks kindly upon the world, making the expectations and the suffering of today's men and women its own."

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• Catholic World News
• Image: Catholic News Agency