UK Catholic adoption agency loses bid to ban gay parents from service

A Roman Catholic adoption charity’s appeal to be allowed to discriminate against gay people wanting it to place children with them has been rejected.

Catholic Care in Leeds, England, wanted exemption from new anti-discrimination laws so it could limit services provided to homosexual couples on religious grounds.

The Charity Commission said gay people were suitable parents and religious views did not justify discrimination.

In a statement, Catholic Care said: “The charity is very disappointed with the outcome.

(Full Story: BBC News)

Catholic cardinal says gay marriage is the work of the devil

Argentina’s highest-ranking Catholic prelate has warned that the country’s gay marriage bill is a “machination” of the devil, reports Pink News.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio has called on priests in Buenos Aires, where he is archbishop, to protest against the bill, which is progressing through Argentina’s parliament.

In a letter to the monasteries of Buenos Aires, he wrote: “Let’s not be naive, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God .. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

Mexico City passed a law legalised gay marriage recently, but if Argentina’s bill becomes law, it will be the first country in Latin America to legalise the practice. The bill also proposes giving gay couples the right to adopt.

Catholic archbishop says kids are spontaneously gay

A Brazilian archbishop said adolescents are “spontaneously homosexual” and in need of guidance, while society at large is pedophile, reports The Associated Press.

“Society today is pedophile, that is the problem. So, people easily fall into it. And the fact it is denounced is a good sign,” Grings told Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

The archbishop also said it was important to help children avoid homosexuality.

“We know that the adolescent is spontaneously homosexual. Boys play with boys, girls play with girls,” he said. “If there is no proper guidance, this sticks. The question is — how are we going to educate our children to use a sexuality that is human and suitable?”

Grings also said the acceptance of homosexuality in society could pave the way for the acceptance of pedophilia.

UK Government suggest the Pope should bless gay marriage and launch Papal-branded condoms

The Foreign Office has been forced to issue a public apology after an official document suggested Britain should mark the Pope’s visit this year by asking him to open an abortion clinic, bless a gay marriage and launch a range of Benedict-branded condoms.

The document, obtained by the Sunday Telegraph, also suggested Benedict XVI could show his hard line on the sensitive issue of child abuse allegations against Roman Catholic priests by “sacking dodgy bishops” and launching a helpline for abused children.  

The ideas were included in a paper titled “The ideal visit would see…” which was distributed to officials in Whitehall and Downing Street preparing for the historic visit in September. A cover note said the paper stemmed from a brainstorming session and accepted that some of the ideas were “far-fetched”.

An investigation was launched after some recipients of the memo objected to the disrespectful tone of the paper.

Gays shouldn’t be given funerals, argues Italian bishop

The bishop of the city of Tursi has declared homosexuals should not receive communion or be given funerals.

In an interview published last Friday on pontifex.roma.it, Bishop Francesco Nolè declared that ‘irregulars’ such as criminals and homosexuals should not be given communions or funerals, reports The Pink Paper.

He goes on to say: “Nothing surprises me anymore. Homosexuality, which is a disease, has become something normal. They sprout like poisonous mushrooms, and instead of feeling shame they celebrate this plague and the church itself minimalises these sins.“

His statements were made just days after two members of the Vatican were exposed as being part of a male prostitution ring.

Catholic adoption society wins exemption from using gay parents

A Catholic adoption society today won the right in the high court not to consider homosexual couples as parents.

The verdict was welcomed by the society and by the Catholic church authorities, but provoked dismay among gay rights campaigners.

Catholic Care, serving the dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough and Hallam in South Yorkshire, warned it would give up its work of finding homes for children, as many Catholic adoption societies have already done, rather than comply with the legislation, which would have barred it from refusing to consider same sex couples.

The Bishop of Leeds, Right Rev Arthur Roche, said outside the court: “Our case has not been brought on an anti-gay agenda of any sort. We respect, and would not want to diminish, the dignity of any person.”

(Full story: The Guardian)

Priest apologizes for homophobic ‘joke’

A Catholic priest has apologized for joking during a sermon that true marriage can only be between Adam and Eve - not “Adam and Steve”.

Reverend Frank Wainwright, a Deacon at St Gregory’s Church in Cheltenham, England, made the controversial comment during a Sunday service.

He was preaching on the theme of marriage when he claimed that same-sex civil partnerships are not considered as marriage by the Catholic church.

He said, “I totally accept that I have caused offense and I am apologizing for that. The comment is obviously not homophobic and it was just intended as a joke .. I have plenty of gay friends and I have no problem at all with them”

(Full story: telegraph.co.uk / Photo: Austin Craver)