Gay priest
Home / gay topics / Gay priest
God himself loved humanity with a chaste love; he left us free even to go astray and set ourselves against him”. Aidan McAleenan
Father McAleenan is a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Oakland, Calif. I love you and serve you, and I am every bit the same person who has been serving you for 15 years. To support Outreach you can make a donation or subscribe to America.
Gay men can become priests, as long as they remain celibate, new Italian guidelines say
The Vatican has given the green light for gay men to become priests - as long as they remain celibate.
In an unexpected adjustment to practice in the Catholic Church, the new guidelines from Italian bishops will allow gay men to enter seminaries.
Although the Vatican had not explicitly prohibited gay men from entering the priesthood in the past, an instruction from 2016 barred men who have "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".
The new guidelines, approved by Italian bishops, say seminary directors should consider a priestly candidate's sexual preferences, but only as one aspect of their personality.
"When referring to homosexual tendencies in the formation process, it is also appropriate not to reduce the discernment to this aspect alone, but … to understand its meaning within the whole framework of the young person's personality," the guidelines say.
It's not clear if the new guidelines will be reflected in other countries.
Read more:
London teenager to become first millennial saint
Pope Francis accused of using homophobic slur
Pope Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has been viewed by some as having taken a more welcoming approach towards the LGBTQ+ community.
This has included allowing priests to bless same-sex couples on a case-by-case basis - but the admittance of gay men into the priesthood has remained a taboo subject.
Pope Francis previously called for careful screening of seminarian candidates, and has in the past sharply warned priests who pursue sexual relationships to leave the priesthood.
The New York Times and other media outlets reported that the Italian bishops, approved by the Vatican, allowed gay men to become priests if they remain celibate.
Verdict: Misleading
While the document states “the formative process, when referring to homosexual tendencies, it’s also appropriate not to reduce discernment only to this aspect,” it does not state that the Italian bishops allowed gay men to become seminarians.
A possessive love ultimately becomes dangerous: it imprisons, constricts and makes for misery. Some think of the Church as a customs office, and that is bad. No one is useless, no one is superfluous, there is space for everyone.
For the last number of years, we have hosted an LGBTQ preaching series in June.
Pexels license.
I’m a Catholic priest. He mailed it to my home for me to read. And it allowed us all to be more welcoming.
After the publication of “Fiducia Supplicans” last December, when the Vatican allowed church ministers to bless same-sex couples, my coming out made this process easier in our parish.
‘In relation to persons with homosexual tendencies who seek admission to Seminary, or discover such a situation in the course of formation, consistent with her own Magisterium, the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture’.
Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women.” In the formation process, when reference is made to homosexual tendencies, it is also appropriate not to reduce discernment only to this aspect, but, as for every candidate, to grasp its meaning in the global framework of the young person’s personality, so that, by knowing himself and integrating the objectives proper to the human and priestly vocation, he arrives at a general harmony.
That day we all cried tears of joy and love.
I had a spring in my step and a deeper sense of freedom. The Italian bishop hierarchy, in particular, has been running thin on recruits and so has opened its gates in favor of more diversity in vocation.
The document states, “In the formative process, when referring to homosexual tendencies, it’s also appropriate not to reduce discernment only to this aspect, but, as for every candidate, to grasp its meaning in the global framework of the young person’s personality,” and adds that the goal is for the candidate to know himself and find harmony between his human and priestly vocation.
New Ways Ministry, an advocacy group for LGBTQ Catholics in the U.S., welcomed the document, saying in a statement, “This new clarification treats gay candidates in the same way that heterosexual candidates are treated.
At that Mass, I told the congregation I hadjust been invited by the chancery to participate in an “accent-reduction class.” I also told the parishioners that I would not be going to the class and that I was perfectly happy with my Irish accent. In it, he referred me to a book that reminded him of my life story.
I have used every fiber of my being in that service. Chastity is freedom from possessiveness in every sphere of one’s life. The doors of our church are open wide towelcome all who walk in. There was nothing else for me to do but to preach myself.
Like anyone else making a big announcement to a group of people whom you’ve come to know and love, I was concerned with the very human fear of rejection.
After all, I was presiding at the Mass, and I have occasionally felt like a sacramental vending machine when I am not preaching, even though I love to hear other voices at the ambo.
This does not only mean controlling one’s sexual impulses, but growing in a quality of evangelical relationships that overcomes the forms of possessiveness, that does not allow oneself to be seized by competition and comparison with others and knows how to guard with respect the boundaries of one’s own and others’ intimacy.
I explained to the congregation what had happened with William—and then I publicly came out.
I told the community: “I am Aidan.