By James Sanders
Pink Paper
April 15, 2010
http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=2759
Human rights activist Peter Tatchell has praised Catholic bishops for distancing themselves from recent assertions by the Vatican that gay people are inextricably linked to paedophilia.
On Monday, the number two in the Vatican hierarchy - the Pope's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone - claimed there is a link between homosexuality and child sex abuse.
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During a press conference in Chile, Bertone said: "Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and paedophilia. But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relation between homosexuality and paedophilia. That is true. That is the problem."
But yesterday, pockets of the Catholic church across Europe separated itself from Bertone's theory.
"I commend the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales for their intelligent, calm and accurate rejection of a causal link between paedophilia and sexual orientation. Their measured, non-homophobic tone contrasts sharply with the shrill, scapegoating comments of Cardinal Bertone," said Tatchell.
"The Bishops are right to point out that a propensity to child sex abuse is not based on a person's sexual orientation but on a sexual fixation with young people.
"The reputation of the Vatican and the Pope has been badly damaged by recent attempts to blame gays, the media and Jews for the public outcry over the sex crimes of Catholic clergy.
"The response of the English and Welsh Bishops is much more mature and reasoned than the nonsense that has been coming out of the Vatican in the last few weeks," said Mr Tatchell.
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