AN IRISH Catholic priest has been banned by the Vatican from
publishing any more of his writings after he suggested homosexuality is
“simply a facet of the human condition”.
This follows an article on homosexuality by Capuchin priest Fr Owen O’Sullivan, published in last March’s edition of the
Furrow magazine.
Described as “a journal for the contemporary Church”, the
Furrow is published at St Patrick’s College Maynooth.
Commenting
on teachings that “homosexuality is unnatural”, Fr O’Sullivan wrote
that “nature is a loose peg on which to hang a theology of human
relationships”.
The
Concise Oxford Dictionary listed nine meanings for “nature” and 14 for “natural”, he said.
He
noted it was argued that the natural purpose of sexuality is
procreation “and that, since homosexual relationships are not
procreative of life, they are therefore unnatural”.
Throughout
history “same-sex attraction and acts have been a consistent feature of
human life . . . Same-sex attraction is simply a facet of the human
condition,” he said. He recalled church teaching says it is not wrong to
be gay, ‘‘but it is wrong to act gay”.
He suggested: “Imagine
someone saying... ‘There’s nothing in itself wrong with being Irish...
But that doesn’t mean you may act on it. So, no more Guinness, going to
Croke Park, singing rebel songs into the early hours of the morning,
waving Tricolours, no more craic.”
The Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican contacted the Capuchin secretary
general in Rome with an instruction Fr O’Sullivan was no longer to write
for publication without first having his articles approved by it.
Capuchin headquarters in Rome contacted Fr O’Sullivan’s superiors.
Contacted by
The Irish Times, Fr O’Sullivan did not feel free to discuss it nor did Fr Ronan Drury, editor of the
Furrow.
SIC: IT/IE
Well done. Seems like the Church is learning to make use of the internet, so things can be taken care of sooner than later. By the way, wish someone would address the problem of the Franciscans who are handing out condoms down by the quays. Thanks. From someone in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteMore suppression of open discussion from the Vatican -- and we know how toxic that is.
ReplyDeleteThe Vatican claims that the best scientific opinion supports its view that people who are attracted to their own sex have something wrong with them. But in fact this alleged scientific support has long crumbled, and it leaves the Vatican in the arms of abusive, cult-like organizations such as NARTH and Exodus.