The row over a Roman Catholic bishop who claimed a Scottish MP’s death was linked to his homosexuality has reignited after another senior church figure warned being gay can cut life expectancy by up to 20 years.
Peter Kearney, director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, said medical research showed there was a link between homosexuality and early death, arguing it was both “hazardous” and “harmful”.
He said there was a “conspiracy of silence” around the issue that prevented society facing up to it in the same manner as health problems such as smoking, drug abuse and obesity.
But gay rights campaigners accused him of “peddling nonsense” and said the church had sunk to a “new low” in its attacks on homosexuality.
The controversy broke out the day after SNP ministers decided to press ahead with legalising gay marriage and Philip Tartaglia, the Archbishop-elect of Glasgow, faced criticism for suggesting that a Labour MP’s death was linked to his sexuality.
The current Bishop of Paisley, he added to the tension by denying reports he has agreed to meet the family of David Cairns, a former Scotland Office Minister who died of acute pancreatitis last year.
Dermot Kehoe, Mr Cairns’ former partner, also rejected claims in some newspapers that the bishop had apologised for the remarks.
Instead Mr Kearney appeared to support the Archbishop-elect’s claims by stating there was “a link between same-sex sexual practice and early death” that was supported by medical research.
“There has been, as was suggested by the questioner at that lecture, a conspiracy of silence around the vast array of medical evidence that exists to suggest that same-sex behaviour is hazardous, is harmful, and is dangerous,” he told STV’s Scotland Tonight programme.
“The wider question really is, as a society, why don't we debate that? Why don't we look at it in the same way, for example, that we've been happy to look at how smoking, how alcohol, how overeating, how drug addiction can cause harms to people's health?”
He said medical studies showed that homosexual conduct shortens life expectancy by between 12 and 20 years because of “complex infections, diseases and illnesses”.
But Tom French, policy coordinator for the Equality Network, a gay rights group accused the Catholic church of making “ignorant and offensive claims”.
He said: “These baseless claims are not science – the so-called researchers simply read through obituaries in the American newspapers. The results have been repeatedly discredited and disowned by the worldwide health research community and the Catholic Church should stop peddling this nonsense.”
Archbishop-elect Tartaglia made his comments during a religious freedom conference at Oxford University in April but they only emerged this week, the day after the Pope appointed him to his new post.
Contrary to reports, it emerged last night that he will not meet Mr Kahoe unless he receives a request in writing.
However a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Glasgow said he is “amenable” to holding talks after the “media storm” has passed.
Mr Kehoe doubted whether a meeting will take place and accused him of using a form of words that did not amount to a proper apology.
Instead Mr Kearney appeared to support the Archbishop-elect’s claims by stating there was “a link between same-sex sexual practice and early death” that was supported by medical research.
“There has been, as was suggested by the questioner at that lecture, a conspiracy of silence around the vast array of medical evidence that exists to suggest that same-sex behaviour is hazardous, is harmful, and is dangerous,” he told STV’s Scotland Tonight programme.
“The wider question really is, as a society, why don't we debate that? Why don't we look at it in the same way, for example, that we've been happy to look at how smoking, how alcohol, how overeating, how drug addiction can cause harms to people's health?”
He said medical studies showed that homosexual conduct shortens life expectancy by between 12 and 20 years because of “complex infections, diseases and illnesses”.
But Tom French, policy coordinator for the Equality Network, a gay rights group accused the Catholic church of making “ignorant and offensive claims”.
He said: “These baseless claims are not science – the so-called researchers simply read through obituaries in the American newspapers. The results have been repeatedly discredited and disowned by the worldwide health research community and the Catholic Church should stop peddling this nonsense.”
Archbishop-elect Tartaglia made his comments during a religious freedom conference at Oxford University in April but they only emerged this week, the day after the Pope appointed him to his new post.
Contrary to reports, it emerged last night that he will not meet Mr Kahoe unless he receives a request in writing.
However a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Glasgow said he is “amenable” to holding talks after the “media storm” has passed.
Mr Kehoe doubted whether a meeting will take place and accused him of using a form of words that did not amount to a proper apology.