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Catholic Medical Professionals Criticize New US Bishops Document on Homosexuality

By Peter J. Smith

BALTIMORE, November 11, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Next week the US Catholic Conference of Bishops will discuss a new document on ministry to homosexuals, however a number of Catholic medical psychologists and psychiatrists have raised objections that the proposed document is fundamentally weak and ignores useful scientific facts concerning homosexuality.

The document, "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care" was prepared by the bishops’ Committee on Doctrine and has been under development since the fall of 2002, and intends to "assist bishops in evaluating existing or proposed programs and ministerial efforts" for those with same-sex attraction disorder.

According to WorldNetDaily, one of the memos sent to select bishops attending the November 13-16 conference in Baltimore objected that "the health risks inherent in the lifestyle and the real grounds for hope of recovery and healing are never mentioned in the [proposed] document."

"Persons with SSA (Same-Sex Attraction) suffer real physical and emotional physical illness in this lifestyle. There is no mention [in the document] of the deleterious effects of homosexual behavior on the person; the abuse, the diseases and the psychological pain that accompanies that lifestyle," said Richard Fitzgibbons, M.D., a contributor to the Catholic Medical Association's statement on "Homosexuality and Hope."

Fitzgibbons and other medical experts are writing the bishops to address the deficiencies in the proposed document, namely to recognize the psychological basis of homosexuality, the rampant promiscuity and violence suffered in homosexual relationships, and the benefits that could be provided by guidance, therapy, and counseling.

Professionals, such as Dutch psychologist Dr. Gerard J. M. van den Aardweg Ph.D also object to the notions in the USCCB document that claim, "the psychological genesis is largely unexplained," or that "there is no consensus on the cause."

"Among psychotherapists there indeed is consensus that the key factor in the development of homosexual feelings is a defective gender-identification in childhood and adolescence," writes van den Aardweg, who added that many experts also agree that "diverse forms of therapy, counseling, and guidance can help change a homosexual orientation -- at least in part in most cases, and in a minority of cases, deeply and radically."

However, a number of the statements have caused concern that they seem more rooted in the propaganda and catch-phrases of the homosexual lobby, instead of in real scientific fact. The document says, "Ignorance and negative attitudes in the wider community are often the greatest barriers to an effective ministry to persons with a homosexual inclination" and that the education of the faithful "ought to denounce unjustly discriminatory and violent behaviors against homosexual persons and to seek to correct misinformation that can lead to such behaviors".

"What ignorance? What negative attitudes? What 'misinformation'? And how are we going to repair this ignorance, misinformation, and negative attitudes?" writes van den Aardweg, who objected that the statements resembled "well-known gay propaganda sloganeering."

Fitzgibbons also disagreed with the document's repetition of the homosexual slant that somehow heterosexuals in society are responsible for homosexuals being victims of "scorn, hated and even violence in some sectors of our society." He cites a recent study in the American Journal of Public Health: "39 percent of males with same-sex attraction have been abused by other males with same-sex attraction" and FBI statistics have found heterosexual violence against homosexuals miniscule in comparison to homosexual against homosexual violence.

The new document will undergo scrutiny by the US Bishops and must be approved by a 2/3 majority by the conference in order to be an official USCCB document.

See Related LifeSite coverage:
Proposed US Bishops Document on Homosexuality Encourages Love the Sinner but Hate the Sin
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06101907.html

See LifeSiteNews.com's Church Sexual Abuse Crisis page
http://www.lifesite.net/features/churchscandals/notablearticles.htm

The Major Factor In Abuse Study Is Homosexuality
http://www.lifesite.net/features/churchscandals/majorfactors.htm

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