Wednesday March 10, 2010
Homosexuality is ‘Totally Destructive of Christian Teaching’ Says Traditional Anglican Primate
Says “the family is under attack in more ways than it’s been since the Roman Empire”
By Patrick B. Craine
See Part I and Part II of this LifeSiteNews exclusive interview.
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, March 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The head of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), Archbishop John Hepworth, told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that it is “ludicrous” to suggest that God is present with same-sex couples in the same way as he is with husband and wife, and urged clear teaching on the true nature of human sexuality.
“Homosexual sexuality played out in a same-sex relationship is, in fact, totally destructive of the heart of Christian teaching because it’s destructive of God as Creator, it’s destructive of God as Teacher, and it’s destructive of God as Redeemer,” he said.
“There is no space in Christianity for brute force condemnation, hate, and all that,” he continued. But, he said, “there is space within Christianity for absolutely, clearly teaching what Christ teaches. And if there’s one thing the New Testament and the Old Testament are clear on, it’s homosexuality.”
The archbishop spoke with LSN on Friday in Halifax, Nova Scotia before he addressed the local TAC parish, St. Aidan’s, about the Vatican’s recent offer to Anglicans for reunion with Rome. He began a worldwide tour over four weeks ago in order to encourage members of the TAC to accept the offer.
Archbishop Hepworth praised the treatment of homosexuality in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is primarily dealt with in paragraphs 2357-2359. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church is absolutely perfect,” he said. “It teaches what the Church teaches, and it then goes on to teach us a pastoral approach.”
The Church has always taught that homosexuals “are blessed in other ways, are in fulfillment in other ways,” the Archbishop said. “We’ve got to be game to teach that. … There are compensations that God gives for [disorder].”
“We just need to be much much more positive. If we simply condemn [homosexuality], we won’t win, and we’re not winning,” he continued. “But we’ve also been very reticent to teach exactly how God is present within marriage. In fact, most couples think God has little to do with marriage.”
“I think we need to teach more deeply about that,” he added.
The archbishop described the union of husband and wife as “God’s pathway for the world, in which the Creative God is closest to us.” True marriage, he said, is “a relationship open to creation, open to love, which is the love of God, which is the Spirit. This, in fact, is where God has chosen to dwell – within the family.”
He praised the pope for allowing Anglicans who reunite with the Church to continue ordaining married men because, he said, this “means there’s a family at the heart of the parish, in all its frailty.”
“The charism of a family at the heart of a parish is necessary at the moment for the Church,” he argued, “because the family is under attack in more ways than it’s been since the Roman Empire, which is the last period in world history when homosexuality was rampant and blessed by society.”
“It’s not a question of individual rights or fulfillment. It’s a question of God’s presence in the world,” he continued. “Can we believe that God is present with a same-sex couple, God the Creator, God the Lover, God the Redeemer and Savior, in the same way as with a man and a woman who are married and dedicated to life and open to creation? And the answer to that of course is obvious. It’s ludicrous.”
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Head of Traditional Anglican Group: No Communion to Pro-Abort Politicians
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030902.html
Exclusive Interview: Primate of Traditional Anglican Communion on Life and Family – Part One
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030811.html
Anglican Catholic Primate: “To defend the unborn is part of the backbone of the Traditional Anglican Communion”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09071303.html