Vatican policy on priests said to prohibit gays

The Vatican's new policy on gays in the priesthood will bar men who practice homosexuality, who have ''deeply rooted" homosexual tendencies, or ''who support the so-called gay culture," according to an Italian newspaper.

The report by the conservative daily Il Giornale of Milan, based on what the newspaper said was the text of the Vatican's policy on gays in the priesthood, provides the most concrete details of the plan, which for weeks has been the subject of speculation, anonymous leaks, and conflicting reports in the US and Italian news media.

The newspaper quoted the report as saying that gay men or those who support gay culture are in a situation that ''presents an obstacle to a correct relationship with men and women."

The policy also demands, however, that homosexuals be ''treated with respect and delicacy" and said necessary steps should be taken to avoid ''any sign of discrimination," the newspaper reported.

The newspaper also said the document, dated Nov. 4, bears the signature of Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education (a ''congregation" is a department, or an agency, of the Vatican).

The newspaper reported that the document had been approved by Pope Benedict XVI on Aug. 31 and that it would be released by the Vatican on Nov. 29.

The report said the new formulation of Vatican policy appeared to draw the line between men with what it called ''deep" homosexual tendencies and those who may have experienced some confusion about their sexual identity at some prior point in their lives.

''Tendencies that might have been only an expression of a transitional problem, such as that of adolescence . . . should be clearly overcome at least three years" before ordination, the newspaper quoted the Vatican document as saying.

The policy states that there is ''no right to receive ordination" and that is ''it is up to the Church to discern suitability" of future priests and to discern whether they are ''in possession of the required faculties."

The policy states that bishops, rectors of seminaries, and heads of religious orders should ''verify among other things that emotional maturity has been reached" and give a ''morally certain judgment of the qualities" of the candidate, the newspaper reported.

In cases of ''serious doubt," church officials should verify that the candidate ''does not have sexual disturbances incompatible with the priesthood," the policy states.

The Archdiocese of Boston, through spokesman Terrence C. Donilon, declined to comment on the report, saying Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley would not comment on ''something that is not official Vatican policy."

Boston College theologian Stephen J. Pope, who has been criticized by the church for his writings on gay marriage, said yesterday that, while not surprising, the text of the policy -- as reported by Il Giornale -- was ''problematic."

By singling out gay men based on their ''tendencies," Pope said, the policy as reported ''represents gay people as if they are more sexually licentious than straight people."

''It feeds into the stereotype," he said. ''It casts aspersions on gay people."

Pope also said the policy appeared to delve into the political as well as the philosophical and theological, by not only banning gays but also those who support their ''culture."

In the Vatican's view, he said, priests who openly disagree with the church's position on the practice of homosexuality as a sin are ''confusing the faithful" and cannot be allowed.

The church, he said, is willing to have what it views as a ''purer clergy [rather] than a numerous clergy."

He cited as an example the recent forced resignation of his friend and popular Newton pastor, the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, whose supporters believe he was ousted not for financial improprieties, the reason cited by church officials, but for his support for gay parishioners.

''I think the church is trying to exercise more control over the ordained clergy, and what happened to Walter Cuenin is an example of the lengths they will to go to enforce this uniformity," Pope said.

Both Pope and Brad Luna, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, based in Washington, D.C., said they saw the policy as the Vatican's attempt to divert blame for clergy sexual abuse.

''At the end of the day, it still turns on their using gay people to get out from under a problem that they won't accept responsibility for," Luna said. ''They have used gay people as a scapegoat."

Representatives of conservative Catholic groups and publications said the new policy, as reported, actually represents a liberalization of the last Vatican edict on gays and the priesthood, an outright ban issued by Pope John XXIII in 1961.

Critics of US seminaries have charged that the ban was widely ignored and that a culture of homosexuality has been tolerated for decades. While there are no reliable data on the numbers of gay men in the priesthood, estimates have been as high as 50 percent.

In September, the Vatican launched a review of 229 American seminaries, theology schools, and other institutions that train priests, aimed in part at looking for evidence of homosexuality. The effort alarmed gay rights advocates but pleased conservatives.

C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, said the Vatican could have ''saved a lot of trouble" by just reaffirming the 1961 ban, and predicted that it will be impossible for church officials to determine who is a ''deeply rooted" homosexual and who is not.

''There are so many potential ambiguities in this policy that I fear it will fail to accomplish its intended purpose and only cause more confusion," Doyle said.

Brian Saint-Paul, the editor of the conservative Catholic magazine Crisis, said: ''The Vatican is taking a very measured look at this issue. Benedict is adopting a real-world policy that recognizes that there are excellent men with same-sex attractions who have overcome them."

Ralph Ranalli can be reached at ranalli@globe.com.