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Former President McAleese slams Catholic church's attitude to homosexuality

Remarkable radio interview highlights concerns she held as president

PATRICK COUNIHAN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, September 29, 2012, 7:41 AM

Updated Saturday, September 29, 2012, 8:11 AM

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Mary McAleese

Former Irish President Mary McAleese has slammed the Catholic church’s views on homosexuality.

Now studying canon law in Rome, McAleese has also expressed her fears over the growing number of male suicides in Ireland.

Speaking to Irish state broadcaster RTE, McAleese said the Catholic Church and its ‘isolated’ views on homosexuality has left youngster struggling to cope.

Referring to the growth of gay men committing suicide, McAleese said: “They are the victims, one, of homophobic bullying; they are also frankly highly conflicted.”

Now studying in Rome, McAleese added that the church’s attitude to homosexuality has left the vast majority of Irish children who attended Catholic schools deeply confused.

She told broadcaster Pat Kenny: “They will have heard words like disorder, they may have heard the word evil used in relation to homosexual practice.

“When they make the discovery, and it is a discovery and not a decision, when they make the discovery they are gay when they are 14, 15 and 16, an internal conflict of absolutely appalling proportions opens up.

“They may very well have heard their mothers, their fathers, their uncles, aunts, friends use dreadful language in relation to homosexuality and now they are driven into a space that is dark and bleak.”

President of Ireland for 14 years, McAleese revealed she met Papal Nuncio Charles Brown, who represents Pope Benedict XVI in Ireland, shortly after Easter to discuss the issue with him.

She added: “Meaningful progress will not be made until the omerta or code of silence is lifted.

“The child abuse scandals have left a massive hallowing out of trust in the church’s leadership.”

Critical of the Irish bishops for the manner in which they dealt with the issue, McAleese said: “The internal damage done to community, to trust, could in many ways have been avoided had there been much better lines of communication up through the system.”

Nster.com

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53 Comments

15 - 53 | See all comments

uppinko | Oct 08, 2012, 08:25 PM EDT

This woman is one of the most dangerous people around at the moment. She is not a Catholic and certainly no theologian. Her pride and arrogance know no boundaries and unfortunately she is encouraged by ones no better than herself.

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jetsnoone | Oct 08, 2012, 02:02 PM EDT

Mary McAleese is encouraging the youth of Ireland to turn away from the Church in droves.... this may or may not be her intentiion.

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GregShox | Oct 03, 2012, 06:23 PM EDT

Paddyo -- It's probably the Protestants out to get you.

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olovely | Oct 02, 2012, 02:29 PM EDT

Anyone called Paddyo who pats himself on the back for being the only possessor of 'the truth' is already a human caricature.

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paddyo | Oct 01, 2012, 05:51 PM EDT

Posted last evening and they are all gone again. Why? my posts were one sided. Who is running this board Cahir

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JudyStinger | Oct 01, 2012, 04:31 PM EDT

One can appreciate Ms. McAleese wanting to study in Rome. And too, no one should be bullied for any reason whatsoever. However, it seems to me that Ms. McAleese is trying to speak for everyone in what she feels they should believe now that she has started to study God's word. Clearly God's word can be interpreted individually and that's something between each of us and our Lord. Ms. McAleese premature statements only give another example of book sense not making common sense. I, for one, cherish my personal walk with the Lord and live by the Word of God. There is a definite difference between walking the walk and talking the talk. We will all face our God some day and will have to answer for the way in which we live our lives - be it His way or the World's way. I prefer His way and always will.

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GregShox | Oct 01, 2012, 10:11 AM EDT

Alois, thanks for the clarification, but the question was to Paddyo. I was wondering if he thinks everything in the Bible should be obeyed, including the ban on shellfish, or if it's ok to pick and choose. A la carte, so to speak.

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paddyo | Sep 30, 2012, 09:42 PM EDT

I had to rejoin to log in due to being told that my password or e-mail was incorrect. These were both saved,and this shouldn't have happened. I notice that all my posts and replies are gone also. Truth hurts and must be shut down.

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jacersagain | Sep 30, 2012, 08:44 PM EDT

Sheesh! I've hugely editted my posting in response to paddyo's knockers. . Oh yes, geddit right, God does exist, despite efforts by those who have never once offered a single proof that He doesn’t exist whereas we who are privileged to believe can offer thousands of proofs. Ms. McAleese knows well of the proofs too, which is why she is a fervent respectful Roman Catholic, like paddyo and me.

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jacersagain | Sep 30, 2012, 08:32 PM EDT

Irish Central doesn’t believe that Angels exist and so has prevented my earlier posts appearing on its site. >>> There has been much discussion in recent decades since Vatican II about the evil smoke of satan permeating the Vatican. ln the context that paddyo so truthfully portrays (Sep 29, 09.34 EDT) I think the smoke of satan might be, just might be, invading Ms. McAleese’s mind of humanistic-thinking during her present student canonical studies in Rome. I would wonder and ask why she didn’t choose Greek Orthodox or Egyptian Coptic or Messianic Jewish centres of learning to further her canonical catholic studies. There is natural right and there is natural wrong, which Ms. McAleese knows well about, as do I and people like paddyo, not just because she’s a respected lawyer and former President of Ireland but also because she is a Catholic of Nth Ireland. I think it is wrong for Ms. McAleese to use her past esteemed position as a now merely canonical student to influence a change in thinking of the world-wide Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality. IMHO, the RCC’s ages-old assessment of homosexuality has got it beautifully right. You can check that position out for yourselves on the Vatican’s website. I think it is beautifully all-encompassing for all LGBT people.

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EphraimKibbey | Sep 30, 2012, 08:13 PM EDT

Seanmor, they are not committing suicide because they are homosexual; they are committing suicide because they are castout by their friends and loved ones. Imagine if you had red hair or were left handed and because of that twist of fate over which you had no control nor any ability to change, your friends called you horrible things and your family turned its back on you just because some institution told everyone that it was not normal. How long do you think you would last in that torment? I chose those two examples because they, like homosexuality were once thought abnormal and shunned. Latin - Sinister - on/of the left - still bears the connotation of evil. The Vikings often had red hair as evidenced in many Irish/Scandinavian lineages today. God has given us minds and the ability to learn so He/She must have expected us to do something with them. We need not be imprisoned in the prejudices of our ancestors but can become enlightened. While I do not suggest that you would treat gays like that, there are many that do. He told us to love others as ourselves and treat them as such so if we can marry whom we wish, why would we deny that to our gay neighbors? Who are we to make different rules for them?

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EphraimKibbey | Sep 30, 2012, 07:48 PM EDT

Rebelforce, I remember that divorce WAS the RCC cause-celeb not that many decades ago. While they seem to have given up their public attacks on it, it is still not fully accepted even if one partner is killing the other. (unless the couple can't have children then its OK)

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aloistmartin | Sep 30, 2012, 06:43 PM EDT

GregShox@ Leviticus is only half the story. The Taboo against Pork has a lot to do with Gluttony and Golden Calves. The Taboo against Shellfish may have some thing to do with Trading with Gentiles. And even our own Canon takes on a different meaning if one is a Rich Man or a Politician ... haec-dona, heac-muner, haec-sancta sacrificia illibata in primis, quae tibi offerimus pro Ecclesia tua sacta catholica:

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Happyhippo | Sep 30, 2012, 09:22 AM EDT

A timely reminder to all who profess Christian values,Christ while on this earth never mixed with the ruling class or people who at the time were considered holy men by the people,his focus always was the outcasts prisoners lepers of society,maybe we should take note and not be so quick to pass judgement on others while professing christian beliefs.

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eiriamach | Sep 30, 2012, 08:45 AM EDT

Bible-quoting hypocrites, this is for you~~ the most important and fundamental "moral rule" God wants you to understand from the bible is that it is NOT a set of inherited moral judgments for YOU to apply to anyone except yourself alone in the context of your own life. As in Hebrews 13:4: "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." The meaning is clear: leave the judgment of sexual morality to God. It is not yours to make, it is not yours to legislate, and it is surely not yours to use to oppress other people. It is ludicrous to assume that the Creator would pass along a holy book for any human being to use to castigate and oppress others. Stop abusing the bible! Take responsibility for your own bias and stop attributing it to God.

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