Archive for the ‘Homosexuality’ Category
Friday, May 14th, 2010
14/5/10
The Pope has condemned gay marriage and abortion as “among the most insidious and dangerous challenges” to society, as Portugal prepares to legalise same-sex partnerships next week. He described abortion as a “tragedy” and said the family was based “on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman”, receiving a standing ovation from church and lay social workers yesterday. Benedict also criticised Catholics “ashamed” of their faith and too willing to “lend a hand to secularism”. Ninety per cent of Portuguese define themselves as Catholic, but Portugal’s society is increasingly secular, with far fewer than a third saying they attend mass regularly.
(more…)
Tags: Christianity, Homosexuality
Posted in Christianity, Homosexuality | No Comments »
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Austen Ivereigh; 16/4/10; (3 Items)
The Vatican secretary of state’s attempt to blame gay priests is foolish. Prudence is a cardinal virtue, but not a virtue always shown by Rome’s cardinals. Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, recently denied a link between clerical sex abuse and celibacy, but has since claimed ”a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia” which, he said, ”many psychologists and psychiatrists have shown”. The cardinal’s remarks were greeted with horror, as well they should have been, for they imply that homosexuals are more inclined to the sexual abuse of minors than heterosexuals, which is simply false. I don’t know which psychologists Bertone has been reading, but the consensus among reputable mainstream ones is that the sexual abuse of minors cannot be and should not be conflated with homosexuality.
(more…)
Tags: Christianity, Homosexuality, Pedophilia
Posted in Christianity, Health & Children, Homosexuality, Human Rights | No Comments »
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Michael McKenna; 15/4/10; (4 Items)
Police have warned the Catholic Church to expect more cases of child sex abuse to emerge from six schools that employed a veteran teacher who yesterday pleaded guilty to abusing 13 schoolgirls. Former Christian brother Gerard Vincent Byrnes, 61, admitted to 44 sex abuse charges concerning students at a Toowoomba primary school, where he also served as the child protection officer. Among them were 10 counts of raping a child under 12. In court documents, Queensland police said they expected more victims to come forward now that Byrnes, who taught at six other Catholic schools in Sydney and Queensland, had been publicly identified.
(more…)
Tags: Australia, Boy Scouts, Christianity, Homosexuality, Pedophilia, USA
Posted in Australia, Christianity, Health & Children, Homosexuality, Human Rights, USA | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Michael Kirby; 23/3/10
In many countries, despite the knowledge science now affords us about human sexuality, irrational hatred of sexual minorities is encouraged – even promoted – by religious leaders, in supposed reliance upon their understandings of religious texts. They rely on their imperfect human understanding of what was written in ancient books long before Alfred Kinsey demonstrated the realities of human sexual experience. Most religious people are good and kind. I honour those in all religions who are struggling to make a charitable, informed and unbiased contribution to the global struggle against HIV/AIDS. However, officially the Catholic and Greek and Orthodox Christian churches are still in serious denial about the evidence – just as they originally denied the opinions of Galileo and Copernicus that the Earth circled the sun. Instead of re-examining their holy texts by reference to science (as they have in the past), spiritual leaders have adopted a new, irrational approach. An example may be found in attitudes towards gays.
(more…)
Tags: Ausralia, Homosexuality
Posted in Australia, Homosexuality | No Comments »
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
John Hooper; 6/3/10
The Vatican has been rocked by a sex scandal with links to Pope Benedict’s household after a chorister was sacked for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting. Angelo Balducci, a ceremonial usher, was caught by police on a wiretap allegedly negotiating with Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, a 29-year-old Vatican chorister, over the specific physical details of men he wanted brought to him. According to transcripts, numerous men may have been procured for Balducci, at least one of whom was studying for the priesthood. The explosive claims about Balducci’s private life have caused grave embarrassment to the Vatican, which has yet to publicly comment on the affair.
(more…)
Tags: Christianity, Homosexuality
Posted in Christianity, Homosexuality, Sex Trade | No Comments »
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Jaquelien Maley; 27/2/10
On friday nights, gay Catholics from across Sydney attend St Joseph’s in Newtown. Like all Catholics, they take Communion during mass and tea after it. They have done so for years, with the quiet support of the deeply conservative Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell. But this week St Joseph’s gay ministry was threatened by a Catholic group set up on Facebook who vowed to stop its ”sacrilegious gay masses”. Last night the group protested at the church, bringing attention to this small forum of compromise forged between the doctrine that condemns homosexuals’ sex lives and the faith they love.
(more…)
Tags: Australia, Christianity, Homosexuality
Posted in Australia, Christianity, Homosexuality, Human Rights | No Comments »
Friday, February 26th, 2010
26/2/10
The Senate has comprehensively defeated a bid to legalise gay marriage, although a third of the senators did not turn up for the vote. Before the gay pride Mardi Gras in Sydney this weekend, the bill was rejected by 45 votes to five, with only the Greens voting to liberalise the marriage laws. But some of the senators who were absent from the chamber are uncomfortable with their party’s official policies opposing a move to let gay couples marry. Among the notable absentees were WA Labor senator Louise Pratt, and South Australian Liberal Simon Birmingham, who was at a meeting in the opposition leader’s office. All the senior ministers including Climate Change Minister Penny Wong were at a cabinet meeting.
(more…)
Tags: Australia, Gay
Posted in Australia, Gender & Marriage, Homosexuality | No Comments »
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Nicole Sotelo; 18/2/10
Nicole Sotelo is the author of Women Healing from Abuse: Meditations for Finding Peace, published by Paulist Press, and coordinates www.WomenHealing.com. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, she currently works at Call To Action; A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, she currently works at Call To Action.
Last week, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement that claimed that New Ways Ministry, a pastoral organisation for lesbian and gay Catholics, could not speak on behalf of the faithful in the United States. The statement not only raises the question, “Who speaks for Catholics today?” but even more pressing is this question: “Is anyone listening?” According to some recent studies, Catholics are listening, but not always to the bishops.
(more…)
Tags: Christianity, Homosexuality, USA
Posted in Christianity, Homosexuality, USA | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Bret Stephens; 10/2/10
There are some excellent arguments for ending the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. And there are some lousy ones. Leave it to the people who mistake moral preening for thought to make the lousiest ones of all. For instance: ending the policy is the great civil-rights cause of our time. As compared to what? On the scale of moral precedence, “don’t ask, don’t tell” is trivial compared to the abuse of women in the Muslim world, or of political dissidents in Cuba, or of homosexuals in Iran, or of American children in inner-city public schools; the support of Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen for ending the policy is the last word on the matter. The argument might have been more convincing if Adm. Mullen hadn’t located his conscience at this moment of maximum political convenience, after saying he’d served alongside homosexuals since 1968.
(more…)
Tags: Arms, Homosexuality, USA
Posted in Arms, Homosexuality, USA | No Comments »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Paolo Totaro; 4/2/10
The British government has caved in to pressure from the Pope and churches by abandoning controversial reforms that would have forced religious groups to abide by anti-discrimination laws. The amendments drawn up by Labour would have effectively removed the right of churches and religious schools not to employ homosexuals. They drew unprecedented public criticism of another nation’s legislature by the Pope, who described them as a violation of ”natural justice”. But the proximity of a national election, which is due in May, and strong opposition to the changes, particularly in the House of Lords, has drained the beleaguered government’s resolve. The Minister for Equality, Harriet Harman, has battled for years to make churches and religious groups, including faith schools, abide by anti-discrimination legislation.
(more…)
Tags: Christianity, Homosexuality, Human Rights, UK
Posted in Christianity, Homosexuality, Human Rights | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Paola Totro; 3/2/10
Pope Benedict has attacked Britain’s reform of human rights and equality legislation, saying religious employers should be allowed to discriminate against homosexuals. In an unprecedented move, the Pope commented directly on the laws of a Protestant state, claiming the proposed new human rights legislation threatens religious freedoms and violates ”natural law”. In a speech made during a visit to Rome by England and Wales’ 35 Catholic bishops, Pope Benedict urged Catholics in Britain to fight against the legislation with ”missionary zeal”.
(more…)
Tags: Christianity, Homosexuality, UK, USA military
Posted in Christianity, Homosexuality, Human Rights, USA | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Adrian Phoon; 12/1/10
A recent proposal in Uganda to legislate the execution of homosexuals has sparked international outrage. Although the Government has since revised its prescribed sentence from death to life imprisonment, the bill remains striking for its overt hostility towards gays. The move is more than just a Ugandan oddity – it is the embodiment of a murderous fantasy, cherished by fanatics in the West, to extinguish homosexual life altogether. It is easy for the West to dismiss the bill as a local phenomenon, emblematic of African opposition to ”civilised progress”. Deeply religious and protective of traditional family structures, Uganda has long been hostile to homosexuality.
(more…)
Tags: Africa, Christianity, Homosexuality, USA
Posted in Africa, Homosexuality, Human Rights, USA | No Comments »
Saturday, January 9th, 2010
David Aaronovitch; 9/1/09
You may have come across a report this week about the imprisonment in Malawi of two men who had just become engaged. Tiwonge Chimbalanga – a transvestite – and Steven Monjeza, both in their early twenties, pledged themselves to each other in front of 500 witnesses and then were carted off to jail, and may now face a sentence of 14 years. The fate of the men may have gained salience from recent events in Uganda. There the parliament has been considering a draft law, drawn up by David Bahati, an MP, entitled the Anti-Homosexuality Act, whose provisions aim to “prohibit any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex”, with penalties including life imprisonment and, for “aggravated homosexuality”, the death penalty. One can only marvel at the bill’s provisions, such as the one defining that a “sexual act … may include the touching of another’s breast, vagina, penis or anus … ” and that “touching includes touching (a) with any part of the body; (b) with anything else; (c) through anything …”
(more…)
Tags: Africa, Global, Homosexuality
Posted in Africa, Homosexuality | No Comments »
Friday, December 11th, 2009
Aaron Taylor; 11/12/09; Aaron D. Taylor is the author of Alone with A Jihadist: A Biblical Response to Holy War. To learn more about Aaron’s ministry, go to www.aarondtaylor.com. To follow Aaron on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/aarondtaylor. Aaron can be contacted at fromdeathtolife@gmail.com.
As a career missionary to Africa, I fear what would happen to me on judgment day if I didn’t speak out against what is happening in Uganda right now in the name of Christ. I was in the middle of typing my monthly newsletter when I decided to check my e-mail. The subject line read, “Pastor Rick Warren condemns Uganda anti-homosexuality bill.” Hurray for Rick Warren, but my question is where’s everyone else? Christian Right leaders in the U.S. are constantly griping that the media portray them as bigoted toward homosexuals. Well Mr. Dobson and Mr. Sekulow, now would be a perfect time to prove them wrong. I’m sti ll waiting for my urgent action e-mail.
(more…)
Posted in Africa, Homosexuality | No Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2009
7/12/09
The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has elected the first openly lesbian bishop since the national church lifted a ban that sought to bar gays and lesbians from the church’s highest ordained ministry, the church announced. Members of the church, who met here for their annual convention, elected the Reverend Canon Mary Glasspool, 55, who has maintained an open relationship with another woman since 1988. Another gay candidate, the Reverend John Kirkley of San Francisco, withdrew late Friday, the church announcement said. Glasspool received 153 votes in the clergy order and 203 lay votes, meeting the required majority of ballots after the Convention’s necessary quorum was declared.
See: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/gay-bishop-elected-in-los-angeles-20091206-kd20.html
Tags: Christianity, Gender
Posted in Christianity, Homosexuality, Human Rights | No Comments »
Friday, December 4th, 2009
4/12/09
The Catholic Church still regards homosexuality as an “insult to God” and homosexuals and transsexuals will never go to heaven, a leading cardinal has said, prompting a rebuke from the Vatican. ”Transsexuals and homosexuals will never enter the kingdom of heaven and it is not me who says this, but St Paul,” said Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan. In remarks which have outraged gay rights groups, he claimed that people were not born gay, but chose to embrace homosexuality. ”People are not born homosexual, they become homosexual, for different reasons: education issues or because they did not develop their own identity during adolescence. ”Perhaps they aren’t guilty but by acting against the dignity of the body they will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven,” said Cardinal Barragan, a former head of the Vatican’s Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health-care Workers. But the Vatican distanced itself from the cardinal’s comments in a statement that was highly unusual because it indirectly criticised a top church official. Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said the conservative website on which the cardinal made his comments should not be considered an authority on Catholic thinking “on complex and delicate issues such as homosexuality”.
(more…)
Tags: Christianity, Homosexuality
Posted in Christianity, Homosexuality, Human Rights | No Comments »
