Gay Italian Clergy Speak Out Against Vatican Ruling

About 80 members of the Roman Catholic clergy in Italy who are gay posted an open letter online Wednesday saying their sexual orientation has not stopped them from being good at their job.
The letter, published on the website of the Italian Catholic news agency Adista, was in response to a recent statement from the Vatican banning candidates for the priesthood with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies.
They said they felt like the church's "unloved and unwanted children."
According to Adista, 39 priests, 26 diocesans and 13 more members of various religious orders signed the letter. However, the letter published on the website did not include their signatures or list their names.
"We don't have more problems living chastely than heterosexuals do," said the letter, adding that homosexuality is not a synonym for "uncontrollable urges."
"We are not sick with sex and our homosexual tendency has not damaged our psychic health."
The letter goes on to say "we are Catholic priests ... with homosexual tendencies, and that fact has not stopped us from being good priests."
"We consider our homosexuality to be wealth, because it helps us to share the marginalization and suffering of many people."
The Congregation for Catholic Education released official instructions late last month stating that men "who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called 'gay culture'" cannot be admitted to seminaries. The only exception would be for those with a "transitory problem" that had been overcome for at least three years.
from CBC