Gay Catholics don't want church's 'cure'

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Gay and lesbian Roman Catholics who contact the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for spiritual guidance can find themselves directed toward programs aimed at helping them become celibate.

Called reparative therapy, the programs are provoking national -- and even international -- protests from critics who say they are ineffective at best and, in some cases, harmful.

Many see the programs as an example of the Vatican's swing toward conservatism, and an insulting blow to a decade of bridge-building between the church and the gay community.

"[Retired Archbishop] Harry Flynn came to us -- we didn't go to them, they came to us -- in the late 1990s and asked us to serve as resource people for the church," said Michael Bayly, executive coordinator of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM). "Then a new pope comes in. Now the archdiocese won't even take our phone calls."

Posted by Jim Naughton on November 22, 2009 4:25 PM | |
Comments (1)

I am Philip the one who gave the presentation to the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities who's name is in the piece the Star Tribune spoke of for this experience.

You can read my story about my experience with Courage at Beyond Ex-gay. I also invite people to my own blog at http://philipsmanythougths.blogspot.com/.

Posted by Philip Lowe [TypeKey Profile Page] | November 23, 2009 8:32 PM

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