Archbishop Sean O’Malley reached out to homosexuals in a pastoral letter sent to all the parishes of Boston last week.
In the letter he acknowledged that «there are many homosexuals out there who want to be faithful members of the Church.»
»I don’t want them to feel the Church is bigoted or that we want to discriminate against anyone,» wrote the archbishop.
»Many homosexual persons in our Church lead holy lives and make an outstanding contribution to the life of the Church by their service, generosity and the sharing of their spiritual gifts. We must strive to eradicate prejudices against people with a homosexual orientation,» he added.
The archbishop defended Church teachings on sexuality: »If we tell people that sex outside of marriage is not a sin, we are deceiving people. … If they believe this untruth, a life of virtue becomes all but impossible.»
The prelate’s document is posted at www.rcab.org.
