John Guillaumier persists with his anti-Catholic rhetoric (April 8) by alleging that a number of public statements by senior clerics confirm his view that the Church is homophobic. Well, quite simply, they do not!
May I refer him to the Oxford dictionary definition of "homophobia". It is a "hatred or fear of homosexuals". In fact, Mr Guillaumier, in common with a number of militant atheists who have grasped the opportunity created by the current paedophile scandal, has missed the point entirely. The Catholic Church is averse to any form of sexual contact outside of marriage (which, even in today's enlightened times, is limited to a man and woman, same-sex contracts being known as civil partnerships) and condemns any such behaviour, irrespective of the gender of the participants, very loudly indeed.
Mr Guillaumier's logic would suggest that the Church is phobic about extra-marital sex between men and women as well as sex between people of the same gender.
In addition to this, I see no signs of a campaign by the Church to identify and unfrock gay priests, something one might expect in a "phobic" organisation. On the contrary, it simply demands of gay priests that they refrain from all forms of sexual activity, in the same way that it treats heterosexual clergy.
So, sorry Mr Guillaumier, your literary assaults on the Church do not impress many of us. Please also bear in mind that there are a billion catholics worldwide making up the Church, each with our own views. You cannot assume that a cardinal's views necessarily reflect those of the worldwide community.
[Click on the hyperlink above to view the comments on the Times' website.]
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