Pope Says There is No Place for Gay Men in the Clergy

In a new four-hour interview, the Pope has said there is no place for gay men in the clergy, reports Catholic newspaper Avvenire.

Spanish Missionary Fernando Prado sat down with Pope Francis for the detailed interview, to be published in a book called: The strength of vocation. Consecrated life today.

Prado specifically asks the Pope about the appointing of “people with homosexual tendencies.”

The Pope says that this is “something that worries me, because perhaps at some point it has not been dealt with well.

“(Homosexuality) is very serious matter, which must be discerned adequately from the beginning” with those who seek to become part of the clergy.

“We must be demanding. In our societies it even seems that homosexuality is fashionable and this mentality, in some way, also affects the life of the Church.

“(Being gay) is not just an expression of affection. In the consecrated life and in the priestly life there is no place for this kind of affection.

“For this reason, the Church recommends that people with this rooted tendency are not accepted in the ministry or in the consecrated life. The ministry or the consecrated life are not their place.”