031774 Handbook for confessors on homosexuality issed

Washington: The idea that homosexuality is normal and is not q problem in otself, was soundly rejected as erroneous in a new booklet published here by the National Conference of Catholic bishops(NCCB)

Approved by the U.S. Bishop's committee on pastoral research and practices "for distribution to priest-confessor who deal with the moral and pastoral problems of homosexuals," the 15-page handbook is entitled, "Principles to Guide Confessors in Questions of Homosexuality."

It clearly reaffirms the traditional teachings of the Church that:

-"Genital sexual expression between a man and a woman should take place only in marriage."

- Sexual intercourse has two basic meanings, of which neither can be excluded: "It is an act of union with the beloved, and it is procreative."

- Since homosexual acts can be neither procreative nor expressions of mutual love between a husband and wife, they 66 are a grave. transgression of the goals of human sexuality and of human personality, and are consequently contrary to the Will of God."

Within that context, the handbook says, "The subjective morality of homosexual acts must be considered under two aspects, the origin of the tendency, and the manner in which the person controls it."

According to the booklet, there are varying degrees of homosexual compulsion in different individuals. "It can be said safely that man or woman does not will to become homosexual," it says. "At a certain point in life the person discovers that he is homosexual and usually suffers a certain amount of trauma.... In every case he disco'vers an already existing condition."

The booklet discusses in detail the variety of approaches a priest-confessor should take to help persons confessing homosexual acts, depending on whether it is a single act, an occasional act, or a regular activity; whether the person is strongly compulsive, well able to control his homosexual tendencies, or somewhere in between; whether the person is young or old, married or single, male or female.

A number of approaches to counseling are suggested, with an emphasis on helping the person to find deep relationships of love and friendship that do not involve overt homosexual activity.

According to Father John Harvey, who has written numerous articles on homosexuality in Catholic journals and was a major contributor in the drafting of the booklet, the major difficulty today for priests dealing with homosexuality is that "many priests are overwhelmed by the problem and afraid to go into it."

The booklet, he said, is designed to help priests understand more about homosexuality so that they will be able to deal with it pastorally.

Father Harvey said that there is also a problem, especially among some younger priests, of "poor theology" of uncertainty over whether homosexuality is wrong:

He cited the growth of "Dignity," an organization in the United States of Catholic homosexuals who feel that homosexuality and heterosexuality (the relationship between members of opposite sexes) are simply different aspects of the same thing.

"Some Catholic homosexuals," the booklet says, "argue that as long as the person is trying to serve God and neighbor, the fact of his sexual deviation is of no major consequence. . . . To these relatively new arguments the confessor should respond with firmness, showing how erroneous is the idea that each person has the right to variety in sexual expression contingent upon his sexual orientation."