State

In January 2009, a new statute came into effect allowing the Vatican to bypass Italian law [R1.1].

State

The Vatican will allow gay men into the priesthood if they can show they have been celibate for at least three years, but the Vatican will ban men "who publicly manifest their homosexuality" or show an "attraction" to homosexual culture "even if it is only intellectually", the paper added [R1.1].

However, practicing gays, those with "deeply rooted" homosexual tendencies, or those who support gay culture cannot be admitted to the priesthood [R1.2].

State

In May 2004, the Pope's ambassador to one of Europe's leading Catholic countries hinted that the church should "acknowledge" gay partnerships [R1.1].