ASSISI, Italy (CNS): Deciding not to accept as candidates for the priesthood men with “deeply rooted homosexual tendencies” would not be an act of discrimination, said the general secretary of the Italian bishops’ conference.
The bishops, meeting in Assisi, have approved new norms for seminary admittance and the formation of priests, including the rejection of mandatory psychological testing of candidates.
While they provided some information about their discussion, the bishops said they would not release the text of the norms until the Vatican had approved them.
Conference general secretary, Bishop Giuseppe Betori, told reporters on November 15 the text includes the key passages cautioning against admitting homosexual candidates for the priesthood found in an instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education.
The bishops passed the norms after spending more than an hour debating the extent to which they should welcome psychological testing and consultation in seminaries.
The bishops rejected mandatory psychological testing of candidates and any mandatory psychological consultation for seminarians prior to ordination.
Archbishop Italo Castellani of Lucca told reporters on November 16 that while psychology could be helpful in certain areas it cannot be considered part of the “vocational discernment” which the candidate, his bishop, professors and spiritual director are called to conduct.
