Church teaching on homosexuality

Mr Sasha Azzopardi, media officer, Malta Gay Rights Movement (The Sunday Times, November 21), said that the Millenium Chapel group "takes a gay-affirmative approach. The group's aim is not to instruct the participants on how they should be living their lives but to facilitate the integration of their Catholic spirituality with their homosexual identity."

This is a very serious statement, as it actually means that moral relativism is at the basis of these meetings. It is the equivalent to pro-life views being offered alongside pro-choice views, and this under Church auspices. It should be remembered that Christ insisted that the life of those who follow Him should follow certain norms (meekness, poverty of spirit, purity of heart, etc).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms that "Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of great depravity, Tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. Under no circumstances can they be approved."

Further on, the Catechism states that "Homosexual persons must be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided... They are called to chastity... by prayer and sacramental grace they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection."

Refusing to present clearly these teachings as being the sole truth betrays a lack of Christian love towards those seeking help, since only a life free from grave sin enables us to participate in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist. The latter, apart from helping us to live in intimate union with the Lord, "revives our love and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in Him." (Catechism)