The Vatican has distanced itself from a
cardinal after he said that gays and transsexuals “will never enter
the kingdom of heaven.”
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan's remarks
first appeared on an Italian conservative Catholic website called
pontifex.roma
on Wednesday.
“Transsexuals and homosexuals will
never enter the kingdom of heaven and it is not me who says this, but
Saint Paul,” he said.
“People are not born homosexual, they
become homosexual, for different reasons: education issues or because
they did not develop their own identity during adolescence. It may
not be their fault, but acting against nature and the dignity of the
human body is an insult to God,” he responded when asked if people
are born gay.
Barragan is the former bishop of
Zacatecas, Mexico. Until recently, he served as President of the
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers at
the Vatican.
The Vatican distanced itself from
Barragan's comments, saying the website was not an authority on
Catholic thinking “on complex and delicate issues such as
homosexuality.” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said
people with “homosexual tendencies” have a “disorder” and
should not be subjected to discrimination.
The Italian gay rights group Arcigay
also responded to the remarks: “Yes, it's true, we won't ever get
into your heaven, which is a murky and unjust place.”