| WASHINGTON - September 15 - The Human Rights Campaign derided a new instruction to Catholic
seminaries to look for “evidence of homosexuality” in
seminarians and priests. According to a New York Times article, the
instruction is tied to church officials’ insistence that gay
clergy are responsible for the sexual abuse scandal even in the face of
scientific evidence to the contrary. “The real debate
around this witch hunt isn’t between us and the
Vatican, it’s between the Vatican and the truth,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
“When the church makes gay men a scapegoat for pedophiles, it
ignores one problem and creates another. It does nothing to keep
children safe or punish criminals.”“The church is not
following its own teachings. Jesus told the truth in love,” said
Harry Knox, M. Div., director of the HRC Religion and Faith Program.
“This is contrary to Christ’s admonition to love our
neighbors with the same care we give ourselves.”Several scientific studies show
no tie between gays and pedophilia.
- “The belief that
homosexuals are particularly attracted to children is completely
unsupported by our data.” (Groth and Birnbaum, “Adult Sexual
Orientation and Attraction to Underage Persons.”)“A gay man is no more
likely than a straight man to perpetrate sexual activity with
children.” (Stevenson, “Public Policy, Homosexuality and the
Sexual Coercion of Children.”)
- “A child’s risk of
being molested by his or her relative’s heterosexual partner is
over 100 times greater than by someone who might be identifiable as
being homosexual, lesbian or bisexual.” (Jenny and Roesler,
“Are Children at Risk for Sexual Abuse by
Homosexuals?”)
###
|
Printer Friendly Version
E-Mail This Article
