Phoenix diocese:
No changes in priest selection process

The Phoenix Roman Catholic diocese plans no changes in the way it chooses priest candidates because its practices already are in line with a Vatican document barring gay men from seminaries. "The bishop is not going to ask me to change anything," the Reverend Don Kline, vocations director for six years for the diocese, said Tuesday. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said he welcomed the document, which the Vatican released Tuesday. It rejects candidates who are "actively homosexual, have deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called gay culture." The document offers no specifics on how dioceses, religious orders, or seminaries should implement its conclusions. Kline said he does not need to change the way he develops priests, and he will not begin to ask candidates whether they are gay or straight. He argues that his current practices will weed out any young men who cannot remain true to church teaching, including the church position that homosexual behavior is sinful. (AP)