San Diego bishop: combat ‘anti-gay prejudice’ in Catholic community
June 16, 2016
In a statement issued after the Orlando shooting, Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego called upon Catholics to “combat ever more vigorously the anti-gay prejudice which exists in our Catholic community and in our country.”
“The shootings in Orlando are a wound to our entire society, and this time the LGBT community has been specifically targeted and victimized,” he said. “We pray for the many victims in Orlando who were targeted for death simply because of their sexual orientation, and we grieve with their loving families and friends.”
“We pray for the Muslim community in our nation, who have acted in unanimity to deplore this act of violence and to reject hatred rooted in a distortion of Muslim faith,” the prelate added.
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Further information:
- Bishop McElroy's Statement on the Orlando Shooting (Diocese of San Diego)
- US bishops mourn Orlando shooting victims (CWN, 6/13)
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Posted by: Lucius49 -
Jun. 17, 2016 2:05 PM ET USA
This statement does not correspond with reality. It is not prejudice to teach Catholic doctrine on sexuality and marriage as the Bishop suggests. The shooting had nothing to do with Catholic teaching.Catholic doctrine does not teach homosexuals should be shot so what is the anti-gay prejudice that the Bishop refers to? Catholics are not bound to live according LGBTQ ideology which is contrary to Catholic teaching. The Bishop seems more concerned with political correctness than Catholic doctrine.
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Posted by: Bveritas2322 -
Jun. 17, 2016 1:17 PM ET USA
How about combating anti-Catholic bigotry among Catholics.
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Posted by: unum -
Jun. 17, 2016 10:20 AM ET USA
Uh, Bishop, The shooter was a Muslim! What evidence of the anti-gay prejudice which exists in our Catholic community does the bishop have? I have seen none in my parish.
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Posted by: dover beachcomber -
Jun. 17, 2016 3:02 AM ET USA
Arguably, the Orlando shooter wasn't following a distortion of Islam, but its core beliefs from its earliest days. And if the "Muslim community" is so sincerely against such violence, why does it fail again and again to detect and thwart the perpetrators, who invariably have spent much time in local mosques. Where's the bishop who'll say, "Islam is a false religion, and Orlando exemplifies the behavior of many who follow it"?
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Posted by: R. Spanier (Catholic Canadian) -
Jun. 17, 2016 12:20 AM ET USA
"Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Lot, execute the one who does it and the one to whom it is done." Muhammad (Abu Dawud, 4462) "The punishment for homosexuality is death... The companions of the Prophet were unanimous on killing.... Some of the companions of the Prophet stated that [a homosexual] is to be burned with fire. It has also been said that he should be stoned, or thrown from a high place." (2008 Update Saudi Arabia’s Curriculum of Intolerance)
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Posted by: David K -
Jun. 16, 2016 11:26 PM ET USA
I think it would help if the Bishop could explain the exact nature of this "anti-gay prejudice". For a lot of people, it includes the Church's teaching on the nature of marriage. Just what, exactly, are we to apologise for?
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Posted by: james-w-anderson8230 -
Jun. 16, 2016 10:06 PM ET USA
I don't think there is anti gay sentiment as much as a sentiment against being bullied by the gay community against anyone who does not agree with their gravely disordered life style.
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Posted by: jrorr19609092 -
Jun. 16, 2016 7:08 PM ET USA
I think this bishop and all the bishops should not be focusing on what Catholics should do because of this travesty, they should be focusing on the reason it happened. Two reasons, 1) the Muslim religion, 2) the Obama Adm. and Democrats tying the hands of the FBI and CIA by not focusing on Muslim suspects. Orlando and San Bernardino as well as Fort Hood would never have happened had Obama not made the FBI, CIA remove all terminology concerning Islam as the potential for terrorist acts.
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Posted by: garedawg -
Jun. 16, 2016 9:40 AM ET USA
While I cannot quarrel with the sentiments above, I have a hard time thinking of the same-sex-attracted as a "community".
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Posted by: feedback -
Jun. 16, 2016 8:21 AM ET USA
Dear Bishop McElroy, our Christian faith does not offer instant Heavenly reward for harming or killing anyone, including the worst of sinners. On the other hand, tragedy like this must not be used to silence the voice of the Church, or even promote, a conduct that is so obviously contrary to Christian morality.
