THE CATHOLIC CHURCH:

THE VATICAN: Pope Francis has broken his silence on the Catholic Church’s shift in policy on gay men entering the priesthood and conducting mass.

Last week the Italian Bishops’ Conference (IBC) announced that gay men would be allowed to train as priests in Roman Catholic seminaries, so long as they remained celibate.

The conference’s statement, issued in Latin, has been the subject of much scrutiny since being released.

Pope Francis said he had found it necessary to enter the public debate to clarify the new rules.

He said the overriding consideration when framing the policy was to protect the church’s image.

He pointed to a key section of the IBC’s statement, known as the flammeum drag reginae clause.

“Put simply, we don’t want to see the church taken over by a lot of flaming drag queens – old blokes kitted out in weird and over-embellished dresses wearing outlandish big hats,” Pope Francis (main picture) said.

“Certainly the new policy is very clear that gay priests will be banned from having sex with other males. Of course by that I mean adult males, otherwise the whole thing would be unworkable.”

The Pope said he hoped that the new rules would ensure the future of the church long after his reign ended without becoming an institution dominated by stereotypical homosexuals.

“The last thing we want is for our Holy Mother Church ending up excluding women from key roles and dominated by men drinking wine and snacking on crackers,” he said.

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