At the beginning of January, new guidelines for the training of priests came into force in Italy, the 44th paragraph of which caused a lot of discussion.
It states: "If homosexual inclinations are mentioned in the training process, it is also appropriate not to reduce the distinction to this aspect alone".
It is much more a question of checking whether candidates for the priesthood are aware of their sexuality and can refrain from living it out - whether heterosexual or homosexual - in accordance with the obligation of celibacy.
Since then, a dispute over the interpretation of the 44th section of the paper has been raging.
While Münster canon law expert Thomas Schüller spoke of a "de-dramatisation" of homosexuality in Italian seminaries, Roman canon law expert Stefan Mückl explained that he was astonished by the perception that the Italian Bishops' Conference had decided not to exclude homosexuals from the priesthood as a matter of principle in future.
LGBT representatives and pastors also expressed their displeasure - the document was inadequate. Everything would remain the same.
The "real novelty"?
The reaction of the Italian bishops showed just how much fire is under the roof on this issue.
They quickly tried to regain sovereignty of interpretation over their published document: The chairman of the Commission for the Clergy and Consecrated Life of the Bishops' Conference, Stefano Manetti, explained in the bishops' own newspaper "Avvenire" that the controversial paragraph merely confirmed the position of the Magisterium.
The "real novelty" of the document is that it emphasises the need for "discernment". The aim is to accompany people beyond the usual categorisations in "finding the truth about their sexual orientation".
Bernhard Anuth, a canon lawyer from Tübingen, expressed a similar view when asked by the Catholic News Agency (KNA): Previously, too, candidates could have been admitted to ordination whose "homosexual tendencies", "merely the expression of a temporary problem, such as an adolescence that had not yet been completed", and had "clearly been overcome" before ordination.
"The Italian bishops are now merely categorising this 'overcoming' of deep-seated homosexual tendencies in a more sensitive and differentiated way," says Anuth.
Accordingly, anyone who is admitted to ordination after the clarification process described in the Ratio nationalis no longer has "deep-seated" and therefore, from an official point of view, problematic homosexual tendencies.
According to the canon lawyer, the official teaching that homosexuality is "objectively disordered" remains unchanged.
It is striking that the Italian bishops continue to maintain the magisterial discourse on "homosexual tendencies" despite the fundamental reception of human scientific expertise. This implies - together with the idea of "overcoming" - that sexual orientation is a tendency and therefore something changeable.
This narrative is perceived as a burden by affected seminarians and clergy. It can put pressure on those affected to continue to hide part of their identity.
However, the issue of homosexuality and Catholic clergy is not the only controversial one to be found in the new training regulations. It is striking that the Italian bishops refer in many places to cultural and social influences on future clergy.
The list is long: social media, diverse models of life and meaning, heterogeneous socialisation of potential new priests.
For example, the guidelines deal extensively with the question of the environment in which the next generation of priests should be trained. The Italian bishops propose greater involvement of women and experts.
In the more than 200 Italian dioceses - some of which have fewer than 100,000 Catholics - there are currently a total of around 120 seminaries.
Less than 2,000 seminarians live in these centres.
Fifty years ago, there were around three times as many.
Consequently, the paper also contains considerations on merging training centres, because: A larger group is needed for the development of a consolidated personality, the bishops write.
Experts outside the church circle
The need for human maturity and development runs through the entire paper. In future, seminarians should receive more offers of therapeutic counselling - at their own request or on the advice of those responsible for their training.
The Italian bishops repeatedly emphasise that the psycho-social and sexual development of candidates must be clarified and consolidated before they can be ordained as deacons and priests.
The vehemence with which this is insisted on shows that there is a certain awareness of the problem in Italy.
A related recommendation from the bishops is increased co-operation with experts and specialists outside the inner circle of the Church.
The document addresses the issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in detail, albeit not always explicitly.
While the diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone was the first of over 200 Italian dioceses to present an abuse report at the beginning of the week, the Italian bishops are signalling greater sensitivity for their seminary training.
According to the bishops, the culture of abuse has "unfortunately been ignored for a long time".
Therefore, "it can be useful for the trainers in the seminaries" to work together with prevention specialists. Stable ways of working together are needed. This is the only way to promote the necessary reforms "to develop a culture of care and eradicate the culture of abuse".
This approach was praised by Dirk Gärtner, Chairman of the German Regents' Conference and Head of Priest Training in Fulda, in an interview with KNA at the beginning of January: "The published version of the Italian training regulations incorporates new findings from social research and the human sciences."
This is also currently being worked on in Germany, said Gärtner. He announced a new training regulation for Germany based on similar criteria.