Sunday 11 January 2009

Dr. Inġ. Patrick Attard excommunicates himself from the Catholic Church

PRESS RELEASE: 10.1.2009 by Dr. Inġ. Patrick Attard

Dr. Inġ. Patrick Attard who contested the last Maltese general election as the first openly gay candidate has today excommunicated himself from the Catholic Church at the Chancellor's office in the Curia.

Following the obscene opposition by the Vatican to the UN Resolution for the universal decriminalisation of gay relationships a few weeks ago, the Pope, for his Christmas Message to the Vatican called homosexuality a destruction of god's work and that the world should be saved from homosexuality just as we should save the rainforests from destruction. These outrageous comments can only spread intolerance and hatred towards the gay minority.












Dr. Inġ. Patrick Attard and Lana Turner holding a photocopy of their Excommunication Declaration outside the Curia Office in Floriana, this morning.


I do not want the State to assume I am part of this hate-preaching organisation just because I was baptised. Since the Curia does not want to disassociate itself from the Pope's hateful remarks he preached on the 22nd December 2008, where he called homosexuality a destruction of god's work then there is no choice but to excommunicate myself publicly from this power and money-hungry institution.

I would like to thank my parents for baptising me. I am certain they did this with the best intentions. However when one reads the documents written by the Vatican there is a lot of paranoia and even hatred towards gays. This is ongoing till today and can be viewed in Joseph's Ratzinger's writings (among others) and it is important to stand up and say: ENOUGH is ENOUGH.

Since nowadays children who die without being baptised don't go to limbo any longer maybe baptism should be postponed till the person reaches 18 years of age since there is no longer the need to rush.

I would like to encourage gay priests of integrity to leave this homophobic Institution. There are many other altruistic voluntary organisations to help people in need, some of which have no connection to the Church.

By excommunicating myself doesn't mean I am a satanist or a selfish person. I encourage people to donate their organs upon their death and donate blood, if the State permits this, because the State permanently bans gay men from donating blood, irrespective of their health or lifestyle, thus banning over 7,500 potential donors.

Since all the political parties are afraid to criticise the Church due to the potential loss of votes and Malta is considered to have more than 96% Catholics, just because of the number of people baptised, it is important to close this chapter by excommunication so as we are not erroneously considered as Catholics. I encourage those who understand me to speak up and in the upcoming MEP elections to vote only for those candidates who are genuinely bringing a more Secular Malta in Europe.

The church always tries to keep the gay love as dirty and illegitimate since it gets its power from the sense of guilt and shame it tries to instil in its followers. On the other hand we know that the Maltese Church is not in a position to be the moral compass in our country. It is important to note that separated people who are co-habitating with a partner (note divorce is illegal) are not allowed to receive Holy communion in their local church and are encouraged to go to another locality far away. This is a huge hypocricy since those who believe in Holy Communion believe that the Communion in one Church has the same value as the Communion in another Church and shows that we do everything so that people don´t talk about us behind our back. Furthermore, it is sad that those persons who are currently separated and apply to work as a teacher is a church-school are not employed, increasing their suffering even further.

The Catholic Church is to be held accountable of the undue suffering of a number of gay persons and is to be held indirectly responsible for a number of gay suicides on these islands. Trying to hide this fact would not allow us to learn from the past and help people today.

This step is important for me to regularise my position vis-a-vis the Catholic Church and consolidate my position with my conscience. The Church only accepts gays as long as they are celibate, invoking feelings which destroy the self-respect of the individual. It always tries to keep the gay love as dirty and illegitimate since it gets its power from the sense of guilt and shame it tries to instil in its followers. Since I believe it is possible to love another adult man, then my position with the Church is irreconcilable.

I started to love myself only after I removed the Catholic Church from my life.


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GUIDE TO EXCOMMUNICATION IN MALTA:

The person who wishes to Excommunicate himself from the Church should make an appointment with the Curia's Chancellor (Tel: 2590 6238), take his/her Identity Card and write a declaration (copying a template which the Curia has) that he left the Catholic Church. This declaration should include the place and date of baptism. The declaration is also signed by the Chancellor on behalf of the Catholic Church. The date of baptism is written on the Baptism Certificate which can be obtained from the Parish Office of the village where the cermony took place.


WHAT DOES EXCOMMUNICATION MEAN?

An excommunicated person cannot receive Holy Communion, cannot receive a religious funeral, cannot actively take part in the Mass, and cannot be the witness a Catholic cermony: baptism, wedding, confirmation etc. He is however allowed to enter Churches.


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11 comments:

  1. Do you Have to be over 18 to do this?

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  2. I think it's a great move to show our position against the church. Hopefully I will be the next one to excommunicate myself xD

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  3. I can hardly believe my eyes when reading what has happened here and I think it is fantastic , hopefully marking a precedent. Heres taking hats off to you man !

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  4. I am heterosexual, but permit me to express my earnest admiration for what you have done. May others follow suit.

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  5. I sympathise fully with your difficult predicament.From a purely logical standpoint, how do you think of gaining acceptance by an organisation if you lock yourself out of it? Your stance reminds me a bit of what Martin Luther did in the 16th century ...
    Also, bear in mind that the Catholic Church has absolutely nothing against gay people. It "condemns" the sexual act which, if you think about it, is what it does to heterosexuals who are not married to each other...

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  6. I've never understood why all Catholics who didn't believe what the Church teaches don't leave the Church. I know I wouldn't stick around if I didn't believe in what it taught and promised.

    Good luck with taking as many non-believers with you as you can!

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  7. Your action is very admirable !

    Taking a stance in the way you did, against the church which supports discrimination against you, takes a lot of courage and strength of conviction, epecially in a country like Malta where the church is domineering enough to control the current government, for fear of vote loss !

    I wish you the best of luck with your continued work in bringing to light the injustices and exposing the systematic homophobia and discrimination in Malta.

    You have set a precedent, I hope others will follow suit !

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  8. I shall not bother to go excommunicate myself from this decrepit, corrupt institution. I do not consider myself part of it in the first place having been coerced into it.

    However it was a fantastic statement for you to do and hopefully many more will follow.

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  9. Neil ParisMay 29, 2009

    @ kermenoo

    Regarding what you said about the the Church only condemning the "sexual acts" like it does for non-married hetrosexuals, denying gays their right to marriage (thereby making their sexual act legitimate) sounds like downright gay condemnation to me.

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  10. I don't agree with Roman Catholic Church because they don't live by word of God -The Bible-(they, the leaders make up excuses to please their, and the peoples needs). There are many things I would refer to but one in particular-

    1 Timothy 3
    1This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

    2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

    3Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

    4One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

    5(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
    .....

    verse 5 in particular ! How can the Pope know how to rule the whole world if he never was married or had children of his own!
    However, I would tell you- do not distance yourself from God ! Religion should not take away your relationship with God!


    I have been following a christian fellowship. I , personally , don't like to be of any denomination because I'd like to be called a follower of Jesus Christ, son of God who died for our sins.. in Faith, and NOT in religion.

    I now have a daughter, who I never baptised, as I feel that one has to know what they are doing when they they do something like this. I got baptised when I was a baby under RC church but I find it was nullified because I did not know what I was doing. I got baptised by my pastor only a few years ago and this was when i knew what i was doing . But I did not, and still do not, feel that I should excommunicate myself from RC church. For what? Our relationship should be with God first, and not with man- God sees our heart.

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  11. I pray that your relationship with Jesus remains and that he will show you how to use your sexuality to honour him. May you be blessed for your courage.

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