The Roman Catholic Church under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI has been among the most outspoken Christian faiths in opposition to gay rights, especially gay marriage.
The Guardian (U.K.), Posted: 3/11/2010, 2:47 PM The Archbishop of Vienna today said priestly celibacy could be one of the causes of the sex abuse scandals to hit the Catholic church. In an article for Thema Kirche, his diocesan magazine, Christoph Schonborn became the most senior figure in the Catholic hierarchy to make the connection between the two and called for an "unflinching examination" of the possible reasons for paedophilia. He wrote: "These include the issue of priest training, as well as the question of what happened in the so-called sexual revolution. It also includes the issue of priest celibacy and the issue of personality development. It requires a great deal of honesty, both on the part of the church and of society as a whole." Schonborn is not the first person to suggest a link between celibacy and paedophilia – the theologian Hans Kung has made the same assertion. A spokesman clarified the archbishop's words, insisting he was "in no way" seeking to question the celibacy rule or call for its abolition. Schonborn's remarks followed further revelations of abuse across Europe, with new incidents coming to light in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, and followed claims by an Italian academic that a greater presence of women in the Vatican could have prevented clerical sexual abuse from taking place.
Posted: 3/10/2010, 9:39 PM Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput posted a defense of the decision by Sacred Heart parish in Boulder to expel the children of a lesbian couple. In the face of mounting bad press criticizing the school for discrimination, Chaput explained simply that Sacred Heart is Catholic and that gay sex and marriage are not condoned by the Church. He said the children and the lesbian moms are loved but not wanted at Sacred Heart. How the children were let into the pre-school program in the first place and the parents allowed to pay for the privilege of having their children integrated and then booted and themselves referred to as an affront to the Church, is a question unanswered in Chaput’s letter. Chaput, a proudly conservative political prelate, though, didn’t miss the opportunity to insert an attack on the tax code and suggest that Americans should be allowed to send their kids to Catholic schools and receive a tax write off as a result– no matter whether they’re atheist, agnostic, secular humanist, Muslim, Hindu, divorced, unmarried and sexually active, or pretty much anything similarly non-Catholic. Anything, that is, but gay of course.
9 News (Colo.), Posted: 3/6/2010, 7:12 AM Some parents are considering pulling their children out of a Catholic preschool after the school told a family a student could not return because the parents are homosexual. "This could be one of those moments where the community is holding a mirror up to the church for it to take a look at its policy and reconsider what they've been doing," Wesley Chapel Pastor Roger Wolsey said. Staffers at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School say they were told a student would not be allowed to re-enroll because of his or her parents' sexual orientation. The Denver Archdiocese says the student's parents are two women and their homosexual relationship violates the school's beliefs and policy. "They're entitled to do what they want," Wolsey said. "And I would respect them no matter what they decide. [But] I think a lot of churches are doing a lot of soul searching right now." In a statement sent to 9NEWS, the Archdiocese said, "Homosexual couples living together as a couple are in disaccord with Catholic teaching." According to the Archdiocese, parents who enroll their kids at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School are expected to follow the Catholic Church's beliefs.
BBC, Posted: 3/5/2010, 4:18 PM A senior aide to the Pope and a Vatican chorister have been removed from their posts over allegations of involvement in a homosexual prostitution ring. The Vatican confirmed it had suspended Angelo Balducci, an usher known as a Gentleman to His Holiness, whose duties included greeting important visitors. Police had been tapping his phone in connection with a corruption inquiry, when they heard about the sex ring. The chorister, Ghinedu Thomas Ehiem, is said to have found men for Mr Balducci. The Nigerian sung for 19 years in the Giulia Choir, which performs at St Peter's Basilica when the Pope is not present. In addition to being a Gentleman to His Holiness, Mr Balducci is an engineer who is a board member of Italy's public works department. The case has made front-page news in the Italian media. Excerpts of wiretaps published in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Thursday, showed Mr Ehiem had been in regular contact with Mr Balducci before the latter was arrested on corruption charges last month. The transcripts suggest that Mr Ehiem procured at least 10 contacts for Mr Balducci, including a male model and a rugby player.Mr Ehiem told the Italian newspaper Panorama that he would find men on the Pianeta Escort (Planet Escort) website and set up encounters between them and Mr Balducci at his apartment in Rome. "He asked and I executed. He would give me 50 or 100 euros, never more than 1,000 or 1,500 euros a year," Mr Ehiem added. A spokesman for the Vatican told the BBC that Pope Benedict XVI was aware of the matter.
9 News (Boulder, Colo.), Posted: 3/5/2010, 3:16 PM *VIDEO after jump*: A preschool student at a Catholic school in Boulder will not be allowed to return next school year because of what is going on at home. The student's parents are two women and the Denver Archdiocese says their homosexual relationship violates the school's beliefs and policy. According to teachers at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School, a meeting was held Tuesday to discuss the issue. The staff was told a student would not be allowed to re-enroll because of his or her parents' sexual orientation. The staff members were also told not to talk to the media. In a statement sent to 9NEWS, the Archdiocese said, "Homosexual couples living together as a couple are in disaccord with Catholic teaching." According to the Archdiocese, parents who enroll their kids at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School are expected to follow the Catholic Church's beliefs. "No person shall be admitted as a student in any Catholic school unless that person and his/her parent(s) subscribe to the school's philosophy and agree to abide by the educational policies and regulations of the school and Archdiocese," the statement said. Because this student's parents are homosexual, the Archdiocese says they were in clear violation of the school's policy.
Washington Post, Posted: 3/5/2010, 11:47 AM The former chief operating officer of Catholic Charities has called on the organization to reverse its recent decision to change health benefits for employees' spouses, a move designed to avoid legitimizing same-sex marriage. Tim Sawina, who was until last year one of the group's highest-ranking executives, called the elimination of spousal health benefits "devastating" and "wrong" in a letter Wednesday to the governing boards of the social service organization. The move to change benefits is the most recent fallout from a struggle between the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and District officials, who passed legislation last year to legalize same-sex marriage. Rather than provide health coverage to same-sex partners, Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl decided to cut benefits for spouses of all future Catholic Charities employees, new spouses of current employees and existing spouses of current employees not already on the plan. Wuerl has said the benefits change is justifiable under Catholic teaching as long as the employees are paid a just wage. But by eliminating such benefits, Sawina said, Catholic Charities is driving current employees to look for jobs elsewhere, handicapping the group's recruitment efforts and losing the respect of the D.C. community. "Some, including the archbishop, have argued that by providing health care to a gay or lesbian spouse we are somehow legitimizing gay marriage," said Sawina, a former priest. "Providing health care to a gay or lesbian partner -- a basic human right, according to Church teaching -- is an end in itself and no more legitimizes that marriage than giving communion to a divorced person legitimizes divorce, or giving food or shelter to an alcoholic legitimizes alcoholism."
Associated Press (AP), Posted: 3/4/2010, 10:37 AM Dutch gay rights groups have called for an end to protests against a Catholic church southwest of Amsterdam after it said it would no longer seek to bar homosexuals from taking communion. The Sint-Jan church in Den Bosch says it will leave it up to believers to decide whether they are ready to receive communion. Mass at the church on Sunday was disturbed by protests. The demonstrations began last month after an openly gay man in a nearby village was chosen for a prominent role during Dutch carnival celebrations but was refused communion by his local priest — offending many in the village. Most Dutch people support gay rights, but the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual activity is sinful.
Posted: 3/4/2010, 4:18 AM "Put on some music, swallow a Viagra, and adelante!" That's the headline in Europe today following reports that a papal aide used an
intermediary in an elite Vatican choir to solicit young male choristers
and seminarians for prostitution. Police wiretaps are expected to result in charges against Angelo
Balducci, 63, a Papal Gentleman, as lay attendant are called, and the
former chairman of the Holy See's Public Works Department, which is
itself caught up in a corruption investigation. According to police, Balducci regularly contacted Chinedu Ehiem Thomas,
a Nigerian man who sings in St. Peter's Cappella Giulia, to engage the
sexual services of young male members of the choir, along with
seminarians and undocumented immigrants seeking residency status.
Washington Post, Posted: 3/3/2010, 9:21 AM Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said Tuesday that the decision by Catholic Charities to change its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex spouses of its workers is justifiable under Catholic teaching as long as the employees are paid a just wage. "The Catholic Church teaches to pay a just wage. The compensation package you use to pay that just wage isn't defined by the church," Wuerl said during an interview with Washington Post writers and editors. "Employers have the right to frame compensation packages. . . . At the end of the day, Catholic Charities is here serving the needy, after the law has passed, in complete conformity with the law." Wuerl has been engaged in a contentious debate since the fall, when he said the archdiocese could have trouble remaining in its dozens of social service partnerships with the city if the D.C. Council legalized same-sex marriage and required its contractors to honor such marriages. The law passed overwhelmingly in December, and Wednesday is the first day that same-sex couples can apply for marriage licenses.
Washington Post, Posted: 3/2/2010, 11:49 AM Employees at Catholic Charities were told Monday that the social services organization is changing its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex partners of its workers -- the latest fallout from a bitter debate between District officials trying to legalize same-sex marriage and the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. Starting Tuesday, Catholic Charities will not offer benefits to spouses of new employees or to spouses of current employees who are not already enrolled in the plan. A letter describing the change in health benefits was e-mailed to employees Monday, two days before same-sex marriage will become legal in the District. "We looked at all the options and implications," said the charity's president, Edward J. Orzechowski. "This allows us to continue providing services, comply with the city's new requirements and remain faithful to the church's teaching." Catholic Charities, which receives $22 million from the city for social service programs, protested in the run-up to the council's December vote to allow same-sex marriage, saying that it might not be able to continue its contracts with the city, including operating homeless shelters and facilitating city-sponsored adoptions. Being forced to recognize same-sex marriage, church officials said, could make it impossible for the church to be a city contractor because Catholic teaching opposes such unions.
Andrew Sullivan, Posted: 8/16/2010, 10:53 AM
QUICK LOOK:It seems pretty obvious to me that the current Pope is a gay man (just as it was blindingly clear that John Paul II was straight). I am not claiming that Benedict is someone who has explored his sexuality, or has violated his own strictures on the matter. There is absolutely no evidence of that, or of hypocrisy of any sort. But that does not mean that he isn't gay. In fact, Ratzinger's command that gay priests should actively lie about their orientation makes any public statement about this on its face lacking in credibility. But when you look at the Pope's mental architecture (I've read a great deal of his writing over the last two decades) you do see that strong internal repression does make sense of his life and beliefs. At times, it seems to me, his gayness is almost wince-inducing. Toibin notes Ratzinger's extremely close relationship with Georg Ganswein, his personal secretary, referred to by some priests I know as Gay.org.
Andrew Sullivan, Posted: 4/1/2010, 5:21 PM
QUICK LOOK:I figured we had gotten past this canard but since Bill Donohue is on every television and radio show loudly proclaiming that the church's abuses can be attributed to "homosexuals", and therefore it is homosexuality and not the church that stands in the dock, it requires some unpacking. Here's Donohue's valid point. In some of the reports on the sex abuse crisis, the impression is sometimes given that all the offenses are against children in the classic pedophile sense - pre-pubescent. The John Jay Report found that 22 percent of the cases of abuse in America were with children under the age of ten, 51% were between the ages of 11 and 14, and 15 percent were aged 16 or older. Eighty percent were same-sex abuse. So you can see how you can say that the majority of the cases were same-sex acts between men and male teens who were sexually past puberty. Hence, in Donohue's blinkered eyes, the gays did it. And if we get rid of all the gays, we may be unfair to many of them, but at least we can get rid of the abuse. But here's why Donohue's attempt to blame the crisis on homosexuals as such is so wrong. First, the critical issue is abuse, not orientation. The abuse of a young or teenage boy is no different in its nature than the abuse of a young or teenage girl. The sin is the abuse of power, and the use of religious authority to subject the defenseless to an adult's sexual gratification.
Times of London, Posted: 12/29/2008, 1:13 PM
QUICK LOOK:BY TERRY PRONE: Pope Benedict XVI says that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction. His controversial comments were all over the international media last week. They shouldn’t have been, according to the Iona Institute, a faith-based organisation. Because he didn’t say that at all. So what he actually said was: “We need something like human ecology, meant in the right way. The Church speaks of human nature as ‘man’ or ‘woman’ and asks that this order is respected. This is not out-of-date metaphysics. It comes from the faith in the Creator and from listening to the language of creation, despising which would mean self-destruction for humans and therefore a destruction of the work itself of God.” Clear on that, now? Me neither.
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