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Church stance against Gays hardens

In the first five months of Pope Benedict XVI`s reign, stern opposition to homosexuality in and outside the Roman Catholic Church has quickly become a prime public message for the Vatican. The new pontiff plans to issue guidelines that attempt to inhibit homosexuals from entering seminaries to train for the priesthood, and Benedict also has energetically fought legal recognition of homosexual couples.

Benedict XVI`s early focus on homosexuality is a reaction to outside events, some analysts have said: the spread of so-called civil unions or marriage rights to same-sex couples, and the disclosure of sexual abuse by priests. Vatican officials have largely blamed the abuse on homosexuality. Critics, on the other hand, have said the pope is simply preoccupied with sex.

As early as 1961, the Vatican told church officials that "advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers."