Vatican approves document allowing openly gay men to become priests

The Vatican continues to expand the “Overton window” on the Roman Catholic Church’s attitude toward LGBT people. Following the recent scandal of the declaration “Fiducia supplicans,” which the RCC used to authorize the blessing of same-sex couples, the Holy See has approved a document allowing open homosexuals to become clergy. The new document from the Italian Bishops’ Conference states that open homosexuality is no longer a barrier to candidates for the priesthood. RNS reports that.

“In the formation process, when it comes to homosexual inclinations, it is also appropriate not to reduce the distinction only to this aspect, but, as for each candidate, to understand its importance in the global framework of the personality of the young person,” – reads the document, the purpose of which, according to the authors, is for ”the candidate to know himself and find harmony between his human and priestly vocation.”

For its part, the advocacy group for LGBTQ+ Catholics in the U.S., hailed the document as a “major step forward” in the fight against discrimination in the RC. “This new clarification treats gay candidates the same as heterosexual candidates. This is the kind of equal treatment the Church should strive for on all LGBTQ+ issues,” – the statement reads.

Recall that on February 20, 2024, during the plenary session of the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was headed by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Budapest, the declaration “Fiducia supplicans” adopted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church was considered. Recall that this document prescribed the scandalous norm on the “blessing” of same-sex couples. As a result of the discussion, the commission officially condemned the doctrine adopted by the RCC, calling it “a departure from Christian moral teaching.”