In a new book, Pope Francis seemed unequivocal in his admonition that LGBTQ+ people should not follow a perceived vocation to the priesthood or to a Religious order. But as the writer found by listening to callers to her radio show, other Catholics have more nuanced views

When I broadcast, I’m always conscious that the sheer range of people listening means that I can never know what relationship each listener has to a particular story, or how they will react to what they hear. I imagine that fact is somewhat amplified when you’re the Pope and, for good or ill, every public utterance lands on different ears in different ways. So it has been with Pope Francis’ latest observations on homosexuality and lesbianism in the Church.

I don’t recall any previous pope speaking so plainly about an issue which, for as long as I can remember, has only been talked about in the abstract. Not any more. Francis’ comments in the book-length interview he gave to a Spanish priest and publisher, for a book on religious vocation, send a crystal-clear message about gay sex and the Catholic priesthood – they cannot coexist. Hardly a surprise. And remove the word “gay” and the same also applies: straight sex and the Catholic priesthood are not compatible either. Old news.

Leaving aside the ordination as Catholic priests of former Anglican ministers with wives and families, and the talk of some Bishops’ Conferences in areas where there is a desperate shortage of priests asking Rome if married men might be permitted to train as priests in their dioceses, anyone holding out for wholesale change on this front had better pull up a chair. The rule of mandatory celibacy for priests is unlikely to wobble in this papacy.