Vatican Approves CEI Guidelines Allowing Gay Men into Italian Seminaries for 3 Years, Requiring Celibacy

Jan 10, 2025, 10:13 PM

The Vatican has approved new guidelines from the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) that allow gay men to enter seminaries in Italy, provided they remain celibate. The CEI guidelines, published on their website, emphasize that the evaluation of a candidate's suitability for priesthood should not be solely based on their sexual orientation but should consider it within the broader context of the individual's personality. The new rules, effective immediately, will be in place for an initial three-year period. This decision marks a shift from a 2016 instruction that barred men with 'deeply rooted homosexual tendencies' from seminaries. However, the guidelines also state that those who practice homosexuality, have deeply rooted homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called gay culture, will not be admitted to seminaries or holy orders.