His Excellency should ask Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP what he meant exactly when he said (in a homily on February 6, 2011):
"Gay people are often not seen in Christ's light! Gay people may be seen as threats, as predators, as temptations, or whatever. You have to shed Christ's life so that people see that gay people love, have friendships, have gifts such like everyone else. Cardinal Basil Hume, clarifying Catholic teaching on homosexuality, wrote, 'Love between two persons, whether of the same sex or of a different sex, is to be treasured and respected...When two persons love they experience in a limited manner in this world what will be their unending delight when one with God in the next. To love another is in fact to reach out to God who shares his lovableness with the one we love.'...(Find Fr. Radcliffe's homily here).
It was Sister Lucia (of the Fatima apparitions) who said, "the Virgin knew that these times of diabolical disorientation were to come" and who wrote, "Let people say the Rosary every day. Our Lady stated that repeatedly in all her apparitions, as if to fortify us against these times of diabolical disorientation, so that we would not allow ourselves to be deceived by false doctrines...Unfortunately, the great majority of people are ignorant in religious matters and allow themselves to be led in any direction. Hence, the great responsibility of one who has the task of leading them....A diabolical disorientation is invading the world, deceiving souls! It must be resisted." When questioned on the content of the Third Secret of Fatima, Sister Lucia replied, "It's in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse, read them." She also confided to Father Fuentes that the Mother of God made her understand that "we are in the last times of the world."
Some, like Father Robert Bruso of Saint Anthony's Parish in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, scoff at the notion that we are living in apocalyptic times. But Fr. Radcliffe's homily is an example of the very diabolical disorientation Sister Lucia spoke of.
Dutch psychologist Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg, Ph.D., a specialist on homosexuality, says that the claim that homosexuality is normal is one of those statements that are "so foolish that only intellectuals could believe them." It is like saying that anorexia nervosa is healthy. Dr. Aardweg notes that, "The term neurotic describes such relationships well. It suggests the ego-centeredness of the relationship; the attention-seeking instead of loving...Neurotic, in short, suggests all kinds of dramas and childish conflicts as well as the basic disinterestedness in the partner, notwithstanding the shallow pretensions of 'love.' Nowhere is there more self-deception in the homosexual than in his representation of himself as a lover. One partner is important to the other only insofar as he satisfies that other's needs. Real, unselfish love for a desired partner would, in fact, end up destroying homosexual 'love'!" (Dr. Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg, The Battle for Normality, Ignatius Press, 1997, pp. 62-63).
If Fr. Radcliffe wasn't using his homily to condone homosexual relationships which are sexual, as opposed to promoting simple friendship, why did he not mention that Cardinal Basil Hume, "While condemning homosexual acts..accepted the validity of love between gay people." (Wikipedia, see here). Why did he not mention that the Cardinal condemned homosexual acts as does the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved."
Is Fr. Radcliffe suggesting that homosexual acts fall into the category of "love between two persons, whether of the same sex or of a different sex, is to be treasured and respected" when he cites Cardinal Hume without mentioning the Cardinal's opposition toward homosexual acts?
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