Pope Francis, a popular Catholic leader, is approaching his fourth anniversary as being leader of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
Most Catholics find Francis moving away from stressing doctrinal rules and moving toward\u00a0more compassion, a more realistic and reassuring direction for Catholicism.<\/p>\n
He has provided hope for gay Catholics long shunned by their church. His stance on LGBT Catholics has been \u201cWho am I to judge\u201d.<\/p>\n
Those hopes, though, were recently dashed when the Vatican published a new set of guidelines for the training of seminarians.<\/p>\n
“The Church \u2026 cannot admit to the seminary \u2026 those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture,” it read.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
In 2005 it was introduced the ban on gay men entering the seminary. It was an attempt to purge the priesthood of homosexuality. This act was in response to the sex abuse crisis.<\/p>\n
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Vatican observers\u00a0such as\u00a0Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and National Catholic Reporter columnist, did not hide their dismay that the ban on gay seminarians, albeit couched in vague language, remained.<\/p>\n
“The idea that gays cannot be good priests is stupid, demeaning, unjust\u00a0and contrary to the facts,” wrote Reese. “I know many very good priests who are gay, and I suspect even more good priests I know are gay.”<\/p>\n