Pope Francis has suggested that gay people should not become priests, even if they are able to maintain a celebrate lifestyle.
The comments come from a new book The Strength of a Vocation that will be published in several languages this week.
The Pope described being gay as something that was currently fashionable, and said the church should be wary of admitting gay men to the priesthood.
“The issue of homosexuality is a very serious issue that must be adequately discerned from the beginning with the candidates,” the pontiff said.
“In our societies it even seems that homosexuality is fashionable and that mentality, in some way, also influences the life of the church,” he says in the book.
The Pope said gay men should not be accepted into the priesthood and those who had already joined should be impeccably behaved. Critics have noted that the pope had no message of behavioural expectations for heterosexual priests.
Pope Francis said it is often better for those who have sexual attraction to leave the priesthood than fight their feelings.
OIP Staff
