Sir, - The vainglorious letter from Father Placid Nolan of Tralee (August 2nd), condemning Senator David Norris and supporting the disciplining of an American priest and nun for their non-judgmental and compassionate ministry to the homosexual community, proved Senator Norris's point that the more pharisaic elements in our Catholic Church will quite simply never learn.
Father Nolan would seek to write off Senator Norris's arguments because he was the one who "was instrumental in getting homosexuality decriminalised in Ireland". Senator Norris did indeed play a vital role in insisting that Ireland, as a modern European democracy, treat its homosexual citizens with equality, dignity and respect. But Senator Norris is not a one-issue justice campaigner. He may have a vested interest in the homosexual question. But he has been a tireless campaigner on behalf of East Timor, Dublin's architectural heritage, the environment and peace in Northern Ireland, just to mention a few.
It is now a goodly number of years since the world psychiatric community removed homosexuality from its list of medical and psychological "disorders". But I see that homosexuality is still on the Vatican's and Father Placid's lists of "moral disorders".
One of the very best studies on homosexuality, from the moral perspective that is, was conducted by Father John McNeill SJ, and published by Darton, Longman and Todd as The Church and the Homosexual. Father McNeill looked at the issue from the perspective of scripture, moral theology and church teaching. He concluded, quite rightly, that the issue of two truly homosexual people living in a long-standing relationship typified by love and commitment was not addressed by the culturally limited biblical human authors of 2,000 to 5,000 years ago. Father McNeill concedes that such things as the sodomising of defeated military enemies, male prostitution as part of pagan worship and heterosexuals engaging in homosexual fun are indeed condemned by the Old Testament and by St Paul. But just as the human biblical authors could not be expected to address such matters as space travel, nuclear power and genetic engineering, neither could they be expected to comment in an enlightened way on the question of two genetically determined homosexual people living a life of intense love and commitment. God has given us the gifts of modern medical, psychological and biological insight. These insights were not available to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul and Peter.
In the Gospel of St John (the John who lay on Jesus's breast at the Last Supper and who dared to describe himself as: "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (?), we are told that wherever there is love there is God. Every human being, irrespective of their sexual orientation, is an infinitely treasured child of God and an invaluable intimate brother or sister of Jesus Christ. All love, including homosexual love, is a reflection of God's love. Many homosexual partnerships are more wholesome and spiritually good and therefore more truly "sacramental" than some heterosexual marriages.
Is it not time that we Christians shook off our primitive and medieval hang-ups about the body and sex and declared that its better to make love than to make war? Is it not about time that we redefined our notions of chastity and purity - and learned the lessons of the Bishop Eamon Casey, the Bishop Roderick Wright, the Father Brendan Smyth and the Father Michael Cleary cases? Is it not about time that Father Placid C. Nolan of Tralee and his fellow "time-warp" travellers understood the wisdom of that old vodka ad: "So pure - it's wicked"? - Yours, etc.,
Most Rev Patrick Buckley, Presiding Bishop, The Oratory Society, Larne, Co Antrim.