Dublin (ENI). The Roman Catholic archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has said that being gay should not prevent a man becoming a Catholic priest."You don't write off a candidate for the priesthood simply because he is a gay man," Archbishop Martin is quoted saying in a recent issue of the British Catholic magazine, The Tablet.
The archbishop's remarks followed news reports that the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education was to publish a document at the end of October that would ban gay men, even if they were celibate, from training for the priesthood.
Later media reports suggested the ruling would not apply to those who had lived chastely for at least three years. The archbishop is currently in Rome where he is attending a synod of bishops convened by Pope Benedict XVI. The archbishop's office confirmed to Ecumenical News International that he was standing by his comments in the magazine.
Martin is quoted saying that in order to ensure their celibate chastity it is vital that priests come to terms with their sexuality and orientation. "Priests, at times, live a very lonely existence, and they have to find their own spirituality and contact with God and deepen that day by day," he said.
The issue of gay clergy has been the subject of renewed attention after a recent church sex-abuse scandal in the United States. Most abuse victims were reportedly adolescent boys.
"You have to say that horrendous damage was done to people," said Martin. "Then you need to take steps to ensure this will never happen again." But, he noted, "you cannot identify homosexuality with paedophilia". He said that paedophilia is "not the result of homosexuality, nor is it a result of celibacy".