Homosexual clergy in the Catholic Church

For broader coverage of this topic, see Catholic Church and homosexuality.

Catholic canon law, specifically Canon 277 §1, requires that clerics "observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and therefore are bound to celibacy, which is a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and are able to dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and humanity."; for this reason, priests in Catholic dioceses make vows of celibacy at their ordination, thereby agreeing to remain unmarried and abstinent throughout their lives.

The 1961 document Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders states that homosexual men should not be ordained at all. In 2005, the Church clarified that men with "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" could not be ordained; the Vatican followed up in 2008 with a directive to implement psychological screening for candidates for the priesthood. Conditions listed for exclusion from the priesthood include "uncertain sexual identity" and "deep-seated homosexual tendencies". Despite church teachings, many Catholic clergy have engaged in homosexual relations, a fact which is known to the Vatican.

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