Bishops Urge Homosexuals Not to be Afraid

MANILA, March 1, 2011— Roman Catholic Church officials called on homosexual individuals to “come out in the open” saying it would take a load off their minds.

At least two Catholic bishops expressed their desire on Tuesday for homosexuals to go public over their sexuality because there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Archbishops Paciano Aniceto and Oscar Cruz told church reporters that the church didn’t care about a person’s sexuality, only on same sex unions and sexual acts.

“Honesty is very important,” said Aniceto, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Aniceto said there are many reasons people are afraid to come out as lesbian, gay or bisexual and it depends on the culture they were brought up in, and the point of view of their family and friends.

“That’s why it is also very important to have counseling centers and formation groups that will face this issue,” Aniceto said.

The prelate made the statement Tuesday during the launching of the book “Homosexuality and the Catholic Church” written by the late American missionary Fr. John Harvey in Manila.

Cruz said the book is a must-read for everyone struggling with same sex attraction (SSA), whether one is a Catholic or not.

In fact, he said, everyone including priests, religious and the laity alike would benefit from the contents presented in a question and answer type format.

Major issues surrounding the nature of homosexuality are covered and presented in an objective and pastorally sensitive manner drawing from Harvey’s experience in ministering to people with SSA.

Cruz said the book is basically in defense of the SSA in the sense that it does not merit condemnation at once because it is a “natural disposition.”

“Don’t condemn those who had a different sexual orientation for one thing they did not choose it. Second, it is possible they could redeem themselves from it. Third, a good number of them are just behaving that way but they are not acting on their sexual orientation,” he said.

According to him, he also has no problem with men dressed as women.

“It’s okay. We don’t know their motive but they dress as a boy or as a girl and that is all that he does, I don’t see problem with that,” Cruz said.

But while the church is not condemning homosexuality, the head of the CBCP’s dispensation desk said it will not tolerate homosexual acts.

“It would be wrong only if you act on it. The same thing with heterosexual if we act on it contrary to morals then it is wrong… so same with homosexuals,” Cruz said.

“If a homosexual goes into partnership with another homosexual it is wrong. If it’s only attraction, (there’s nothing wrong). It is just a feeling,” he said.

Cruz also said that there is no such thing as “third sex” and there are only two choices because God only made man and woman.

“There’s no third sex. It is a sexual disposition… sexual inclination. There’s no third sex according to the natural law as well as divine law,” he said.

For his part, Fr. Dave Clay, ECFL assistant executive secretary, said this is the very first time that the Philippine Catholic Church came out with a book on homosexuality.

The book first came out in the US in 2007 but its Filipino edition only arrived in the country this year.

Clay said the book is currently available in Catholic book stores but they are also planning to have it distributed to students in Catholic schools. [CBCPNews]