John Downes canvassed views on yesterday's document and found it got a mixed reaction
Seán Corkery (28), a fifth-year seminarian at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, welcomed what he felt was a "very reasoned" document from Rome.
However, he acknowledged that, if taken out of context in the media, it could cause hurt among some in the gay community.
"Obviously I have only just got it, I have been in lectures all day. But I do agree with the document. It is very well reasoned, and it states what most of us know already," he told The Irish Times.
The document's instruction that the church cannot admit to holy orders or the seminary those who practice homosexuality was "very much in line" with the demands made of any man preparing for the priesthood, he said.
"You are expected to live a celibate lifestyle," he said. "If you have homosexual tendencies, it is not for me to judge or preach."
The document did seem to suggest, on first reading, that it is up to the bishops, the seminary authorities, and the individual himself to decide what was meant by the references to those who present with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies", or who support the so-called "gay culture".
"I think that if it is really deep-rooted and very explicit, then that's a judgment call in general. But that's not just over homosexuality, and it's for the bishops and the church - ultimately through a call from God - to decide."
"Also the guy himself is very important, and his honesty in the process."
Whether a homosexual man should be allowed to become a priest depended very much on the individual.
"Is it going to affect his priestly ministry at the end of the day? If he is doing that to the best of his ability, then good for him. . . But my concern would be, 'is he being true to himself?'"
John Poole, a gay man sitting in the George bar in Dublin yesterday evening, felt it was difficult to know why anyone who is gay would want "anything to do with the Catholic Church".
"They have an extremely negative view of homosexuality. I don't believe in one God and therefore [ I don't believe in] one morality," he said.
"I can't understand people who are actively gay being remotely interested in what this man [ the pope] has to say. It reveals the total bankruptcy of these monotheistic religions. They are so outdated."
"The people I feel most sorry for are those people who are desperately looking for the Christian church's acceptance."
His friend, Derry O'Sullivan, who is also gay, said he particularly regretted what he saw as an attempt by the Catholic Church to link homosexuality with paedophilia.
"It's like as if they're trying to cleanse the church by getting rid of homosexuals," he said. "There's a huge amount of gays within the Catholic Church, full stop."
Another man sitting in the George bar yesterday evening, Darren Doherty, believed that what had happened within the Catholic Church in the past was "unfortunate".
"I would never disrespect the Catholic Church, it has been good to me. As a homosexual, I have never had any problems with it. The exception to that rule is obviously that I'm not welcome," he said.