Bishop: Scripture teaches that ‘majority always wrong’
Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan has said scripture teaches that “the majority is always wrong”.
He had been asked about the Irish people’s decision to vote in favour of same-sex marriage.
The bishop, who was last year forced to apologise for comments suggesting the Gardasil HPV vaccine is “70% safe” and encourages sexual activity among young people, was speaking ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland this weekend.
Asked about the decision to vote in favour of same-sex marriage, Bishop Cullinan said “the majority is always wrong” and that often it is just a “tiny minority” who follow “God’s plan”.
If you read scripture, Christ doesn’t go by the majority opinion... In actual fact, if you read scripture, the majority was always wrong. When push came to shove the majority take the easy way out and it’s the minority, in scripture, the tiny minority stood at the foot of the cross, the tiny minority of Apostles were faithful but they trusted in Jesus and it’s God’s plan we follow,” he said.
Asked about comments made on Thursday at the World Meeting of Families by Fr James Martin, that people from the LGBT community are treated like “lepers” within the Catholic Church, Bishop Cullinan said the Lord “had put these people in our path” and that they must be treated with respect.
“We must treat every single person with the respect he or she is due as a child of God, irrespective of who they are, what they have, and what their background is. We have to see them as Jesus would see them.
That is we cannot judge but we will let the Lord teach us... The Lord has put these people in our path, whoever it is, and they must be treated with respect.
Bishop Cullinan said he treats gay people with respect but that he does not agree with “what they’re doing”.
“I know gay people and I know gay couples and I treat them with respect. I follow Jesus Christ and I am a sinner too. Jesus Christ who breathed on the Apostles and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is the spirit of truth who will teach us all things’ and Christ himself has given us the plan for the beauty of sexuality and it’s for a man and a woman... We treat people with respect but that doesn’t mean we agree with what they’re doing.”
Bishop Cullinan became emotional when discussing the “horror” of clerical sex abuse and said it is “hard to explain” how such acts were covered up within the Church.
“It’s so hard to explain; it’s the mystery of evil and then the lack of courage to tackle it and to understand,” he said.
“We understand now so much better what abuse does to a child and that is a great lesson to learn.
“Here in Ireland, we have got our act together in making sure the Church is a safe place and show society the absolute importance of treating children with respect. We follow safeguarding guidelines and it’s working.”
Bishop Cullinane also said that the decision by Pope Francis to meet survivors of clerical sex abuse will be “healing”.
