The Church and the gay community
The establishment of a good relationship between the Church and the gay community is a process which, from time to time, hits problems. But the path has to be walked together, in sincere dialogue, in a spirit of fraternal love and guided by prayerful discernment from both sides.
The reaction to the position paper written by a group of experts commissioned by the Church to guide her about the criminalization of conversion therapy showed how stormy this path can be.
This coming Sunday (28/02/16) I will comment on this reaction in my commentary in the Sunday Times of Malta.
In the meantime I received an email from someone who is very close both to the gay community and to the Church. Although I do not share all the views he expressed in his email I will publish it as a guest commentary as I think it is a valid contribution to the current debate. I think that it is essential for different parts of the same equation to respectfully listen to each other.
The views of my friend on the subject are the following:
1. The Church should not have pronounced itself on this subject. But if a decision to speak was taken than the Church should have clearly said that:
(a) Conversion therapy...