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Catholic School Board 'Gay Speak' Seminar

By Fr. James V. McManamy

Originally published in the September issue of Catholic Insight
http://www.catholicinsight.com/
Re-published with permission

Legendary Canadian singer Burton Cummings sang, "I will sing a rhapsody, cleverly disguise it, so it’s not heard before ...." On Wednesday, June 25, I attended a meeting of Catholic support professionals and teachers from Toronto and surrounding regions that dealt with "gay" youth in Catholic schools. The session was under the auspices of the Association of Professional Student Services Personnel, which a representative described as a union organization.

Under the guise of being more sensitive to "gay" youth in the school context, this meeting was nothing more than a front to promote the homosexual agenda and lifestyle.

Moira McQueen

The first speaker, Dr. Moira McQueen, a moral theologian from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, Ethics consultant for the Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic School Board, and inservice presenter for Catholic School Trustees, claims to be faithful to the Church, but dissents from Magisterial teachings. In a written letter to a colleague she admits that Veritatis Splendor, the wonderful document of Pope John Paul II on objective Catholic morality, is far from her own thinking. Her supposedly erudite, theological presentation seemed to be skillfully designed to confuse weak or poorly formed Catholic listeners and to sow a ton of doubt about the validity of unchangeable Catholic moral teachings.

Typical examples of Dr. McQueen’s doubt-generating comments were: "The adequacy of moral laws we have is somewhat dependent on current information"; "When something is said to be unchangeable, we have to be careful about that information"; "The Magisterium does not have all the answers"; and "the Magisterium is composed of human beings who are limited the same way we are all limited".

Fr. Ron Mercier

The second speaker, Fr. Ron Mercier, a Jesuit priest and former dean of Regis College, emphasized the context for dialogue with youth involved with homosexuality. He claims that Catholic moral teaching has shifted since the 1975 Vatican document On Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics. The end result is that homosexuality is supposedly no longer seen as a moral category or "problem". It is the total person who is now emphasized, said Fr. Mercier. This "shift" however is very much debatable. What is not in question is the Church’s teaching on the objective disorder of the homosexual condition and the immorality of homosexual acts.

Fr. Mercier, while showing compassion for homosexual persons, consistently used the ambiguous terms "homophobia" and "sexual orientation" in his address. In gay-speak jargon "homophobia" is used to castigate, silence, and defame anyone who does not agree with the homosexual agenda and does not accept homosexual acts as morally good. When questioned about the term "sexual orientation", Fr. Mercier cleverly avoided an answer and yet continued to use the term freely.

Although there were only two official speakers, a number of Catholic educators gave their assent to the belief that the Catholic Church is out of step with the times, and needs to do everything possible to create a "gay-friendly" environment in our schools. One teacher gave an unabashed five-minute speech saying that "it doesn’t matter if a man loves another man or a woman, and it doesn’t matter if a woman loves another woman or a man," for which she was (disturbingly) given a standing ovation by the crowd.

To add insult to injury, the morning ended with some personal remarks from Ed Remming, a psychology consultant with the Toronto District Catholic School Board, who proudly introduced himself as a "gay man". He implied that he is pleased that the Church has finally matured to see the new-found wisdom in these views, unlike the simpletons of his childhood who followed the "cookbook morality" of deferring to the catechism and Church doctrine. In fact, he went so far as to say that those who didn’t see this wisdom had "arrested development" and needed psychological help. Remming also referred to the "Catholic Nazis" who persecuted homosexuals in Germany as an ultimate put-down of those in the audience who did not share his view of morality. This psychology consultant for Catholic students and staff has an extensive and bizarre anti-homophobia website at
http://www.ecodox.com/Rainbow2000/VLRTransformingHomophobia/home.htm

At the end of his talk Mr. Remming went over to Fr. Mercier and unexpectedly kissed him on the cheek. Apparently Mr. Remming is close to retirement from employment with the school board, but one naturally wonders how many more "gay" ideologues have managed to infiltrate into such influential positions with the board and whether they will be replaced by faithful Catholics or more of the same as they retire.

Catholic teaching derided

A few parents and educators from the group expressed contrary opinions, in favour of official Catholic teaching. They were dismissed with disparaging remarks from members of the audience, indicating that their views were "judgmental" and would "alienate" youth. To be fair to Fr. Mercier, in response to questions, he did not contradict Church teaching and seemed to consistently support it. This was confusing, considering his jargon-loaded concepts and his sympathy toward the pro-homosexual agenda.

After the meeting I learned that there was a lot of support among Catholic educators for these "desensitizing" sessions. This is a bad omen for our Catholic schools, already in disarray from frequent contract disputes, internal bickering, feuding with government, and the constant need to justify their existence monetarily.

A great person in history once said, "How can we know the answers when we don't know the questions?"A number of questions remained unresolved. It was a given at this session that "gayness" is a specific identity, apparently given and blessed by God. If this is so, then is it not true that the Church will eventually come to realize this and see sodomy as potentially moral? (consider Fr. Mercier’s "shift").

Next, the question of whether homosexual attraction can change is debatable. A number of psychotherapists who are experts in the area of homosexuality have documented success in this area. However, the members at this meeting seemed to take it for granted that it is not changeable.

Finally, why is it presumed that a young person struggling with identity problems automatically qualifies as a "gay youth"?

I hope that these reflections will cause many Catholic parents to question what is happening in their schools. Some who attended this session no doubt have sincere intentions, but we cannot help but wonder whether this meeting (and a similar one on May 26th held just for teachers) was about helping youth, or about presenting homosexuality as "normative" and acceptable. Perhaps it was not accidental that this session took place during Toronto’s "Gay Pride Week".

Father Jim McManamy is the pastor of Precious Blood Church, Scarborough, ON.

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