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UK Catholic Bishops Refuse School Anti-Bully Policy Which is "Morally Neutral" on Homosexuality

School teaching on homosexuality must not be “morally neutral,” says Archbishop Nichols

By Gudrun Schultz

LONDON, United Kingdom, December 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic schools do not need special anti-bullying policies specifically designed to protect homosexual students, Roman Catholic Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham told the Commons education committee on Monday, the Telegraph reported yesterday.

Archbishop Nichols implied such policies would demand an artificial neutrality towards homosexuality that would not accurately reflect Church teaching, saying, “I do not believe citizenship education should, or could, claim to be a morally neutral area in which a whole set of other moral values are subversively introduced."

The head of the Catholic Education Service, Archbishop Nichols was responding to concerns raised by MP Stephen Williams, who is homosexual, about the Catholic approach to bullying of homosexual students. Williams is among a group of Ministers pushing for the development of separate school policies to address homosexual bullying concerns

“Sexual intercourse belongs within marriage,” Archbishop Nichols said, emphasizing that the Catholic Church does not condemn individuals for experiencing same-sex attraction, but that it prohibits homosexual behavior.

"The Catholic Church makes a very clear distinction between the orientation of the person and their sexual behaviour,” Archbishop Nichols said.

"The Catholic Church would stand very firmly for the equal dignity and rights of a person no matter what their sexual orientation.”

The Archbishop pointed out that Catholic schools have a better-than-average record in dealing with bullying among their students.

"In response to questions about bullying in school, I asserted that a robust policy on bullying of all kinds was the best way forward. OFSTED [Office for Standards in Education]  evidence indicates that Catholic schools are in fact more effective than others in protecting pupils from bullying."

"If you begin to pick out particular sections then the list of special policies is going to get very long and there probably would not be too much room on the walls to accommodate it."

Archbishop Nichols spoke out last week against the Sexual Orientation Regulations that are to be implemented in the UK in April 2007, saying the Catholic Church would withdraw from schools, charities and adoption agencies if the organizations were forced to accommodate homosexuality in a way that would violate Catholic beliefs.

See coverage by the Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/12/nchurch12.xml

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Catholic Church will Drop Schools, Charities and Adoption Agencies if Laws Force Homosexuality, UK Archbishop Warns
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06112801.html

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