Raul Vera Lopez, the Catholic bishop of
Saltillo, Mexico, has criticized homophobes, calling them “sick.”
Vera, a vocal gay rights supporter, was
asked in an interview with El
Pais: “Not long ago you baptized the daughter of a lesbian
couple. What do you think about homosexuality?”
“That is a topic that we have refused
to address,” Vera responded. “The people who say homosexuals are
sick are sick themselves. The church needs to come to them not with
condemnation but with dialogue. We cannot cancel out a person's
richness just because of his or her sexual preference.”
“That is sick. That is heartless.
That is lacking common sense,” he added.
In 2011, the Vatican summoned Vera to
Rome to inquire about a gay-inclusive group of Catholics headed by
Noe Ruiz.
Vera publicly affiliated his diocese
with the group and sponsored its film festivals, which lead to harsh
criticism from the Peru-based Catholic news agency ACI Prensa.
When he returned, Vera said said that
Vatican officials simply made observations about his work, but the
bishop did not elaborate. He vowed to continue his outreach to the
LGBT community.
“I will not abandon these children,”
he said at the time of children with gay parents. “We cannot
abandon people who depend on us.”
“For a long time, Raul Vera was the
Catholic Church's black sheep,” El Pais wrote, “the
old-fashioned left-winger. But that was until the ideological
earthquake represented by the new pope, Francis I, gave renewed
relevance to his words. Now, other bishops are suddenly turning to
Vera for guidance.”
As is my habit, I read between the lines, he's not so much about gay people, but once again, with clarifying statements like: “I will not abandon these children,” he said at the time of children with gay parents. “We cannot abandon people who depend on us.”
I can clearly see, keeping a " dialogue" with homosexuals as just another metaphorical way of saying... keeping close enough to the homosexuals with kids so we can have an influence on their children's development and protect them from the evils of homosexuality.
Don't believe me, show me where he says one positive, inclusive thing about homosexuals within the church.
2 comments:
For someone bound by archaic ritual and dogma, his heart is in a better place than most. I would rather inspire to the best than condemn to the worse. Let us also practice understanding and forgiveness to those making an effort, or we are being hateful too. B
This is understanding...as long as people like you and I remain silent or grasp at smidgens of what appears to be acceptance/tolerance, then we will forever be trod upon.
There have been those within the catholic church that have stood up only to be denounced or removed from their duties, while asshats like
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, accused of using his power and position to take advantage of young male priest, all the while and very publicly, taking an anti-gay stance.
Yes, the church removed him from his position, but bought him a nice comfy place to live out his existence and allowed to keep his title of Cardinal.
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