Mexican Catholic Bishop: Homophobia is a Mental Illness

I can hear heads exploding at the Vatican and bishopric around the globe (they probably had to call 911 for blowhard Bill Donohue of the Catholic League) over remarks by Mexican Bishop, Raúl Vera (pictured above), who believes that homophobes are actually the depraved ones, not gays.  While Bishop Vera doesn't get all of the theories of what causes some of us to be gay, he does get right the theory a prominent researcher explained to me some years ago that hormones play a role in determining sexual orientation in vitro.  In short, unlike most of the Catholic Church hierarchy he comes close to accepting modern scientific knowledge rather than the ignorant writings of wandering nomads from 2500 years ago. Blabbeando has details.  Here are excerpts:

A lot has been said about Pope Francis' recent of the cuff comments on gays ("Who am I to judge?") and hundreds of religious leaders world wide have been asked to share their thoughts but I was still surprised to see this interview with Saltillo Bishop Raúl Vera posted by Terra Mexico yesterday ("Homophobia is a mental illness: Saltillo bishop").

The Bishop has some funky theories on what determines whether someone is born gay (he chalks it up to hormonal differences) but speaks forcefully against religious based homophobia and calls homophobes the perverse ones. 

Here is Bishop Vera on a mother who worried her son was hanging out with a bunch of "degenerate gays':

One mother came to me and said that she was being watchful of her son because he was hanging out with "those degenerate gays" and I said "so blame yourself for it because that's the way your son developed in your womb and he didn't develop into a degenerate or a perverse person. He was born with a certain constitution you are trying to ignore. Calm down, you are the mother of that child and he began to be who he now is inside your womb. So the first one I'd kick out would be you because you are the perverse one who is first in line." That's what I said.

And on homophobes:

Why would I immediately think a gay or lesbian person is perverse or depraved the moment they approach me? That's how people who are homophobic react. It's a mental illness in which you see gays as depraved and promiscuous.  You have to be sick in the head for that.

He also tells the reporter people have to stop bashing gays with the words of the Bible and that they should read the passages they use to condemn gays within a historical context to realize the Bible does not condemn homosexuality.
Yesterday's interview is not the first time Bishop has supported LGBT issues. The AP says that he backed a same-sex civil unions law in the region and was called to the Vatican two years ago to explain an outreach program he organized for gay youth.

He has also received death threats for his outspokenness.

Kudos to Bishop Vera.  Would that the self-loathing queens in Rone (and in Richmond and Arlington, Virginia) were so enlightened.  One humorous aside on the blog post is this:

Over at Reddit, there has been some back and forth on whether Bishop Vera was insensitive in calling homophobia a "mental illness" from people who feel it unfairly groups people diagnosed with mental illness with people who hate gays.

For those who don't follow Blabbeando regularly, it has excellent coverage of LGBT issues in Central and South America.  Interestingly enough, some years back both this blog and Blabbeando were listed in the top 100 LGBT blogs by the UK's Lesbian and Gay Foundation.  It was the editor of Blabbeando, Andrés Duque, who let me know this blog had been so honored.

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Quote of the Day: More Sex Abuse Files Relased by Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Not surprisingly, the latest document dump by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has revealed more disgusting evidence of cover ups and serial sexual predators.  It's more or less what one has come to expect of the Roman Catholic Church if one has opened one's eyes and stopped drinking the Kool-Aid dispensed by the Church hierarchy.  The document dump also looks at the way in which the dysfunctional seek refuge in the priesthood and behind the pulpit.  Bob Felton sums it up well:

More files chronicling sexual abuse of children by clergy and nuns have been released in the Los Angeles diocese. It’s depressingly familiar stuff, and not worth belaboring, though this remark from one of the news stories bears repeating.

At more than 500 pages, Martinez’s file is among the most complete, and it paints a devastating picture of a troubled and repressed child who later joined the priesthood to satisfy a domineering and devout father.

There are a lot of troubled men in the clergy; proportionally, there are undoubtedly more basket-cases behind the pulpit than in the pews. They end up there as self-selected therapy for what they suppose to be sinful sexual inclinations, and they end up there because religiosity is the family business and it’s been expected of them from childhood.

 Bob describes the Catholic priesthood - and senior officials at the Vatican - all too well.  It's no wonder the Church fathers are so obsessed with all things sexual.
 

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The Catholic Church: RUN! Do Not Walk, to the Nearest Exit!

Father Geoff Farrow - who ran afoul of the Catholic Church hierarchy because of his support for gay rights and marriage equality - has a timely post on his blog that looks at the recent remarks by Pope Francis which some are foolishly trying to claim mark a new era for the Church's treatment of gays.  Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Church documents, Farrow concludes that NOTHING HAS CHANGED.  Thus, if one is a gay Catholic, the best thing to do is head for the door.  As I tell those who contact me about coming out and finding self-acceptance, only a masochist would remain in a Church that teaches that one is inherently disordered.  Here are highlights from Farrow's post:

Yesterday my phone rang, it was a reporter from a news station in Fresno asking for an interview on the pope Francis’ statement on gay priests. Later, Telemundo called asking to arrange for a camera crew to interview me at home. I sighed as I poured myself a cup of coffee and then read through the statement.

Bottom line: It is a way of appearing to change everything without changing anything.

Substitute the word “straight” for “gay” and you begin to see the problem; in fact, whenever an issue arises regarding gender orientation, simply do that: Substitute the word “straight” for “gay.” Does the statement still make sense?

It only makes sense if you believe that being gay is somehow disordered or defective. The official teaching of the Catholic church is precisely just that. The Official Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2357 states:

Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

Here is the translation of what the pope is saying in plain English, taken directly from the Catholic Catechism:

2359   Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

Bottom line:  "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." Under no circumstances can they be approved. Homosexual persons are called to chastity.

Forget whatever your sexual orientation is, could you live this way? Could you spend your entire life without intimately loving someone else? Could YOU?

Catholic moral theology isolates sex as “an act” and in doing this, it thereby effectively de-humanizes sex by removing it from its natural context, i.e. a relationship. 

At best, Francis is signaling a gentle course correction for Catholic bishops on this issue. When you’re an infallible institution, you can’t admit you made a mistake, you can’t admit that you have been wrong. Individual lives that are ruined or destroyed are unfortunate “collateral damage” that are sacrificed for the reputation of the institution.

But make no mistake, this pope’s congenial words offer ZERO relief for LGBT Catholics. They make no attempt to repair past evils inflicted on innocent people and so my advice is: leave! If you are LGBT leave the Catholic church, you can do better. If you are the parent or a family member of an LGBT person: leave! Your loved ones deserve better. If you are the parent of a child, leave! Your children absolutely deserve a healthier development. To raise an LGBT child in the Catholic church today constitutes de facto child abuse. 

I totally agree with his view that raising a gay child in the Catholic Church is de facto child abuse.  The same, of course, holds for the Southern Baptist Convention and other anti-gay denominations.  

 

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Cardinal: Pope Francis Did Not Signal A New Tone On Gays

I noted yesterday how some are either in tears or nearly wetting themselves over remarks made by Pope Francis which these wishful thinkers are interpreting to be a signal that the Roman Catholic Church is going to cease its anti-gay jihad.  Today, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York City, threw cold water on these wishful fantasies by saying that nothing has changed and that Francis only repeated official Church positions on gays - namely, that we need to repent and be alone and celibate for the rest of our lives.  Think Progress has details.  Here are highlights:

Tuesday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is also the archbishop of New York, sought to downplay the Pope’s comments. During an appearance on CBS’ This Morning, Dolan insisted that the Church has long embraced gay people and that Francis’ answer did not represent a new tone or establish a more liberal precedent.

“Homosexual acts,” he said, are still a sin. “Homosexuality is not a sin, right? Homosexual acts are,” Dolan said, “just like heterosexuality is not a sin outside of marriage, that would be sinful.” “While certain acts may be wrong, [the Pope] would always love and respect the person and treat the person with dignity and not judge them,” Dolan continued. 

But the Cardinal hasn’t always followed his own advice and has repeatedly condemned the rights of same-sex couples under the guise of love and support for the gay community.

After lobbying against New York’s marriage equality law, Dolan prohibited by decree any Church personnel or property from being utilized for same-sex marriage ceremonies under penalty of “canonical sanctions,” calling the state’s law “irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine law.” He has also compared the “threat” posed to marriage by gays and lesbians to that of polygamy, adultery, forced marriage, communist dictatorships, and incest.
Despite his rhetoric, a majority of New York Catholics supported the marriage equality bill months before it came to a vote and still do. 

The porcine Dolan is a nasty piece of work and a prime example of why I left Catholicism after the sex abuse scandal exploded in 2002.

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Did Pope Francis' Remarks of "Not Judging gay Priests" Really Change Anything?

Many media outlets are reporting how during Pope Francis’ airplane press conference as he returned to Rome from Brazil, Francis remarks "Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" . . . "You can't marginalize these people." and acting as if these comments somehow marked a turning point in the Church's anti-gay jihad.  Among those wetting themselves for joy are Andrew Sullivan (whom I have meet and with whom I frequently agree although I think he is delusional in his refusal to walk away from Catholicism), who stated:

What’s so striking to me is not what he said, but how he said it: the gentleness, the humor, the transparency. I find myself with tears in my eyes as I watch him. I’ve lived a long time to hear a Pope speak like that – with gentleness and openness, reasserting established dogma with sudden, sweeping exceptions that aren’t quite exceptions – except they sure sound like them.

What Francis is telling us, it seems to me, is that we should stop squabbling about these esoteric doctrines – while he assents to orthodoxy almost reflexively – and simply do good to others, which is the only thing that really matters. Stop obsessing in your mind and act in the world: help someone, love someone, forgive someone, meet someone.

I'm sorry Andrew, but I think PeterTatchell got it right because wishful thinking and wanting something does not necessarily make it true.  Here is how Tatchell reacted:

“Pope Francis has offered a change of tone in Vatican pronouncements on gay people but not a change in substance. The church’s hardline stance against gay equality and relationships remains intact. It opposes same-sex marriage. The Catechism condemns homosexual love using strident, inflammatory and homophobic language,” said Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

“At best, his statement is a shift away from old-style vengeful condemnation and punishment towards a more conciliatory and merciful church. Although he preaches forgiveness, he still regards homosexuality as a sin for which people must repent. This is only marginal theological progress. 

Actions speak louder than words and until such times as (i) the Catechism is revised to stop referring to gays as disordered, (ii) the Church, the Knight of Columbus and other Catholic organizations cease opposing gay rights, including gay marriage,  (iii) gay priests and seminarians are not in theory being driven away because of their sexual orientation, and (iv) the Catholic Church's "ex-gay" ministry is shut down, I will not see Francis' remarks as meaning one damn thing.  Andrew Sullivan and others need to get a grip on themselves and stop deluding themselves.

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United Nations Demands Answers from Vatican on Child Sex Abuse

As this blog and other sources have sought to demonstrate, the one constant in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy's approach to the global sex abuse scandal involving Catholic clergy is lies, cover ups, shuffling sexual predators from one unsuspecting parish to another.  And no one in the hierarchy ever receives meaningful punishment for their role in this criminal conspiracy, least of all from the Vatican which is always so quick to condemn others (e.g., gays) and feign piety.  Now, the United Nations has lost patience and the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has asked for “detailed information on all cases of child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy, brothers or nuns” since the Holy See last reported to it some 15 years ago, and set November, 1, 2013, as the deadline for a reply.  My bet is that the Vatican will blow off the U.N. since it believes itself to be above the law (like most Christian extremist organizations).  First, here are highlights from CBC News:

 

A United Nations panel is demanding that the Vatican hand over detailed information on child sex abuse cases involving Catholic clergy.

 

In a document published online, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has asked the Vatican to come clean with how it addresses children's rights around the world, including what measures it takes when dealing with sexual violence.

 

The panel, which polices the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, wants the Catholic Church to reveal confidential records on investigations and legal proceedings against clergy members accused of sexual crimes on children.

 

The Geneva-based committee also wants to know what measures are being taken to ensure that clergy members accused of sexual abuses are not in contact with children and how members are told to report allegations of sexual violence.

 

It also wants records on investigations into the Legion of Christ in Mexico, where young boys have accused the congregation of separating them from their families.

 

The list of demands comes ahead of a planned meeting between the UN and Holy See officials in January.

 

Clergy abuse victims had been calling for swift and bold action from Pope Francis as soon as he was elected in March. Weeks after his election, Francis directed the Vatican to act decisively on clergy sex abuse cases and to take measures against pedophile priests, but the directive was dismissed by some advocates as just talk.

The Globe and Mail also has coverage.  Here are excerpts:

The request was included in a “list of issues”, posted on the CRC’s website, to be taken up when the Vatican appears before it next January to report on the Church’s performance under the 1990 U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It will be the first time the Holy See has been publicly questioned by an international panel over the child abuse scandal which severely damaged the standing of the Roman Catholic Church in many countries around the world.

The CRC has no enforcement powers, but a negative report after the hearing would be a blow to the Church . . . .

By issuing its questions, the Geneva-based CRC brushed aside a Vatican warning that it might pull out of the Convention on the Rights of the Child if pushed too hard on the issue.

There was no immediate comment from the Vatican on Wednesday.

Nothing short of a global investigation will expose the full magnitude of the sexual abuse of children and youths countenanced by the Vatican or the complicity of most of the hierarchy in placing protection of child rapists above the safety and well-being of innocent children.  The world - especially the Catholic laity - needs to see the true moral bankruptcy of the institutional Church.

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Lawsuit Seeks to Hold Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Liable For Teen Suicide

While Pope John Paul II and his successors - and liars like Cardinal Timothy Dolan - we busy worrying about the Catholic Church's "reputation" and about hiding Church assets, real lives were being damaged and/or destroyed.  Not that these horrid narcissistic men gave a damn about the countless children and youths who were sexually assaulted and raped.  A lawsuit in Independence seeks to hold the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph liable for the suicide death of one teen sex abuse victim.  Hopefully, the lawsuit is successful and better yet, I hope it is the first on many such lawsuits.  Here are highlights from the Kansas City Star:

A civil trial begins Monday in a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that a boy took his life 30 years ago because of repeated sexual abuse by a Kansas City priest.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/07/4334143/trial-begins-monday-for-lawsuit.html#storylink=cpy

The trial, in Jackson County Circuit Court in Independence, could be notable for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, some say.

“This is an especially significant case,” said Timothy Lytton, a legal scholar at the Albany School of Law and author of “Holding Bishops Accountable: How Lawsuits Helped the Catholic Church Confront Clergy Sexual Abuse.”  “One reason is that it’s rare for any of these cases to go to a jury; most of them are settled. The other reason is that it’s possibly the first high-profile case on the watch of the new pope.”

Brian Teeman, 14, died of a gunshot wound in November 1983 at the family’s home in Independence. His parents, Donald and Rosemary Teeman, filed the lawsuit in September 2011 after a man who had served as an altar boy with their son told them of the alleged abuse.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, says the diocese shares responsibility for Brian’s death because church officials knew that Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien was sexually abusing boys but covered it up.  O’Brien is also named in the suit. His attorney, Gerald McGonagle, did not respond to a request for comment.  O’Brien, now 86, has been the subject of more than two dozen sexual abuse lawsuits since 2004.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners held as valid the Teemans’ argument that the statute of limitations should be suspended because of what they said was the defendants’ coverup, fraud and concealment of O’Brien’s alleged abuse of their son and other children. The diocese unsuccessfully appealed Manners’ ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.

The lawsuit says O’Brien forced Brian and three other boys to perform sexual acts in the sacristy at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Independence. The abuse began when Brian was 11 and continued until he graduated from eighth grade, the lawsuit alleges. It says O’Brien warned the boys that if they ever told, they would be kicked out of the church, be disowned by their parents and go to hell.

“The reason they (dioceses) avoid trials is because so much stuff comes out during them,” McKiernan said. “Another dynamic is that if they do take this to trial and they get punished, that may have major implications for all the other cases that are in play.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/07/4334143/trial-begins-monday-for-lawsuit.html#storylink=cpy

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The Church’s Monstrous Shepherds

Some question why I so frequently slam the Roman Catholic Church.  There are several, not the least is the anger I still harbor for the institution that caused so much self-hate and so many years of needless unhappiness.  The largest reason is that the Church hierarchy continues to disseminate the same anti-gay lies and propaganda that harmed so many years of my life and in the process harms thousands and thousands of young gays as well as older gays who cannot let go of the brainwashing they received growing up.  Few things can screw one up psychologically and emotionally than being raised a Roman Catholic,  Perhaps the second reason I have such contempt for the Church is the utter hypocrisy of the Church leadership which shows no signs of changing under Pope Francis.  Hundreds of thousands of crimes against children covered up and predators protected - all by those who put on false shows of piety and demand respect and deference.  Frank Bruni has a column in the New York Times that looks at the sins of the Church hierarchy.  Here are excerpts:

BOSTON, Philadelphia, Los Angeles. The archdioceses change but the overarching story line doesn’t, and last week Milwaukee had a turn in the spotlight, with the release of roughly 6,000 pages of records detailing decades of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests there, a sweeping, searing encyclopedia of crime and insufficient punishment. 

But the words I keep marveling at aren’t from that wretched trove. They’re from an open letter that Jerome Listecki, the archbishop of Milwaukee, wrote to Catholics just before the documents came out.   “Prepare to be shocked,” he said. What a quaint warning, and what a clueless one. 

Quaint because at this grim point in 2013, a quarter-century since child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church first captured serious public attention, few if any Catholics are still surprised by a priest’s predations. 

Clueless because Listecki was referring to the rapes and molestations themselves, not to what has ultimately eroded many Catholics’ faith and what continues to be even more galling than the evil that a man — any man, including one in a cassock or collar — can do. I mean the evil that an entire institution can do, though it supposedly dedicates itself to good.

The Milwaukee documents underscore this, especially in the person of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, now the archbishop of New York, previously the archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009 and thus one of the characters in the story that the documents tell. Last week’s headlines rightly focused on his part, because he typifies the slippery ways of too many Catholic leaders.

[Dolan's] his letter contradicts his strenuous insistence before its emergence that he never sought to shield church funds. He did precisely that, no matter the nuances of the motivation. 

Dolan has quibbled disingenuously over whether the $20,000 given to each abusive priest in Milwaukee who agreed to be defrocked can be characterized as a payoff, and he has blasted the main national group representing victims of priests as having “no credibility whatsoever.” Some of the group’s members have surely engaged in crude, provocative tactics, but let’s have a reality check: the group exists because of widespread crimes and a persistent cover-up in the church, because child after child was raped and priest after priest evaded accountability.

That’s what church leaders and church defenders who routinely question the amount of attention lavished on the church’s child sexual abuse crisis still don’t fully get. 

[O]ver the last few decades we’ve watched an organization that claims a special moral authority in the world pursue many of the same legal and public-relations strategies — shuttling around money, looking for loopholes, tarring accusers, massaging the truth — that are employed by organizations devoted to nothing more than the bottom line. 

[B]y last week the only shocker left was that some Catholic leaders don’t grasp its greatest component: their evasions and machinations.  

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New York Times Slams Cardinal Timothy Dolan

In a previous blog post I noted how Cardinal Timothy Dolan - a/k/a Porky Pig on this blog - worked to hide $57 million in church funds form victims of sexual abuse by priests aided, abetted and protected by the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy.  And not surprisingly, (i) Dolan lied about his activities in the past, and (ii) Dolan's actions were blessed by the Vatican in a matter of a few days.  The New York Times has rightly joined in the condemnation of Dolan and the Church's larger moral bankruptcy.  Here are editorial excerpts:

Tragic as the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church has been, it is shocking to discover that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, while archbishop of Milwaukee, moved $57 million off the archdiocesan books into a cemetery trust fund six years ago in order to protect the money from damage suits by victims of abuse by priests. 

Cardinal Dolan, now the archbishop of New York, has denied shielding the funds as an “old and discredited” allegation and “malarkey.” But newly released court documents make it clear that he sought and received fast approval from the Vatican to transfer the money just as the Wisconsin Supreme Court was about to open the door to damage suits by victims raped and abused as children by Roman Catholic clergy. 

The release of about 6,000 pages of documents provided a grim backstage look at the scandal, graphically detailing the patterns of serial abuse by dozens of priests who were systematically rotated to new assignments as church officials kept criminal behavior secret from civil authority. 

It is disturbing that the current Milwaukee leader, Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said last week that the church underwent an “arc of understanding” across time to come to grips with the scandal — as if the statutory rapes of children were not always a glaring crime in the eyes of society as well as the church itself. 

The documents showed how the Vatican slowly took years to allow dioceses to defrock embarrassing priests. Yet the same bureaucracy approved Cardinal Dolan’s $57 million transfer just days after the Wisconsin court allowed victims’ damage suits. 

I ask again: how can any moral person give these foul men any respect or deference?  They belong behind bars and a full blown government investigation of the Catholic Church should be commenced.

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Two Former Popes Who Protected Sexual Predators to Be Made Saints

If one need yet another demonstration of the moral bankruptcy of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the announcement by the Vatican that Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II will be canonized certainly fits the bill.  Why do I say this? Because both, especially John Paul II, oversaw a worldwide conspiracy to protect sexual predators who raped and sexually molested hundreds of thousands of children and youths during their years of misrule.  But for the undeserved deference given to religion John Paul II should have been criminally prosecuted.  The same holds true with former Pope Benedict XVI.   The New York Times looks at this travesty which ought to be repellant to anyone truly moral.  Here are highlights:

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II, the globe-trotting pontiff who led the Catholic Church for nearly 27 years, and Pope John XXIII, who called the reforming Second Vatican Council, will be declared saints, the Vatican said on Friday. 

The Vatican said Pope Francis had approved a second miracle attributed to John Paul, a Pole who was elected in 1978 as the first non-Italian pope in 450 years and died in 2005. His progression to sainthood is the fastest in modern times. 

The Vatican also said Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963 and called the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council - which enacted sweeping reforms to modernize the Church - would be made a saint even though he has only been credited with one miracle since his death. 

Liberals in the Church say John Paul was too harsh with theological dissenters who wanted to help the poor, particularly in Latin America. Others say he should be held ultimately responsible for sexual abuse scandals because they occurred or came to light when he was in charge. 

John Paul also drew criticism for supporting the late Father Marcial Maciel, the Mexican founder of the Legionaries of Christ religious order, defending him despite charges of sexual abuse that later turned out to be true.

Gay Star News reminds us of John Paul II's toxic views of gays:

John Paul II was deeply opposed to gay rights and said transgender people should not be allowed to have any position within the Catholic Church.
In his book Memory and Identity, he said the push for same-sex marriage was part of a ‘new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man.’
He also described equal marriage as threatening society and culture, adding family ‘must never be undermined by laws based on a narrow and unnatural vision of man.’
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pope-john-paul-ii-who-called-gays-%E2%80%98evil%E2%80%99-become-saint050713#sthash.4z3TcoPN.dpuf

John Paul II was deeply opposed to gay rights and said transgender people should not be allowed to have any position within the Catholic Church.
In his book Memory and Identity, he said the push for same-sex marriage was part of a ‘new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man.’
He also described equal marriage as threatening society and culture, adding family ‘must never be undermined by laws based on a narrow and unnatural vision of man.’
- See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pope-john-paul-ii-who-called-gays-%E2%80%98evil%E2%80%99-become-saint050713#sthash.4z3TcoPN.dpuf

John Paul II was deeply opposed to gay rights and said transgender people should not be allowed to have any position within the Catholic Church.

In his book Memory and Identity, he said the push for same-sex marriage was part of a ‘new ideology of evil,perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man.’

He also described equal marriage as threatening society and culture, adding family ‘must never be undermined by laws based on a narrow and unnatural vision of man.’

Gays are evil, but the rape and molestation of children was perfectly fine so long as the media did not find out about it.  Talk about moral depravity.

 

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Justice Scalia's Son Says Homosexuality Doesn't Exist

One has to wonder whether Justice Antonin Scalia was homophobic first or if he learned his batshit craziness  from his son who is a priest and who doth seems to protest too much that homosexuality doesn't really exists.   Paul Scalia (pictured at left), has praised books perpetuating the "change myth" and "choice" myth for the insanely named "Courage" program which is the Catholic Church's home grown version of the now defunct Exodus International.  Right Wing Watch looks at the younger Scalia's disingenuous bullshit that will no doubt harm many young Catholic gays - all so that the closeted self-loathing closet cases can avoid facing the reality that the Bible is wrong about gays and homosexuality.  Here are excerpts:

Courage, a Roman Catholic group that encourages gays and lesbians to live lifetimes of abstinence, is planning to hold its annual summit this month at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Ill., which will include a speech by Fr. Paul Scalia.

Paul Scalia is the son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and his involvement in Courage is well known.

The conference’s website listsScalia as “the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Courage apostolate”and says he will speak on “Fearing the Lord ... and Not Being Afraid.”

Courage also points to an article Scalia wrote for the Fall 2012 edition of Humanum: Issues in Family, Culture & Science, in which he reviews three books authored by Courage founder Fr. John Harvey.

Scalia’s piece claims that critics of homosexuality are being silenced and mistreated, while in “this radical transformation of society, one of the greatest casualties is the individual who experiences homosexual attractions but who desires to live chastity.” He adds that it is unfortunate that Harvey used the term “homosexual person” since according to Scalia, those people do not exist: “We should not predicate “homosexual” of any person. That does a disservice to the dignity of the human person by collapsing personhood into sexual inclinations.”

After hailing Harvey for having eventually “ceased using the term “homosexual” or “homosexual person,” Scalia goes on to claim that many people have “have found freedom, to varying degrees, from homosexual attractions” and deny that people have sexual orientations: “Homosexual tendencies (to use a term from magisterial documents), do not constitute a fixed, unchangeable aspect of the person and therefore should not be considered an “orientation”…

Consider how swiftly American society has changed as regards homosexuality. The “Stonewall riots,” the touchstone and unofficial beginning of the gay rights movement, occurred in June 1969. Since then, the demands from the gay community have progressed from simple tolerance, to acceptance, to the right to marry, to now the silencing of any opposition as bigoted and “homophobic.” Those who once insisted on tolerance for their lifestyle will now tolerate no disagreement. Society now requires everyone’s approval of what not long ago was regarded as morally abhorrent.

In this radical transformation of society, one of the greatest casualties is the individual who experiences homosexual attractions but who desires to live chastity. He finds, on one hand, the homosexual community encouraging him to live out his sexual desires, to claim his gay identity, to embrace the lifestyle, and so on. Worse, even some in the Church will encourage him to do so. Unfortunately, among those to whom he turns for help, he may find insensitivity, ignorance, misunderstanding, or simply an unwillingness to help. This individual is caught in the crossfire of the broader battle. He suffers great loneliness and often despair in the face of a struggle that some see as futile and others ignore.

People suffer because of the ignorance and bigotry of people like Scalia.  Would that they would accept modern knowledge of sexual orientation and cease clinging to the myths and writings  or Bronze Age nomads.  Reparative therapy and programs like "Courage" should be illegal, particularly in the context of minors.  

Courage, a Roman Catholic group that encourages gays and lesbians to live lifetimes of abstinence, is planning to hold its annual summit this month at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Ill., which will include a speech by Fr. Paul Scalia.
Paul Scalia is the son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and his involvement in Courage is well known.
The conference’s website lists Scalia as “the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Courage apostolate” and says he will speak on “Fearing the Lord ... and Not Being Afraid.”
Courage also points to an article Scalia wrote for the Fall 2012 edition of Humanum: Issues in Family, Culture & Science, in which he reviews three books authored by Courage founder Fr. John Harvey.
Scalia’s piece claims that critics of homosexuality are being silenced and mistreated, while in “this radical transformation of society, one of the greatest casualties is the individual who experiences homosexual attractions but who desires to live chastity.” He adds that it is unfortunate that Harvey used the term “homosexual person” since according to Scalia, those people do not exist: “We should not predicate “homosexual” of any person. That does a disservice to the dignity of the human person by collapsing personhood into sexual inclinations.”
After hailing Harvey for having eventually “ceased using the term “homosexual” or “homosexual person,” Scalia goes on to claim that many people have “have found freedom, to varying degrees, from homosexual attractions” and deny that people have sexual orientations: “Homosexual tendencies (to use a term from magisterial documents), do not constitute a fixed, unchangeable aspect of the person and therefore should not be considered an “orientation”…
- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/scalias-son-says-homosexuality-doesnt-exist-plans-address-group-encourages-lifelong-abstinen#sthash.JjLGnArd.dpuf

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Cardinal Dolan Sought to Hide Church Assets

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has begun a huge file dump in connection with the huge sex abuse scandal that rocked the archdiocese and some of the newly released documents indicate that as long suspected, Cardinal Timothy Dolan - a major loud mouthed homophobe - tried to hide archdiocese assets so as to screw over sex-abuse victims seeking compensation for the criminal actions done against them.  The man is a disgusting pig and obviously a huge liar.  Note too that the Vatican was in on the move to hide assets. The New York Times has details:

Files released by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee on Monday reveal that in 2007, Cardinal Timothy F. Dolan, then the archbishop there, requested permission from the Vatican to move nearly $57 million into a cemetery trust fund to protect the assets from victims of clergy sexual abuse who were demanding compensation. 

Cardinal Dolan, now the archbishop of New York, has emphatically denied seeking to shield church funds as the archbishop of Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009. He reiterated in a statement Monday that these were “old and discredited attacks.” 

However, the files contain a 2007 letter to the Vatican in which he explains that by transferring the assets, “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.” The Vatican approved the request in five weeks, the files show. 

The release of more than 6,000 pages of documents on Monday was hailed by victims and their advocates as a vindication and a historic step toward transparency and accountability. They were well aware that the archives would bring unusually intense scrutiny to the country’s most high-profile prelate, Cardinal Dolan, who as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the archbishop of New York has sought to help the church turn the corner on the era of scandal. 

[T]he documents lift the curtain on his role as a workaday church functionary concerned with safeguarding assets, persuading abusive priests to leave voluntarily in exchange for continued stipends and benefits, and complying with Rome’s sluggish canonical procedures for dismissing uncooperative priests who he had long concluded were remorseless and a serious risk to children. In one case, the Vatican took five years to remove a convicted sex offender from the priesthood. 

Victims on Monday called for a federal investigation into the actions of Cardinal Dolan and his predecessors, but the cardinal sought to deflect criticism by saying in a statement Monday that he welcomed the release of the documents. 

The current archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome E. Listecki, had announced his decision to release the documents in April, one day before a judicial hearing. Lawyers for abuse victims had asked a judge to compel their release. 

There is more in the article that deserves a read.  I have long maintained that Dolan is a liar and needs to be criminally prosecuted.

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