Boston Priest Cheered at "Gay" Pride Service

A Catholic priest preached yesterday at the main worship service associated with Boston's gay pride week...

The Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, a longtime advocate of outreach to gays and lesbians in the Catholic Church, did not criticize or dispute Catholic teaching during his remarks, and he quoted several times from a 1997 document issued by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which declared that "the teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended."

It is correct that the Church teaches that those who suffer from this disordered inclination are to respected because of their human dignity. However, one cannot respect or defend a homosexual lifestyle - sexual deviance is not a human right. Any attempts to blur the clear distinctions are a scandal.

In 2000, Pope John Paul II called a gay pride parade in Rome an "offense to the Christian values," and last year, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, issued a document declaring that men who "support the so-called `gay culture' " should not be admitted to Catholic seminaries.

It more than an offense to Christian values - it's an offense to all that is human...