...Even (the pope's) softened stance toward LGBT Catholics — from his "Who am I to judge?" comment about gay people to his use of the word "gay" — has provided hope for gay Catholics, long shunned by their church, that the shift in tone might make its way into official church documents.

Those hopes, though, were recently dashed when the Vatican published a new set of guidelines for the training of seminarians with the rosy title The Gift of the Priestly Vocation.

Within the manual lay a decidedly less jubilant clarification of who qualifies for the job.

"The Church … cannot admit to the seminary … those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture," it read.