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04/15/2008
Forgive us, father, if we don't join the welcome wagon
As the Pope gears up for his U.S. visit, most in the mainstream American media are falling over themselves to welcome the pontiff with few to no caveats or qualifiers. But since the holy father has been publicly visiting us in the LGBT community with various bits of bias since at least 2005, and since a public figure's discriminatory words are typically in the public's interest (at least when they are against certain sects), we thought we would take a second to look at some of the "lovely" things the pontiff has said about gays over the past few years. Somebody has to:
April 2005
Homosexuality is an "intrinsic moral evil"
January 2006
Gunning for gay marriage is "not a peculiarity of Catholic moral teaching but part of an elementary truth regarding our common humanity"
May 2006
Gay unions are "weak love," and "only the foundation of complete and irrevocable love between man and woman is capable of forming the basis of a society that becomes the home of all men''
September 2006
In regards to Canada: "In the name of `tolerance' your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of `freedom of choice' it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children"..."When the Creator's divine plan is ignored the truth of human nature is lost"
October 2006
Gay bonds are "weak and deviant forms of love and the counterfeiting of freedom."
December 2006
On the subject of respecting same-sex couples in the same way as heterosexual ones: "This tacitly accredits those dismal theories that strip all relevance from the masculinity and femininity of the human being as though it were a purely biological issue"
Theories "according to which man should be able to decide autonomously what he is and what he isn't," end up with mankind destroying its own identity, he said.
January 2007
"Projects aimed at granting improper legal recognition to forms of unions other (than marriage) appear dangerous and counterproductive as they inevitably weaken and destabilise the legitimate family based on matrimony"
January 2007
His holiness warned against any sort of legal union "that human will could manipulate as it pleases, even depriving it of its heterosexual nature."
March 2007
He says all Catholic politicians have a "non-negotiable" moral duty to oppose same-sex marriage
December 2007
"Everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and woman, everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of new life ... constitutes an objective obstacle on the road to peace,"
Now look, we don't want to be disrespectful of anyone's faith. We realize the Pop's role within the church and the importance that he holds for so many. But on the other hand, we would be doing our own lives and our loves a MASSIVE disservice if we just turned a blind eye to the downright nasty things that Pope Benedict continually says about us.
His role does not immunize him from scrutiny. In fact, it heightens the need for such probing! And we certainly hope that as the papal visit plays out in TV specials and magazine features, more people will take an opportunity to hold his feet to the proverbial fire on issues like (but not limited to) gay equality. It is not sacreligious to stand up for the righteousness of EVERYONE'S soul.
**UPDATE: But we will get him an ounce of credit where an ounce of credit is due. In remarks made today, the pontiff was clear to disconnect homosexuality from pedophilia. This from the NY Times:
Apparently drawing a distinction between priests with homosexual tendencies and those inclined to molest children, the Pontiff said: “I would not speak at this moment about homosexuality, but pedophilia which is another thing. And we would absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry.”
“Who is guilty of pedophilia cannot be a priest,” he added
Pope Expresses Deep Shame Over Priests’ Sexual Abuse
**SEE ALSO: Hillary Rose is also pooping on the pontiff's party:
I am a Papal Party Pooper [Huff Po]
Your thoughts
I may agree with the pope about abortion, but the pope is wrong on LGBT issues. The catholic church will become more irrelevant to non-latino Americans until there is change in church doctrine.
Maybe in the next generation we will have a more worldly leader of the Catholic church.
Posted by: Matt from California | Apr 15, 2008 1:04:21 PM
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