Organisations that defend the Catholic Church's official teaching on homosexuality
A number of organisations affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church have been active in publicly supporting or campaigning in defence of the official Church teaching that condemns homosexual acts in all instances. These include the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organisation, have been active in political campaigns across the United States to resist the introduction of same-sex marriage; the Catholic Medical Association which claims that same-sex attraction can be medically treated; the Catholic League which has opposed the inclusion of LGBT groups in St Patrick's Day Marches across the US; and the Youth Ministry organization Life Teen which offers advice on how LGBT people can live in harmony with the Church's teaching by remaining celibate.
Knights of Columbus[edit]
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organisation, have also been active in political campaigns across the United States in the area of same-sex marriage.
As part of their public policy efforts, the Knights of Columbus "promotes the dignity and the irreplaceable value of the family founded on the Church's understanding of marriage as the faithful, exclusive, and lifelong union of one man and one woman joined in an intimate partnership of life and love."[1]
Since 2005, the Knights have given at least $14 million to legally define marriage as the union of one man and one woman in the United States. In 2008, they were the largest single donor in support of California's Proposition 8.[2] In 2012, the Knights and its local councils contributed $1 million to support similar ballot campaigns in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington. In Massachusetts it led the drive to collect the 170,000 petition signatures to amend the Massachusetts Constitution to include this definition.[3][unreliable source?][4]
In an unsuccessful 2005 attempt to stop the Canadian parliament from legalizing same-sex marriage with the Civil Marriage Act, the order funded a campaign that included 800,000 postcards encouraging members of parliament to reject the measure. As it was in the United States, this effort was criticized by some gay marriage supporters.[5]
Catholic Medical Association[edit]
The Catholic Medical Association of North America claims that science "counters the myth that same-sex attraction is genetically predetermined and unchangeable, and offers hope for prevention and treatment."[6]
Catholic League[edit]
The Catholic League, a Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization, has frequently opposed LGBT policies and positive depictions of gay men and women. Its president, Bill Donohue has described the Church child sex abuse crisis as a "homosexual" problem rather than a "pedophilia" problem since most of the incidents involved sex between men and boys rather than girls.[7] Donohue has repeatedly opposed the inclusion of LGBT groups in St Patrick's Day Marches across the US. After organizers of the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade announced in 2015 that they were ending the ban and allowing a gay group to march under its own banner for the first time, Donohue announced that the League would not march in the parade. He also indicated his belief that 'Corporate America' was lined up with the gay rights movement: "It's not a secret. And they've done the same thing here."[8]
In 2016 the Catholic League publicly supported the cancellation of the gay-themed sitcom, The Real O'Neals, which had been loosely based on the life of columnist Dan Savage and dealt with his conservative Catholic mother's reaction to his sexuality.[9]
Life Teen[edit]
The Youth Ministry organization Life Teen has a series of blog posts written on the topic of the love God has for LGBT people, explaining the Church's teaching, and offering advice on how LGBT people can live in harmony with the Church's teaching.[10] It also features a number of entries written by gay and transgender Catholics.[10][citation needed]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Catholic Citizenship And Public Policy" (PDF). Knights of Columbus. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedadvocate - ↑ Smith, Peter J. (6 July 2007). "Knights of Columbus Calls Pro-Gay 'Marriage' Knights 'Embarrassing'". LifeSite. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
- ↑ Kurwitz, Darrin (12 March 2013). "Knights of Columbus: Standing on the Wrong Side of History, for a Change". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedpostcard - ↑ Thomas Maier (22 April 2009). "Can Psychiatrists Really "Cure" Homosexuality?". Retrieved 23 July 2014.
- ↑ "Expert: Donohue's claim that most abusive priests are gay is "unwarranted"". 2 April 2010.
- ↑ "Catholic League Says It Will Not March In 2015 St. Patrick's Day Parade".
- ↑ "Gay sitcom The Real O'Neals got cancelled and homophobes are overjoyed".
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Life Teen blog". Retrieved June 23, 2018.
Others articles of the Topic Catholicism : First Council of Constantinople, Latin
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