6 Nov 2009

Gay tourists not welcome in Vatican City

It is a “provocation and an abuse”should gay and lesbian tourists visit the Vatican City, Bishop Janusz Kaleta of Holy tells a travel and tourism website.

The following is an excerpt from "Are gay tourists welcomed in the Vatican?" by Linda Hohnolz published in eTurboNews. For the full article, follow the link at the end of the page.

eTurboNews asked the Bishop if the Vatican’s stand was clearly against [gay and lesbian] tourism, and the Bishop answered: “The church teachings are from the Bible. If we change this teaching, we will not be the Catholic Church. Don’t expect the Catholic church to change these issues, because it is our identity.” When asked if the Vatican is open to dialogue about welcoming such homosexual groups of tourists in the future, Bishop Kaleta responded that “such demonstrations are just not ethical.”

Publisher Steinmetz clarified that what was meant by gay travel was traveling for the purpose of a visit, not as a demonstration. To this the Bishop replied, “I consider if someone is homosexual, it is a provocation and an abuse of this place. Try to go to a mosque if you are not Muslim. It is abuse of our buildings and our religion because the church interprets our religion that it is not ethical. We expect respect of our church as we expect to respect that a person does not have to belong to the Catholic Church. If you have different ideas, go to a different location.”