Pope Francis informed the Italian Bishops' Conference that gay men will not be allowed to enter the theological school for priest training, according to reports from Italian media. The Pope's words surprised many, given his openness to the LGBTQ community throughout his papacy. Francis famously responded with the phrase, "Who am I to judge?" when asked about the "gay lobby" in the Vatican during a flight back from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.
However, in his statements to the bishops, the Pope expressed the Vatican's official stance since 2005, when the Congregation for Catholic Education, with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, issued a document on this issue titled "Instructions on the Criteria for Discerning Vocations with Respect to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies for Admission to the Theological and Priestly Formation." This document was later approved by Pope Francis in 2016.
Francis made these comments during a closed meeting that lasted 90 minutes in the Synod Hall of the Vatican, attended by more than 200 members of the Italian Bishops' Conference last Monday, May 20. Since the beginning of his papacy, the Pope has participated in question-and-answer sessions at the conference, which meets twice a year. There is currently no official text of the Pope's statements to the conference from last Monday. These comments were first reported by Dagospia, a publication specializing in confidential information and scoops, and were later published in leading Italian daily newspapers, such as "La Repubblica" and "Corriere della Sera," but they have not been officially confirmed.
