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''Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders'' is a document published in November 2005 by the Congregation for Catholic Education, one of the top-level offices of the Catholic Church. In part it denies ordination to men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies." While the preparation for this document had started ten years before its publication,〔"('Nothing Extraordinary'? )" in ''Inside the Vatican'' (ISSN 1068-8579), January 2006〕 this instruction is seen as an official answer by the Catholic Church to what was seen as a "pedophile priest" crisis.〔 * * * * * * * * * * 〕 The document was criticized for what some see as its implying that homosexuality is tied to the sexual abuse of children.〔("Statement From The Board Of Directors and Staff of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries" ) November 29, 2005. Retrieved June 18, 2007.〕 ==Commentary and implications== The 1961 Papal encyclical ''Careful Selection And Training Of Candidates For The States Of Perfection And Sacred Orders'' (''Religiosorum institutio'') stated that "Advantage 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 the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers." Bishops had discretion in allowing the further instruction of offending but penitent seminarians, and held homosexuals to the same standards of celibate chastity as heterosexual seminarians. There is no new moral teaching in the 2005 instruction: the instruction proposed by the document is rather towards enhancing vigilance in barring homosexuals from seminaries, and from the priesthood. While the preparation for this document had started 10 years before its publication,〔"('Nothing Extraordinary'? )" in ''Inside the Vatican'' (ISSN 1068-8579), January 2006〕 this instruction is seen as an official answer by the Catholic Church to several sex scandals involving priests in the late 20th/early 21st century, including the American Roman Catholic sex abuse cases and a 2004 sex scandal in a seminary at St. Pölten (Austria).〔In ''New York Times'': *"(World Briefing: Europe: Austria: Seminary Sex Scandal )" (July 13, 2004) *"(World Briefing: Europe: Austria: Conviction In Seminary Sex Scandal )" (August 14, 2004)〕 The document restricts discussion to homosexual candidates: as the vast majority of abuse victims were teenage boys, there is no specific instruction regarding nonchaste heterosexual candidates. Two months before his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II, troubled by the sex scandals in the US, Austria and Ireland,〔 had written to the Congregation for Catholic Education: "Right from the moment young men enter a Seminary their ability to live a life of celibacy should be monitored so that before their ordination one should be morally certain of their sexual and emotional maturity."〔 ==Quotes from the Instruction== * ''The Catechism distinguishes between homosexual acts and homosexual tendencies. Regarding acts, it teaches that Sacred Scripture presents them as grave sins. The Tradition has constantly considered them as intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law. Consequently, under no circumstance can they be approved.'' * ''In the light of such teaching, this Dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called "gay culture".'' * ''Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem - for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate.'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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