News

By Elizabeth O’Brien

LIVERPOOL, England, July 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic Church in Liverpool, England, is being praised for forbidding a Catholic homosexual group to use the church facilities for an event barbecue and discussion gathering.

Quest, an organization for Catholic gay and lesbians in the UK, organized a barbecue and discussion/prayer meeting at the Liverpool University Catholic Chaplaincy of St. Philip Neri. Contrary to some reports, the Liverpool Daily Post reports, they did not plan on having a Mass, and on these grounds, the Archdiocese forbade the event from taking place on church premises.

Quest Manchester organizer Edward Down expressed his disapproval of the Archdiocese’s decision, according to news agency icLiverpool, stating “The hierarchy seems to think we promote active homosexuality and that we are some sort of seedy sex agency, but that’s not the case at all.” He also claimed that Quest is “true to the faith in every way.”
 
  Quest, however, states in its own website history that the organization was removed in 1998 from the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales national directory of Catholic societies. In addition, among the Quest website resources, there is a link to “RainbowChristians”, a gay (LGBTQ) Christian matchmaking website. There are also several links to other websites that while being ostensibly Christian, also support an actively homosexual lifestyle.

  On Monday, Daphne McLeod of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, was one of those who praised Liverpool Archbishop Patrick Kelly and the Archdiocese for making a stand against the pro-actively homosexual group. McLeod stated in the Post, “The Archdiocese has taken absolutely the correct decision. Quest is not a Catholic group because they dissent from the teachings of the Church.”

  She continued, “Catholic parents who send their children to university would be aghast if meetings promoting homosexuality were to be staged at a Catholic chaplaincy. And it is quite wrong for them to try to use a Catholic place of worship to put forward their beliefs in this way.”

“Catholic doctrine is a question of all-or-nothing. You have to believe in it wholly, not just the parts you like.”

  McLeod concluded, “We would welcome them if, like other organizations, they helped homosexuals to live chaste lives. We believe in no sex outside marriage-but they don’t, they encourage active homosexuality. It is incompatible with the teachings of the Church.”