Pope Francis has warned Italian bishops to be wary of accepting priesthood applicants who are suspected to have homosexual tendencies.
In the report published in the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the pope said "Keep and eye on the admissions to seminaries. Keep your eyes open. If in doubt, better not let them enter."
According to the Vatican Insider cited by La Stampa for its report, the remark from the pope was made during a closed-door gathering at the Vatican on May 21st as part of his opening speech for the 71st general assembly of the Italian bishops' conference. The pontiff was also reportedly calling for 'careful discernment' of seminarian applicants and proceed with caution if they think that the applicant has 'deep seated tendencies' or who 'practice homosexual acts.' The pope said that these tendencies could lead to scandal if discovered, compromising the priest and the Church itself.
The comments made by the pope were confirmed by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Citta della Pieve, the president of the Italian's bishops conference. According to the Catholic News Agency, Basetti confirmed it during a press conference on May 24 and the statements reaffirms the traditional Catholic teaching that practicing homosexuals should not be permitted to the priesthood.
Some believe that the remark from the Pope is an attempt to appease the conservatives who were agitated by an earlier report when the Pope had been reported in saying to a gay Chilean man who had suffered clerical sexual abuse that God loves him the way he had made him.
Last week, Juan Carlos Cruz told the Spanish newspaper El Pais that in his meeting with the Pope, the Pope had said to him 'Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like that and he loves you like that and I do not care. The popel loves you as you are, you have to be happy with who you are.'
This is not the first time the Pope has expressed a different stance on homosexuality. In 2013 during his first overseas trip, he said "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" He also made a similar statement in 2016 when he said that 'when a person arrives before Jesus, Jesus certainly will not say: "Go away because you are homosexual."
