Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Bishop Henry, A bishop in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary, was reciently raked across the coals in Canadian newspapers (i.e. Globe and Mail, CBC, The Star) and of course gay rights Web sites (365Gay.com). I decided to check out the Pastoral Letter myself. In my own opinion, the most damning quote from the letter, "Since homosexuality, adultery, prostitution and pornography undermine the foundations of the family, the basis of society, then the state must use its coercive power to proscribe or curtail them in the interests of the common good" loses its original meaning when taken out of context and in isolation. The Bishop does not, as the the papers suggest, state that Ottawa should target gays. The Bishop does state however that citizens should "to enter into the debate and, with clarity and charity, to make their voices heard". But hey, don't take my word for it. Check out Bishop Henry's Pastoral Letter yourself and, for balance, the response from the same sex community.