The New Zealand Catholic Church has officially reserved its position on the official Vatican ban on gay priests, but a senior Church spokesperson says she supports the ban. In reaction to recent pedophilia scandals which have plagued the Catholic priesthood in recent years, the Vatican has used homosexual priests as scapegoats, and now a directive from Rome says homosexuals and those who support gay culture should be banned from training as priests, despite taking a vow of chastity. New Zealand Catholic Church spokeswoman Lindsay Freer says the directive is consistent with the previous position of the church, that it is only reinforcing the importance of celibacy. She suggests that gay men, especially those who refuse to denounce homosexuality as priests, may find it more difficult to accept the vow of chastity and integrate it into their life.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 1st December 2005 - 12:00pm