Vatican bid to scapegoat homosexuals condemned

Monday, April 19, 2010

I’M aghast at Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s blind assertion that homosexuality is linked to paedophilia (April 12).

There is absolutely no study which shows a correlation between the two or which shows that homosexuality causes paedophilia.

I am not at all surprised, however, that an organisation which refuses to address its own grim failings in an appropriate manner chooses to make scapegoats of an innocent minority group in order to deflect some of the international media attention away from themselves.

These kinds of statements are sure to cause great upset among members of the homosexual community and their families. Even worse, I dread to think of the psychological damage these kinds of statements could cause among those who are just beginning to explore their sexual identities.

It seems to me that this organisation, which has caused so much damage already, finds it easier to continue damaging than to make amends and turn itself around.

As control and credibility slip from their grasp, I brace myself for any further desperate mutterings which Catholic Church leaders may have to offer us over the coming months.

Laura Harmon
LGBT Campaigns/ Human Rights Officer
University College Cork

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, April 19, 2010