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Vatican now approves openly gay men to seek ordination as priests in Italy

By lauraharris // 2025-01-16

• The Vatican approved a new directive in Italy allowing openly gay men to seek ordination as priests, provided they adhere to the requirement of chastity in celibacy.
• The new directive emphasizes helping candidates find harmony between their human and priestly vocations, rather than automatically disqualifying them based on sexual orientation.
• This decision contrasts with the 2005 Vatican instruction, which barred individuals with "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" from seminaries or Holy Orders.
• Pope Francis appoints Bishop Robert McElroy, a critic of Trump and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, as Archbishop of Washington, DC.
• McElroy's appointment, along with the new ordination directive, fuels speculation about Pope Francis' progressive agenda within the Catholic Church.

The Vatican has approved a new directive cautiously allows openly gay men to seek ordination as priests in Italy. According to "The Formation of Presbyters in Italian Churches. Guidelines and Rules for Seminaries," published by the Italian Bishops' Conference on Jan. 10, candidates seeking to become priests will no longer be automatically disqualified due to their sexual orientation. Instead, it states that the goal is to help candidates "know themselves and find harmony between their human and priestly vocation." The document reiterates the requirement of chastity in celibacy for all priests, regardless of sexual orientation. "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," the document, signed by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops and a close collaborator of Pope Francis, stated. This development ignores the 2005 Vatican instruction by the Congregation for Catholic Education, which stated that candidates with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or who practice homosexuality or support the "gay culture" cannot be admitted to seminaries or Holy Orders.

Pope Francis defies Trump with controversial appointment of LGBTQ+ advocate as Archbishop of Washington

The decision comes on the heels of Pope Francis' controversial appointment of Bishop Robert McElroy, a known critic of President-elect Donald Trump and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, as the new Archbishop of Washington, DC. Cardinal McElroy, 70, has been a vocal supporter of Pope Francis' focus on issues such as refugees, the environment and welcoming LGBTQ Catholics. He has also been a staunch critic of Trump and his administration. During Trump's first term, McElroy, then Bishop of San Diego, gave a speech in Modesto, California, specifically referencing Trump and urging Catholics to become "disruptors" of the anti-immigrant agenda. "We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to rip mothers and fathers from their families. We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies rather than our brothers and sisters in terrible need," he said at that time. McElroy also expressed deep concern about a "profound sickness in the soul of American political life" and argued that it would be "unthinkable" for Catholics to remain silent while more than ten percent of their community faced the threat of deportation following Trump's victory in the 2016 election. Despite all this, Pope Francis still believes that McElroy's academic background, including a doctorate in political science from Stanford University and a doctorate in theology from a Roman university, makes him "well-suited" to articulate Catholic teaching on social issues. He is expected to continue Pope Francis' focus on protecting the most vulnerable in society. This, in turn, has further fueled speculation about the Pope's progressive agenda within the Church. Head over to Transhumanism.news for more stories about transgender individuals. Watch LifeSiteNews founder John-Henry Westen discussing Pope Francis' new guidance on blessing same-sex couples below. This video is from the Rick Langley channel on Brighteon.com.

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Pope Francis allows priests to bless same-sex couples – as long as it doesn't resemble an actual marriage ceremony. Pope Francis' American cardinals are pro-LGBT revolutionaries with a radical agenda for the Church. False prophet? Pope Francis hosts bizarre drag queen-like circus performance in creepy reptilian-shaped Vatican Hall. Sources include: TheNewAmerican.com NCROnline.org CNN.com Brighteon.com

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