Anti-gay clergy group targets priest (UK)

[struggle4progress]

By Paul Hutcheon

A militant Catholic group .... has demanded that Edinburgh-based Father Ed Hone reveal his sexual orientation ..

Hone, a Redemptorist at St Patrick’s in Edinburgh, said: “I’m not concerned personally. But .... Everyone’s talking about the rise of fundamentalism in the Muslim community at the moment. But we should address the fundamentalists in our own midst. Are we witnessing the rise of a Catholic Taliban?” ...

Alistair McBay, a spokesman for the National Secular Society in Scotland, condemned McKeever and her tactics. “Clearly religious extremism is not the sole province of Islamic fundamentalists. Catholic Truth is effectively terrorising priests, and the phrase Catholic Taliban used by Hone is very apt.”

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said of the anti-gay campaign: “It’s important for all of us to remember the words of St Paul, that we must live in faith, hope and charity. Without charity, everything else is a waste of time.”

22 October 2006
http://www.sundayherald.com/58676

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. This is wacko

Official Catholic doctrine is that simply having a homosexual orientation is not a sin; acting upon it is. Catholic priests are not supposed to have sex with anyone, so either Father Hone is gay and living a celibate life, which is okay, according to the rules, or he is not celibate and therefore breaking his vows, no matter who he's having sex with.

(I'm just stating the rules, not saying that I agree with them.)

[dom20]

2. Clarification

[bryant69]

3. They are threatening him

They are trying to raise his profile. It would be like me asking you point blank "Are you a Freeper troll?" The accusation is built right into the question. But of course I would never do that.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Dorian Gray]

4. Exactly.

As no priests should be involved in relationships, anyhow, his orientation makes absolutely no difference. This group is out of bounds and needs to be disciplined by the Vatican.

[davidinalameda]

5. these groups are doing the dirty work for the Vatican