The Vatican to Allow Gay Priests (But There's a Catch)

Rev.J.Buchanan

They always allowed gay men and pediophiles into the Pristhood. The newly ordained lied right from the start. They were not to be trusted with anything..liers. Once their lies were discovered those in control looked the other way, moved them around from place to place. Or kept them for those higher up the chain to use as they wish for their sexual needs. It was a shell game of the worst kind and they enjoyed it.

JT Sunrise

Reflections on Inclusivity, Justice, and Love By Rev. JTSunrise

In these times, we are often confronted by the complexities of faith, justice, and the world’s demands on our spiritual lives. We live in a world where labels are cast far too easily, where judgment is too quickly passed, and where divisions grow deeper by the day. And yet, the core of our shared faith in the divine — that deep, all-encompassing love — calls us to something far greater than the divisions that so easily take root. It calls us to radical inclusivity, radical justice, and, most importantly, radical love.

I’ve often reflected on how society views those of us who embrace a path outside the mainstream — those of us who walk the road less traveled, who stand for justice even when it’s unpopular, who love when it’s inconvenient. We are often told that our faith must fit into a narrow box, that our beliefs must conform to a rigid set of rules and restrictions. But, to me, this isn’t the faith I follow. I believe in a faith that stretches beyond boundaries, that reaches across all divides, and that welcomes all of God’s children — regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or past mistakes.

In my own journey, I’ve found that one of the most powerful acts of faith is not just believing in God, but in believing in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. We are not perfect, and we are not meant to be. We are works in progress, learning, stumbling, growing, and, through it all, learning what it means to truly love one another as we are. And that, to me, is the highest calling of all.

Today, many people struggle with questions of morality and spirituality. They ask whether certain behaviors are wrong or whether certain groups of people are deserving of compassion. And I understand that struggle. It is not always easy to know the right path. But what I have learned is this: True morality is not about exclusion. It’s about inclusivity. True faith is not about adhering to a set of rules; it’s about embracing the divine in every single one of us, seeing the holiness in each person, and recognizing that we are all connected in this sacred journey of life.

Look at the teachings of the great spiritual leaders — whether they were Jesus, Buddha, or the countless other prophets, mystics, and visionaries who have walked this earth. They did not separate us based on our differences; they called us to unite, to love, and to build a better world for all people. This is the essence of what we should be living: a world where no one is left behind, where all are free to love and to be loved, to serve and to be served.

I do not shy away from speaking truth to power, especially when it comes to those who would use religion as a means of control, exclusion, and division. The world often tells us that some people are “less than” because of who they love, how they live, or where they come from. But this is not the way of the divine. God created us all in His image, and every single person is deserving of dignity, respect, and love.

We must ask ourselves: What is the purpose of our faith if not to uplift the oppressed, to stand with the marginalized, and to fight for justice for all? Faith is not a tool of the powerful. It is a force of liberation. It is a call to fight for equality, to challenge the systems that perpetuate suffering, and to build a world rooted in love and mutual respect. This is not just about what we believe — it’s about what we do, how we act, and who we stand with.

And so, my fellow travelers on this journey, I urge you to continue this fight. Fight for a world where love knows no boundaries, where justice is not selective, and where faith is not a weapon but a bridge. Let us be the hands and feet of God’s love in this world, showing others that we are a people of deep conviction, but also a people of deep compassion.

May our faith lead us into the light, not of judgment, but of understanding. May it inspire us to see the beauty in diversity, to embrace all people as God’s children, and to work tirelessly to create a world where no one is ever left out or cast aside. And as we move forward, may we always remember that love — in all its forms — is the answer to all things.

— Rev. JTSunrise

William S Hyatt

I am Sorry but the scripture is clear you cant manipulate it to fit your sin And the Pope is doing this there for he can not have Gods ear

Ari Joseph Bertine

Looks like practical reasons to me, if they are having trouble keeping younger parishioners with the old bigoted policies. And there's literally no difference between a homosexual celibate priest trying not to sin in his heart and a heterosexual celibate priest trying not to sin in his heart. A vow is a vow no matter who makes it.

Churches have to balance on the line between not changing important policies that define their religion's core and changing trivial or man-made dogma clung to out of fear of change, in order to survive generational cultural changes. For a church whose primary tenet is love, this one is a no-brainer.

Cisco

I tried posting a response to another comment but didn't quite work. The comment was about why the church don't allow women Bishops. I agree with that comment 100%. Women are allowed to be priest but not Bishops is a huge travesty in the religious community. We say we believe in equality for men and women buy yet we still treat women as if they aren't equal or qualified. Me as a Minister I believe it's time for Pope Francis to correct this wrong first. We need to support and show our women of faith that we got their back and should be able to achieve a higher religious standing in our communities. Our women priest wake up everyday, show up for church service, lead us in our faith and bring us closer to God deserve more. The Pope wants to to make a difference let's start by correcting this injustice first.

Alfred B Jacobson

Most people do not understand Catholic history. The sad part is that almost all religions pattern their protestant beliefs on the Catholic - Pagan practices-- Lent, Christmas, Easter, Sunday as Sabbath Good Friday, three days and three nights in the tomb before the Resurrection.From "Good Friday evening until Sunday morning ????? one and half day?? This was our Savior's only promise that He was THE SAVIOR. Please begin to study 2 Timothy 2:15!!!

Rev. Barry

They have always been GAY

James Trenton Smith

This is not of Christ.

Dr. Reverend Tiffany Loyan Mitchell

I have been raised Catholic; however, I have not once known of a Catholic Female Bishop. Why is that? They will allow "Men to include Gay Men" to tell us how to live however a Straight Woman and now of course Gay Woman are not allowed to be Bishop or for that matter Popes. I am not happy because that is still stagnating my growth within the church and disrupting my Christianity because the church is always telling the REAL Woman that they are lesser than a man whom dresses up like a women to have a relationship with a man. How shameful to the REAL WOMAN is that? Very DISRESPECTFUL AND SHAMEFUL. THAT IS TRULY A DISAPPOINTMENT AND DISAPPOINTMENTS ARE SINS TOO. SO PLEASE STOP SINNING AGAINST THE REAL WOMAN OF NATURAL BIRTH FEMALES.

Patricia Sydney Solis

Gay men can be priests but still women cannot? Messed up.

Walter J. Holbrook

SMH

Walter J. Holbrook

SMH

Ronaldo

I am not Catholic, but have been attending church services off and on for over 60 years, including some Masses. I got to know quite a few pastors, and a handful of priests, in that time, and the one thing that was common to every one of them that I knew was that they did not decide as children to be clergy. Every priest and pastor I knew had a different career earlier in their lives, ranging from professional sports athletes to used car salesmen. Some time later in their lives, they got a Call from God, answered it, and devoted their lives to His service. A couple of the priests had even been married before, and had children and grandchildren. It may be that there are fewer in the clergy today because God is not Calling as many as He did before. This may be directly tied to the drop in overall church attendance and membership, but we won't know that without looking into it. If there are fewer to be saved, God may not need as many church leaders. To date, I have yet to hear that a "shortage of clergy" is causing any major social problems.

Bill Rogers

The church has struggled…LDS churches have “discovered” that people of color are suitable for membership…Southern Baptists are allowing folks to “carry” during services. The list goes on and on. As the message becomes cloudier, the messengers have to figure out a way to pay their salaries.

Dorothy Hawkins

There were over 1,000 years of Church development without celibacy. Then, celibacy ruled for over 900 years. When talking "natural moral law" as he does, has the Church ever considered that different types of sexuality were always in God's plan? We cannot know the mind of God, yet - - we keep interpreting God's creation as if we can.

Differences in sexual identity as being normal is the issue - so is the overturning of "natural moral law" - It's not good for man to be alone. My suspicion is that pastors with families in other religions have much better ideas about family life than those who sequester themselves within a reality seclusion/exclusion bubble of their own. making.

We're all children of the Universe. Laud what progress is made, despite archaic attitudes toward all this still existing.

Tim Yorty

"Straight" priest don't stick to the vow of celibacy, why would gay ones? What's the difference - sin is sin.

Tim Yorty

if they are supposed to be celibate, what difference does it make if they are gay? If celibate, how are they identified as being gay? Very confusing and contradictory - like most RC teachings.

Stacey Ann Lamp

So then it is completely rational to permit women to be priests as well. I see no reason for keeping females from becoming priests as well.

JaZe

Allowing priests to get married would have been a great step forward!!

Steven Ferrell

I personally feel this is a mistake and wrong for the church and will hurt them in the long run.
I feel the biggest reason they cannot get priests is because they do not allow them to marry women. If they would revisit that instead and open that door, they would find they could get more priests.

Deyanira Santiago

I firmly believe that the issue is the celibacy. The human body is not made to be celibate. This is the root of all the scandles within the church. Allow these men to marry, have children like normal humans instead of suppressing a natural urge that leads them to do things that are an actual sin because it is all they have at their disposal. Maybe then they will leave the children alone.

David A Foreman

The Catholic church (well, and all other churches as well) does not own God, and usually does not speak for God. The sin is not homosexuality. The sin is institutional religion. When we look at the sermon on the mount, the Beatitudes and the teachings in Mathew 25 we see that Jesus was focused on how to live, here and now, and how to treat others. His teachings were all about how to "be," and not how to believe. By the time the Nicene Creed was written, it said nothing about how to be, and was only about what to believe. Much/most of Jesus' mission was to correct false beliefs about God. He's quote the Old Testament and then essentially say "You and your bible got God wrong!" The so-called "Church" is finally and thankfully becoming less and less trusted, and less and less relevant. To that I say, "Thank God!"

Rev Ned

What’s new about this?

David Buck

If he can stick strictly to his vow of celibacy, then yes, absolutely.

Henry Buehler

The document, titled “The Formation of Presbyters in Italian Churches. Guidelines and Rules for Seminaries,” was approved by the Italian bishops who met for their general assembly Nov. 13-16 in Assisi. The episcopacy in Italy, where vocations are at an all-time low, has been pushing the envelope in terms of making the Catholic Church more palatable to modern concerns by suggesting a greater role for women in the formation of priests, a commitment to combating sexual abuse and the acceptance of gay men to the priesthood. On January 6, Pope Francis shattered one of the Vatican’s long-standing “stained-glass ceilings” by appointing Italian Sr Simona Brambilla, MC, as the first woman to serve as the prefect of a Vatican dicastery. Sr Brambilla, a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order, has made history as the first woman to be appointed prefect of a Vatican dicastery. She now leads the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Vatican office responsible for overseeing religious orders — such as the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) — and other similar “institutes” in the Church. This appointment marks a significant milestone, as no woman has ever held the role of prefect in any Vatican office before. Previously, the highest position a woman had attained in a dicastery was that of secretary, the second-highest role. Only two women have held this position: Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, named secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in 2021, and Sr Brambilla herself, who became secretary of her current dicastery in 2023. Life for women is especially challenging as they had to negotiate a deeply conservative and patriarchal society to get educated and work. Female genital mutilation FGM has been compared to other procedures that modify the human genitalia. Conservatives in the United States during the late 2010s and early 2020s have argued that FGM is similar to gender-affirming surgery for transgender individuals, which has led to bills being drafted in Republican states equating the two. Criticism of these ideas include the fact that the gender-affirming surgeries are approved by American medical authorities, are rare for minors, and are done after reviews by multiple medical professionals.[275][276] Formerly, FGM was widely referred to as "female circumcision" in the academic literature, but this "was rejected by international medical practitioners because it suggests a fallacious analogy to male circumcision."[6] It has been argued that the genital alteration of intersex infants and children, who are born with anomalies that physicians choose to "fix", is analogous to FGM.[277] Human progress is equal to rights and opportunity of women and the end of Female genital mutilation

William E Muldrew

Question to your self, Do you believe in God or not. Read your Bible,say your prayers and be ready to pay for your choices. Amen

Matthew Mastrogiovanni

Well .. the Vatican is okay with pedophile priests, so why not gay priests?

James Trenton Smith

This is simply another attack on Gods Children. But it did not go unnoticed. God the Father struck the Statue of St Peter in Buenos Aires; Argentina on December 18, 2023. This was on the Popes Birthday and in the place from which he is from. The lightening removed the Halo, the Keys to the Gates of Heaven, and the Right Hand of the Statue. Blessings are bestowed through the Right hand. God the Father has identified the current pope as unholy (removal of the halo) and removed the Popes authority to bless anything by the removal of the Right hand...on his birthday...in his home...the day before he announced that HE approves of the blessing of Homosexual Unions and Priests. Love is Love....but homosexual sex is sin.

Henry Buehler

Caligula had no problem with sexuality. Paul did not like sons having sex with their mothers. Other things were forgivable within the church In the fourth century times and sensitivities had undergone a profound change and imperial legislation - it is hard to know whether or not this was due to Christian influence - began to intervene heavily in the area of homosexuality.The Theodosian Code. The new compilation condemned to burning all passive homosexuals without distinction. With the Emperor Justinian the legislation was broadened; every kind of homosexuality was repeatedly condemned with the death penalty. Theodosius gave as his reason the desire to rid Rome, "the mother of all virtues", from all contamination. Justinian also added religious reasons. The Theodosian laws, followed by those of Justinian in the Corpus Iuris, represent the heritage which late Roman law was to leave to posterity. Do you get Church law from Spanish Inquisition?

ServantOfJudgement

I wonder how the Pope was able to reconcile Bibles opposition to homosexualism. The Catholic Church is even opposed to masturbation let alone being homosexual.

Sounds and looks like the Catholic Church is abandoning it's founding document.

If I were Catholic I wouldn't be.

Revd. Dr. R. Vincent BEM, LDPS

The fact that Catholic Priests are supposed to be celibate surely renders sexuality a moot point.

Nicholas J Page

The Vatican and the Pope are changing the rules how ever they want to please people.Lets not forget the children who have been abused by priests or whatever title they hold and it's always being covered up .Is that what the Vatican wants.Because this has been happening for many years.

Dominique D Sweat

i also had some people in my family that was cathlic but later turned baptist. i'm all for Pope Frances but I also thinnk that he is doing somethings that no other Pope has ever done before like this and making Pope John the 2nd a Saint. but i also think he need to aloow preists to get married of thats the case and i believe that will stop the money problems as well

Reverend Paula Copp

I was raised Roman Catholic. The whole priesthood/sisterhood idea was to be celibate. That was what the church wanted, and those were the rules. It seems to me that requiring celibacy on an already celibate order is sort of redundant.

Daniel Todd Kamm

You may want to hide your daughters too... child sexual abuse is not correlated with an individual's sexuality, gender or gender identity; it is however, correlated with past trauma (neglect, abandonment, abuse: emotional, psychological, physical, sexual, certain very severe MH issues; or all of the above) and in my practice, we see it run in families, which is why families who have generational contact with child welfare agencies, are often monitored long term even if there are no interventions... back in the day they were designated "red flag" families because the problems persisted generation after generation despite interventions. Not always predictive, and not always fair... but there often that one who is triggered.

Re: the issue at hand, If a person, man, women, trans xyzpdq+/- whatever, can serve, and meet the fundamental requirements of the job as laid out by their particular organization, the person's service is not precluded and whatever education and personal gifts they bring should be welcomed and acknowledged... in this case for a "trial period."

Which is stupid to start with... just "dipping the toe" in the waters of public sentiment before committing to a real agenda for change.

Like there have never been priests other than straight white and uptight.

On another note, an interesting book from way back in the 80's... Ms . Ginny Appuzzo's "Lesbian Nuns breaking Silence" is a good read. Same issue, but on the flip.

You might want to hide your sons from them too. Please.

Last and only comment on the issue.

Peace Out...

Axcella Maria Zed

Wait a priest takes a vow of celibacy which eliminates sex from one’s life so the person is no longer sexually interested therefore whether straight or gay no sex is or should not be an issue. Therefore the question about orientation is irrelevant. A man who is considering the priesthood should be aware that they feel a call and know that sex isn’t apart of their lives.

Rev. BH

Is it more difficult for gay men to remain celibate, than straight men? Is grooming children more likely for one sexual preference than the other? Is one less human than the other? Less capable of serving than the other? I suggest the answer to all these questions is no.

Ralph Miller

Well that's really nothing new , just hide your sons

James Riggle-Johnson

This is funny. There have been Gay priests since the beginning of the Catholic Church. They have just never admitted it to anyone. All priests are supposed to be celibate so what does it matter if they are straight or gay? None of them are supposed to be giving in to their desires.

If they want to make public statements and new policies, tell us what they’re doing to prevent future child molestation from these celibate priests. Tell us how they are reimbursing those victims for all the years of therapy they had to go through.

This is why I am no longer a practicing Catholic. They think way too much of themselves. Just like many of the organized religions in the world, they spend too much time patting themselves on the back and saying, “Look how good we are.”, while telling other people how evil they are.

Robert Gagnon

Funny I was taught that a sin in the mind is a sin the flesh. Guess the rules of guilt have changed. It is a an oxy moron, like a a celibate stud or a virgin slut?