Another Disappointed Voice

I've been depressed all day about the Vatican's latest statement on homosexuality and the priesthood, perhaps more so because I somehow let myself become convinced the document was not going to be as bad as people were worried it might be.

Although I share the lack of understanding of what it means to be a supporter of "gay culture" that others have expressed, what really troubles me is the exclusion of those with "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies."  There is no question that so long as celibacy is a requirement of the priesthood (whether it should or should not be is a different debate), that all candidates who appear incapable of living a celibate lifestyle - heterosexual or homosexual -  must be excluded.  But to categorically exclude, as the statement appears to, all persons with a homosexual orientation, regardless of their ability to live a celibate life, is difficult for me to reconcile with the Church's recognitions in earlier statements that homosexual orientation is innate and ought not be a ground for discrimination. 

I suspect we have all known gay priest who live and have lived their lives faithful to their vows and to the teachings of the Church.  We will all suffer the loss of such men in the future.