The Vatican’s representative to the United Nations Human Rights
Council in Geneva says a recent resolution on “sexual orientation and
gender identity” is part of an agenda that could restrict the Church’s
freedom.
“The resolution marks a change. It is seen as the beginning of a
movement within the international community and the United Nations to
insert gay rights in the global human rights agenda,” said Archbishop
Silvano Tomasi, head of the Holy See’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. in
Geneva, in a recent e-mail interview with CNA.
The archbishop noted that a U.S. State Department spokesperson had
described the resolution as “a beginning of an international norm that
will take hold gradually.” But “if norms are established,” Archbishop
Tomasi wondered, “what provisions will be made for freedom of expression
on the part of religious leaders?”
He spoke of a “genuine concern” that natural marriages and families
“will be socially downgraded with the eventual legislation that puts
homosexual “marriage” and the marriage between a man and a woman” on the
same level. The Vatican representative also said marriage could be
threatened by related measures that would mandate homosexual adoptions
and introduce “compulsory sex education at school that clashes with
Christian values.”
At a June 27 event co-hosted by the U.S. State Department and the
Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies organization, Secretary of
State Hilary Clinton credited a “major push by American diplomats” for
the June 17 passage of what she described as “the first ever U.N.
resolution recognizing the human rights of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender) people worldwide.”
Clinton called the resolution a “huge step forward,” and stated that
“so far as the United States is concerned and our foreign policy, and
our values … gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay
rights.”
The resolution, which expresses “grave concern at acts of violence
and discrimination … against individuals because of their sexual
orientation and gender identity,” will not have an immediate effect on
U.N. member states. Instead, it formally requests that the High
Commissioner for Human Rights undertake an investigation into such acts,
in preparation for further dialogue at the council during 2012.
Although the resolution will do little in the short term, the
secretary of state described its passage – over the objections of
numerous Arab and African counties, as well as Russia and Moldova – as
one of the department’s “momentous achievements” on a matter of “high
priority.”
In his remarks to CNA, Archbishop Tomasi reiterated that the Church
does not support violence against those who engage in homosexual
behavior, or any attempt by the state to punish an individual simply
because of “feelings and thoughts.”
“I think that violence against homosexual persons is not acceptable
and it should be rejected, even though this does not imply an
endorsement of their behavior.”
“The terms ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’ are not defined
in international law,” he noted.
“To the extent that they are not
external behavior, but feelings and thoughts, they cannot be subjected
to punitive laws.”
But “for some people,” he pointed out, “these words are a code phrase for types of conduct.”
The archbishop expanded on a point he has previously tried to impress
upon the Human Rights Council, as he observed that all societies
regulate sexual behavior to some extent – by forbidding practices like
incest, pedophilia, or rape – for the sake of the common good.
He contrasted the “clear message” of God’s creation, which spells out
the complementarity of the two sexes, with the U.N.’s contrived and
vague terminology of “orientation” and “gender identity.”
“Instead of ‘gender,’” Archbishop Tomasi said, “the concept we
should use is ‘sex,’ a universal term in natural law referring to male
and female.”
“In fact, it seems that terms such as ‘gender’ or ‘sexual
orientation’ are devised to escape reality and to accommodate a variety
of feelings and impulses that then are transformed into rights.”
This use of “rights” language, to justify practices like same-sex
“marriage,” may appear superficially harmless as long as the alleged
rights seem to be confined to private life.
But Archbishop Tomasi warned
that these impulse-driven claims of “rights” are in conflict with
authentic rights – such as the free exercise of religion, and the
education of one’s children.
He pointed to the “traditionally Catholic country” of Spain, as “an example of where the current trend may lead.”
In that country, “legislation has been passed in the last four or
five years in favor of homosexual marriage, free abortion in the first
22 weeks of pregnancy, of compulsory education even for children aged 8
to 12 on such issues as masturbation, same-sex marriage, contraception
and abortion.”
This arrangement prevails in Spain, “notwithstanding the fact that
thousands of parents are opposing this policy that denies their
fundamental right to decide on their children’s education.”
Archbishop Tomasi suggested that Catholics today have a
responsibility “to clarify legal and moral aspects of the current
culture” – by drawing a distinction between desires and rights,
promoting the Catholic synthesis of faith and reason, and making it
clear that a judgment against homosexuality is not a condemnation of
homosexuals.
“There is confusion in some people’s mind,” he noted, “in combining a
just respect and protection for every person – including homosexuals –
and support for the indispensable role of the family, the parents right
to educate their children, the support of the natural family for the
common good.”
While the secular West may find this ethos increasingly
incomprehensible, the Church will continues to promote it.
“The teaching
of the Church is not conditioned by political consensus,” the
archbishop noted.
“At times she is misunderstood and even becomes the
target of reprisals and persecution.”
“Reason and natural law, however, support faith-inspired positions,”
he stated, “and the convergence of faith and reason is exceptionally
fruitful for the progress and well-being of the human family.”