By Roger-Luc Chayer, translated by Robert Frank
While giving an interview broadcast in Italy, Saturday, Dec. 1, the Supreme Pontiff stated that he was “concerned” by the number of gay priests and religious workers. “It even appears that homosexuality has become a trend in our societies and this outlook influences Church life to a certain degree,” deemed the Argentine cleric, who explained that the issue troubles him.
Since his election to lead the Vatican and the Roman Catholic church, the Pope’s remarks on homosexuals have elicited a roller-coaster of emotions, stating one day that they must be respected and welcomed into the Church, while another day he says that he’s troubled and calls homosexual orientation a “lifestyle”. While he asks lots of questions, he hasn’t yet fully understood what’s happening in his own church as well as in today’s society.
How do you distinguish a sexual orientation from a lifestyle? According to the Quebec Human Rights Commission, sexual orientation refer to a person’s emotions, attitudes and sexual attraction to the opposite, same or multiple sexes. For example, someone can be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexuial. As such, one should never be the target of offensive and repeated comments or conduct based on one’s sexual orientation, real or imagined.
By continually targeting homosexuals and criticizing their differences, suggesting that they undergo psychiatric treatment as the Pope did a few months ago, or to deny their reality by suggesting that sexual orientation is a lifestyle, he shows clearly that he does not comprehend that sexual orientation is not a choice, nor is it because of someone’s wishes, rather a variation in humanity’s socio-cultural profile. It can’t be helped. By advocating otherwise, the Pope has violated Article 10 of Quebec’s rights and freedoms charter, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, though no one is heading to Rome to pass judgement on him!
According to Wikipedia, a lifestyle is a temporary, passing trend favour and adhere to certain ways of life. Lifestyles apply to all kinds of walks of life, particularly artistic. So according to the head of the Roman Catholic church, homosexuality is a fad, a fashion to follow for a little while?
That doesn’t make sense! For, according to Paris Museum of Natural History Prof. Dominique Grimaud-Hervé, humans have mated homosexually for at least 2.8 million years. So claiming that it’s trendy or temporary seems silly. Perhaps the Vatican leader was simply trying to say, albeit awkwardly, was that various sexual orientations are increasingly expressed in our societies because diversity is no protected and people are more free to come out publicly and express their true identity. One thing’s for sure: Gays have always been attracted by fashion—but that’s another topic…