Pope Benedict Angers Homosexuals

Pope Benedict XVI has caused outrage within the gay community with remarks suggesting that homosexuality is as big a threat to the welfare of mankind as global warming. On Monday, in an address to the Curia, Pope Benedict said that the ‘threat’ of homosexuality was as serious as the threat to the destruction of humanity as the threat of destroying the rainforest. According to Pope Benedict; “Rain forests deserve, yes, our protection but the human being... does not deserve it less,” and that homosexual relationships lead to a “destruction of God’s work”.

Several Christian commentators have agreed with him, saying that homosexuality is a danger to reproduction and could lead to mankind becoming extinct. They argue that homosexuality leads to the blurring of gender lines, which is detrimental to reproduction.

The statement has angered many gay groups, such as the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, and more liberal Christian Churches. The Reverend Giles Fraser, president of the liberal Inclusive Church, said “the Pope is spreading fear that gay people somehow threaten the planet…that is absurd.” The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement also criticised the statement, with chairman Mike Egan commenting in the Guardian newspaper that “it’s all part of a fundamental mistake, to say that there's something abnormal about homosexuality. It's like being left-handed. There are much greater threats to marriage and family life.”

The Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality in itself is not a sin, but that homosexual acts are. Pope Benedict also provoked controversy this year by making statements which some regarded as anti-Islamic.