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February 28, 2006

Canadian priests oppose Vatican ban on gay clergy

Canadian priests oppose Vatican ban on gay clergy

In the strongest internal opposition yet to the Catholic Church's official stance on homosexuality, 19 Canadian priests publicly criticized the Vatican's new ban on gay clergy. In an open letter published in the Montreal newspaper La Presse this weekend, the priests also condemned the church's view that being gay is a "disorder" and requested a new dialogue on the issue among clergy in Quebec, reports The Gazette of Montreal.

"There is no reason for the ban on homosexual men from entering the priesthood," Raymond Gravel, a priest from Joliette who signed the letter, told The Gazette. He said that the Vatican's invocation of "natural law" to support its antigay position is not legitimate because the church has been wrong on issues related to "the mysteries of life" before, as it is now.

The priest added that the church is contributing to homophobia with its views and that he and his fellow signatories could no longer stay silent about it.

The letter comes in response not only to the Vatican's recent directive that forbids gay men from serving as priests but also to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops's recently announced opposition to same-sex marriage. Neither the Vatican nor the conference has commented on the letter. (Advocate.com)

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