VARIOUS: Gay leader calls Vatican statement insulting and racist, demands apology

Record ID: 277119

  • Title: VARIOUS: Gay leader calls Vatican statement insulting and racist, demands apology
  • Date: 16th April 2010
  • Summary: VATICAN CITY (APRIL 15, 2010) (REUTERS) ST. PETER'S BASILICA PILGRIMS IN SQUARE FOUNTAIN SANTIAGO, CHILE (RECENT - APRIL 12, 2010) (REUTERS) VATICAN SECRETARY OF STATE, CARDINAL TARCISIO BERTONE, SURROUNDED BY JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) Spanish) VATICAN SECRETARY OF STATE, CARDINAL TARCISIO BERTONE, SAYING: "Many other (psychologists) have demonstrated that, as they r
  • Embargoed: 1st May 2010 13:00
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  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA42HK7CCB1W1K6AW2V7945UBL6
  • Story Text: A gay group demanded an apology on Thursday (April 15) after Pope Benedict's number two linked homosexuality to sexual abuse of children.
    The comments were made by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone during a visit to Chile this week.
    "Many other (psychologists) have demonstrated that, as they recently told me, that there is a link between homosexuality and pedophilia, this is the truth," Bertone told members of the media on April 12.
    The political secretary of Gay Lib, Daniele Priori told Reuters on Thursday the gay rights movement to which he belonged thinks Cardinal Bertone's statement is "an abberation, a sort of delirium."
    Priori said Bertone's statement was particularly serious because of his position. "It is even more serious as it is pronounced by a Secretary of State. Cardinal Bertone, in fact, besides being a religious authority is also a diplomat, he is the Secretary of State of the Vatican state," Priori said.
    The French foreign ministry and some Catholic blogs that support the pope also condemned the cardinal's remarks.
    Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi issued a statement on Wednesday (April 14) saying Church leaders were not trying make "general affirmations of a specific psychological nature" and offered Church statistics that showed that two-thirds of incidents of abuse of adolescents by priests involved homosexual priests.
    "When the Pope and his Secretary of State speak, they speak to the World. They cannot think about damage limitation after they have broken the eggs and made the omelette, Priori said.
    He called for an apology from Cardinal Bertone. "I think Cardinal Bertone and the Vatican should learn the lesson, take their responsibilities and apologise to the world's gay community for what is an anti-scientific insult which leads only to discrimation and rascism" he said.
    The pope has not made any direct reference to the crisis facing the Church over sexual abuse but he may address the issue when he visits Malta this weekend.
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