The Vatican has authorized openly gay people to become priests

The Catholic Church will now accept openly gay men as priests, while banning them from having sex, as the Vatican considers homosexual activity “inherently evil”

Gay people have been officially allowed to become priests. This follows new guidelines published by the Italian Bishops' Conference.

The conference's new guidelines on priestly training do not recommend that openly gay people be barred from ordination.

“When speaking of homosexual inclinations, consideration should not be reduced to this aspect alone, but, as in the case of each candidate, should consider their importance in the overall personality structure of the young person,” says the report, titled ”Guidelines and Norms for Seminaries.”

However, it also says that gay priests should never have sex - as heterosexual priests have always been required to do.

Officially, the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual people should be treated with dignity and respect, but believes that homosexual activity is “inherently evil.” It is also forbidden to ordain men who “practice homosexuality, exhibit deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support so-called gay culture.”

Meanwhile, all women, regardless of their sexual orientation, continue to be denied access to the Catholic priesthood.

In January 2023, Pope Francis said in an interview with the Associated Press that “homosexuality is not a crime.”

Francis also approved “blessings” for same-sex couples, but insisted that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

While the current pope supports LGBTQ rights more than any other pontiff, he has also allowed himself to make disparaging remarks about gay people.