The Roman Catholic Church in Sabah does not subscribe to the idea of setting up a Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) branch in Malaysia for the gay and lesbian communities in the country.Head of the Catholic Diocese of Kota Kinabalu, Bishop Datuk John Lee, said Tuesday, like other churches in the country, the Roman Catholic Church would strongly oppose plans to set up the proposed branch.
"It's not acceptable. However, we cannot stop them from going ahead with what they want to do. All I can say is that we have absolutely nothing to do with them.
"Likewise, the church does not recognise 'same sex' marriages," he said, when contacted.
Last week, Rev Ou Yang Wen Feng, 37, a Malaysian self-confessed gay pastor, led the faithful through a two-hour Sunday service at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Rev. Ou Yang, who serves at the MCC in New York, hopes to set up a church branch in Kuala Lumpur in 2010.
He was quoted as saying that before 2010, friends would help him start a cell group which would be open to all regardless of their sexual orientation.
Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor had said that the authorities would not allow the country to become a destination for those preferring alternative lifestyles like being gay.
MCC Founder Bishop Troy D. Perry, who gave a sermon, believed that the church would be a blessing for the gay and lesbian communities in Malaysia. His partner of over 22 years, Phillip De Blieck, was also present.
They married under Canadian law at the MCC of Toronto in 2003 and hope to get their marriage recognised by the California State Supreme Court by the end of this year.
On Rev Ou Yang's plan to marry his partner Angel Ayala when "same sex" marriages are legalised in New York, Bishop Lee said it is their own right.
"Of course, we don't agree to what they are doing but we can't interfere with the law in other countries."
During the ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Perry promised that he would stand by his partner despite the fact that De Blieck, 43, was diagnosed with HIV.
"I think one reason Perry fell in love with me is because he knew I was interested in him as a person," said De Blieck.
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