Atrocious attack on the Holy Father by Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan calls his opinion piece "The Pope Is Not Gay", but his article implies that he believes he is.

At times, it seems to me, his gayness is almost wince-inducing. The prissy fastidiousness, the effeminate voice, the fixation on liturgy and ritual, and the over-the-top clothing accessories are one thing. But what resonates with me the most is a theology that seems crafted from solitary introspection into a perfect, abstract unity of belief. It is so perfect it reflects a life of withdrawal from the world of human relationship, rather than an interaction with it. Of course, this kind of work is not inherently homosexual; but I have known so many repressed gay men who can only live without severe pain in the world if they create a perfect abstraction of what it is, and what their role is in it. Toibin brilliantly explains this syndrome, why the church of old was so often such a siren call for gay men who could not handle their own nature. In Benedict, one sees a near-apotheosis of this type, what Quattrocchi describes as "simply the most repressed, imploded gay in the world."

Granted, Sullivan has been given ammunition to write this sort of drivel as a book has been published in which the writer goes to "prove" the pope is gay. Of course, Sullivan admits quite a lot of the proof does not actually prove anything. And yet ..

I would like to return to the world where this kind of speculation was disgraceful, unnecessary and blasphemous. But when this Pope has already enabled the rape of children, has covered up the crimes of many priests, when he has responded by blaming gay men for the moral failings of his own church, when he has publicly demanded that gay Catholics remain in the closet, i.e. lie about themselves as a sacred duty ... then such deference becomes much more difficult.

Enabled the rape of children? Wrong, Sullivan. The Holy Father has been the strongest force in recent times who has been actively involved in cleaning up the Church. And part of that clean up has been making it more difficult for those with sexual problems to become priests. Because most of the inappropriate sexual behaviour was not with children, but with older teenaged boys. And he doesn't want those with homosexual tendencies to lie - he wants them to get help. Help that is there in the sacraments of the Church.

Related link: The Pope Is Not Gay ~ Andrew Sullivan