By
Maike Hickson
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| Bishop Vitus Huonder |
A homosexual activist group called Pink Cross, the umbrella
organization of Swiss male homosexuals, has announced that it will file a
lawsuit against Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur, Switzerland. The organization
claims that Huonder had publicly called for crimes against homosexuals by
quoting the Book of Leviticus at a recent conference in Fulda, Germany.
Bishop Huonder had given this talk on July 31 at a
conservative Catholic conference organized by a lay organization, Forum
Deutscher Katholiken, that is opposed to the proposals to change and liberalize
the Catholic Church's moral teaching on marriage and the family. The
conference, “Rejoicing in the Faith” (Freude
am Glauben), published a communiqué in which it asks Francis 1 and the Synod Fathers to “find answers taken
from the sources of knowledge of the Holy Scripture and the Church's Tradition
which fill today's life reality of the faithful with new Christian spirit.”
The conference communiqué also states:
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| The Holy Bible |
“We reject the discrimination of people because of their
sexual orientation. However, we stress that the notion “marriage” has to be
preserved for the Living and Loving Community of one man with one woman. Family
is and remains for us the community of father, mother, and child(ren).”
Bishop Huonder, in his own contribution to the conference on
July 31, had presented essential parts of Holy Scripture – Old and New
Testaments – in order to show God's plan for marriage and the family. With
regard to homosexuality, he quoted two parts from the Book of Leviticus,
saying: “These two parts would be sufficient to give us the right direction
with regard to homosexuality, in the light of our Faith.” Both quotes show how
the practice of homosexual acts is condemned in Holy Scripture, and with the
claim that such persons commit a grave crime and deserve to be put to death.
Huonder continues, saying that even to claim that there are a variety of models
of marriage and family is already “an attack against the Creator, but also against
the Redeemer and against the Sanctifier, that is to say, against the entire
Holy Trinity.”
Huonder stresses, “The Faith is a help for all people, also
for those with homophilic inclinations, and can lead to a reorientation of
these inclinations, to a control of the sexual passions and to an integration
of these passions into a virtuous life according God's Command.”
After his speech had caused public uproar throughout the
liberal-progressive public, Bishop Huonder had made his own public statement on August 3 in which he apologized
for this “misunderstanding,” saying that he in no way intended “to degrade
homosexuals.” He himself vowed that he is fully in accordance with the teaching
of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”—a
false Catechism of John Paul II which unfortunately promotes the vice of
homosexuality in a very subtle manner! (Here, unfortunately, we see how
modernist teachings are corrupting a few good men that still remain within the
Novus Ordo church!).
After quoting the
passages of the “Catechism”, Huonder concluded:
“These words from the Catechism are the foundation for the
pastoral care for those who have homosexual feelings which I have stressed in
my talk in Fulda and are valid for all the shepherds of our Church, in the
unity of the Faith.”
The homosexual organization Pink Cross in its own statement declared that, with their filing of a lawsuit in the Canton of
Graubünden, it is “reacting to the homophobic statements of the bishop which
publicly call for the commission of crimes. This lawsuit is being supported by
the Lesbian Organization Switzerland.” Pink Cross claims that Bishop Huonder,
by just quoting passages of the Bible – “without any exegesis” – has himself
called for hatred and crimes against homosexuals. The statement also claims
that Bishop Huonder did not put the quotes “in any context with the teaching of
Christ,” but, rather “in a literal sense, and that is not acceptable for us. It
sows hatred.” It also stresses that the lawsuit is only aimed at Bishop Huonder
personally, saying: “Not all churches are homophobic, and most of the church's
representatives – as well as members – not at all. Our suit aims directly at
the bishop of Chur.” The statement claims that Bishop Huonder proposed to
“re-introduce the death penalty” for homosexual persons.
As of August 10, another private person – from the Swiss
Canton St. Gallen – has followed Pink Cross and filed another lawsuit against
Bishop Huonder for the same reasons, according to kath.ch. Should Bishop
Huonder be indeed judged culpable by the Canton of Graubünden for the alleged
claims, he would have to face a punishment of up to three years in prison or a
monetary penalty.
These developments are happening just after the president of
the Swiss Bishops' Conference, Bishop Markus Büchel, distanced himself from Bishop Huonder's statements,
saying that it does not matter what sexual orientation one has, as long as one
conducts himself in a “responsible manner.”
According to the German Catholic author and pro-life
activist, Mathias von Gersdorff, the progressive Catholic
world, as well as the progressive secular media in Switzerland are publicly
rejoicing about this humiliation and intimidation of Bishop Huonder and are
posting deprecating comments on Facebook pages and elsewhere, using stern words
such as “finally!” or “these homophobic clergymen,” or “It is time to pronounce
public criticism of this bishop.”
On the other hand, conservative Catholic media are making
statements in defence of Bishop Huonder. On the Austrian website kath.net, the
author Peter Winnemöller expresses his indignation about the fact that
the president of the Swiss Bishops' Conference has shown such a deep disloyalty
toward his fellow bishop:
“Nevertheless, as one of the lay faithful, one cannot and may
not approve when a bishop acts publicly in such a disloyal way toward his
fellow bishop. This is true even more so when a bishop comes into the focus of
circles that are enemies of the Church, and this because of a question
concerning the doctrine [of the Church]. In this case, it would be rather
reasonable to clarify the doctrinal questions in a dispute behind closed doors,
but to assist the fellow bishop in public.”
Mentioning the lawsuit, Winnemöller thinks that it will fail,
but says, “Even though this [lawsuit] should most probably not have a prospect
of success, this fact [of the lawsuit], even alone in itself, should still call
for the solidarity with the bishop.”
Source: LifeSiteNews.
For a true Catholic position on the
vice of homosexuality—and not the erroneous teachings contained in John Paul II’s
“Catechism”, see the following piece:
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