by PETER GRACE
AUCKLAND — The Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Patrick Dunn, has set the record straight in a response to a Sunday Star Times article, “Catholics tell gays to ditch sex”.
The Star Times article focuses on an American documentary about homosexuality and Catholicism called The Third Way. After he had seen the 38 minute film, Bishop Dunn congratulated the producer,
but his email was leaked to the media.
In his response to the Sunday Star Times, the bishop referenced the Pope’s interview with the media on a flight back to Rome last July, when he answered a question about homosexuality by saying:
“If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Bishop Dunn subsequently stated that it is not for us to make judgments about others.
“The truth is that the Church is a community of sinners of varying degrees.
“We are all sinners, and our journey through life is to follow the call of Jesus towards wholeness and integrity in all of our activities and relationships.”
This journey is one of failures and successes, of stops and starts.
“Jesus holds up for us the ideal of a faithful, loving relationship between a man and a woman in marriage. Sexual activity, be it heterosexual or homosexual, that is not within this marriage relationship falls far short of this ideal,” said the bishop’s commentary.
However, the great truth of Christianity is that God’s love, mercy and compassion are boundless.
Bishop Dunn said he is keen to see greater support offered to gay Catholics and, in that context, he was impressed with the film itself.
He said that The Third Way of the title is not 1.) persecution and hatred, nor 2.) unqualified acceptance of every gay lifestyle,
but 3.) always love and respect for gay persons themselves.
The bishop recommends the film for those who may be interested to view it.
May I congratulate Bishop Pat Dunn for his public comments in this sensitive area. It is always easy to resort to slogans and accusations of others when discussing the church’s authentic love for all sinners, and his is a voice not of condemnation but of hope. The Bishop is right to point to the need to support gay Catholics and indeed all Catholics and people of good will, as they struggle to live lives of true and chaste love. Following Jesus leads to the cross for all of us and for those people with the gift of faith, it is the scandal of the cross that redeems us and leads us ironically to our fullest happiness.
No doubt Bishop Dunn has good intentions, but there are two disturbing issues here.
The one is his use of the word “gay” to mean homosexual. “Gay” in this context is not an objective, neutral term; it is supportive of homosexualism. Note the following:
Ally Packet
Developed by the Stonewall Center,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Becoming an Ally
How to Be an Ally to LGBT People
• Use the words “gay” and “lesbian” instead of “homosexual”. The overwhelming majority of
gay men and lesbians do not identify with or use the word “homosexual” to describe
themselves.
The Stonewall Center, UMass Amherst
Crampton House, SW; 256 Sunset Ave ..
http://www.umass.edu/stonewall
413-545-4824; [email protected]
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen2/14b/GLSEN-Conference-040513/middle-school-GSAs/Ally-Packet.pdf
It disturbs me immensely that a Catholic bishop would publicly identify as an ally of homosexualism, or, alternatively, be so unaware as to not realise that is what he is doing.
Also, it greatly disturbs me that Bishop Dunn has performed significant linguistic gymnastics to avoid calling sodomy a sin, but instead referring to it and other extra-marital sexual intimacy as falling short of the ideal. One is unlikely to experience great remorse and contrition for failing to reach an ideal.
This is just not good enough from Bishop Dunn.