Have Your Say 

Recent Comments

1. One of our sons and his partner are on this show.
   Many priests and lay people need to be reminded of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1994; page 566, para 2357,8 & 9. Part of 2358 reads 'They must be accepted with respect,compassion and sensitivity.'
   Perhaps through your resources you could remind the community at large of the difficult life that homosexuals have and how they need our support.

   Posted By: Fred Leslie

2. “Let's just do something ridiculous” Adam Hills said. The report added, “As TV stunts go, it was elaborate.”
   Do ridiculous, elaborate TV stunts win the support of respectful, compassionate and sensitive people?

   Posted By: Denis Goodwin

3. Yes, Fred, homosexuals deserve to be treated with respect, compassion, etc, as do all of us - we are all people and we are all sinners.
   But that does not mean that the Catholic Church should condone 'gay marriages'.
   There is an old saying, 'Love the sinner, hate the sin', and it isn't that being homosexual is a sin, but rather, what is done with that.
   How anyone can condone homosexual marriage is beyond me. The Sacrament of marriage is designed for one man and one woman - that's it.
   If homosexual couples want to live together, that's up to them, if they want to have a 'married-like' relationship, then that is up to them as well, but for heaven's sake, don't try and get everyone else to believe and accept that homosexuals being allowed to marry is OK, and supposedly alright with God.
   The Catholic Church has a very strong stance on this, and rightly so.

   Posted By: Karyn

4. It's a sensitive issue, and Fred Leslie makes a good point.
   But his comment is also a good reminder that as long as we accept debating terms which conflate gay marriage and tolerance, we will lose the debate.
   Supporting gay marriage is a world apart from supporting people with same sex attraction.

   Posted By: John Corrigan

5. Thank you, Fred, for the love and compassion that you and your wife express here for your son and his partner and also for your knowledge of Church teaching.
   It is a rare example in these columns of the intervention of the pastoral principle to mediate what is all too often seen as a black and white/right and wrong judgment about homosexuality.
   In fact, the Catholic position is far removed from that of the fundamentalist Churches and some other non-Christian religious groups, some of whose teachings on homosexuality border on the primitive and homophobic.
   I am often reminded that this subtlety and qualifying approach, emphasising free- will and the role of conscience is akin to Church teaching on euthanasia, which takes the view that 'thou shalt not kill; but need'st not strive officiously to keep alive.'
   My prayers and good wishes go out to the happy couple that they may grow in Christian faith and love for each other, and also for you and your wife in the commendable support that you show them.

   Posted By: Dr Michael Furtado

6. What could the Show Directors, including Adam, be thinking.
   A so-called wedding conducted by a comedian for entertainment? A travesty of the loving lifelong commitment of one person to another for their mutual welfare and wellbeing.
   Shame on them for the abuse given to their audience, their victims and to society as they try to ridicule them.
   Adam save your show by finding an interesting format instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel
   of muck.

   Posted By: Michelle

7. I used to be a big fan of Adam Hills.
   That's definitely all over now that he has make such a mockery of marriage and exploited the disordered proclivities of these unfortunates for the sake of TV ratings.

   Posted By: Peter G

8. Fred: Just because a lot of people are doing it doesn't make it right.
   Hate the sin, (the sin is sodomy) but love the sinner.
   I'm disappointed that ABC is airing such offensive material and won't be watching.
   

   Posted By: Susanne Carter

9. Susanne: Please explain how the 'sin of sodomy' relates to a lesbian.

   Posted By: paul H

10. Offensive? Peter G and Susanne, your comments are offensive.

    Posted By: Marjorie

11. There are so many unanswered questions for the Church.
    First, imagine that the Church decided that all young heterosexual Catholics practice celibacy for the next 60 years. The pews would empty.
    So, why impose such a harsh position on gay/lesbian Cathoilics?
    Second, the CCC talks about the existence of happily life-long celibate gay Catholics outside of clerical/religious life.
    How come the Church hasn't even found one to canonise to date? So far they appear to be mythical characters rather than actual persons.
    Third, on the topic of Natural Law. So, if God only made Adam and Even, then made Adam and Steve?
    For the above reasons and many more, I wouldn't wish forced celibacy on anyone.

    Posted By: RT

12. Who said that Adam Hills is a comedian? I find him particularly unfunny and agree with Susanne.

    Posted By: Bob Cashman

13. Fred: Congratulations to your son and his partner on a loving, committed relationship.
    So few relationships, of any ilk, stand the test of time these days. Your family is blessed.
    What too many people miss in this debate is that the advocates of same-sex marriage are only advocating civil marriage.
    No church or other faith community will in any way be forced to take part. It has about as much to do with Christianity as any other civil ceremony.
    No civil law can force Holy Mother Church to perform same-sex marriages.

    Posted By: Mark Dolahenty

14. Having checked out (on iview) the so-called 'wedding' segment on Adam Hills Gordon St program, I can but castigate the ABC for lowering its standard to tackiness in the extreme. Let alone mocking precious human relationship.
    It certainly will require major rehabilitation on the part of the ABC as to whether their standard of 'humour' presentation is worth any acceptance.
    Shame, shame and again more shame to them.
    This has nothing whatsoever to do with acknowledging and valuing love expressed by homosexual people.
    My sympathiy for you, Fred, and your family.

    Posted By: Michelle

15. Gay marriage is such a difficult issue.
    I think it's unfair to group it into the same category as something completely corrupt, immoral and disgusting as pedophilia and other sexual depravities and abnormalities. But nevertheless, the truth should not be separated from compassion. And the truth is that marriage is a matter of the Christian religion - between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all other parties.
    We lost with divorce, it allowed the slippery slope which has led to the de-sanctification of marriage.

    Posted By: Chris M.T.Evans

16. Michael Furtado: Nothing anywhere in Church teaching, says that homosexuality is ever 'right' or denies that it’s always 'wrong'.
    Mark Dolahenty, your comment is offensive.
    Christians, and non-Christian men of goodwill who deplore the purported, and impossible, re-definition of civil marriage to include its exact opposite, have every right to participate in public debate.
    Some of this silent majority refuse to be gagged. Contrary to your claim, we all understand that this does not (yet) concern the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony (though the minority trying to force this on us have signalled that in the most unlikely event that they succeed, church marriages are next on their agenda) but concerns marriage as a basic institution intrinsic to human nature which cannot be arbitrarily re-defined.
    Everybody in the Church wants to encourage loving, committed relationships between people. But encouraging another person to do wrong is not loving him but hating him.
    Chris MTE: Marriage is not a matter of the Christian religion.
    It has existed throughout human history in all nations, cultures and religions. Although battered in some times and places by distortions such as forced marriages and polygamy (either concurrent, as in the Old Testament, or sequential, as with modern Western divorce laws), the ideal of marriage as the voluntary, exclusive and life-long union of the two sexes oriented to procreation of children has always remained.
    Unlike the other distortions, the so called 'same sex-marriage' proposal doesn't even pretend to respect the ideal.

    Posted By: Peter G

17. “What is truth?” Asks our modern generation but does not wait for an answer. Hedonistic ideas pervade society limiting perceptions to the level of mere self-aggrandisement.
    The Catholic Church, as the champion of truth, takes a stand when so called “realities of the day” force themselves against that truth.
    When upholding the sanctity of marriage ministers do not judge people; they are contesting ideals that are at odds with the Christian view of goodness.
    To cry Wolf would be childish.
    

    Posted By: Roy

• » Advertise in CathNews

Email to Friend Please fill out the following details (fields marked with a * are mandatory):
Send To Email Address*:
Send To Name *:
Sent By Email Address*:
Sent By Name *:
Text to include in email:
Captcha validation:	please enter the code above:

^ Page Top

Comment on this article

More from this section

1. Catholic Mission helps 370,000 children

   Catholic Mission helped more than 370,000 children, 9000 catechists and nearly 3000 seminarians in 2011, according to its annual report for the past year.

2. Church sends letters to Catholics to stand against gay marriage

   Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart and five other bishops will send out 80,000 letters this weekend asking parishioners to take a stand against proposed new laws and influence politicians' vote on gay marriage, reports the Herald Sun.

3. Melbourne priests support inquiry

   Senior Melbourne Catholic clergy, including the archbishop's adviser on sexual abuse issues, are backing a call for an independent inquiry into the handling of abuse complaints, reports The Age.

4. Catholics urged to ask MPs to defend life

   Catholics are being urged to “encourage our state parliamentary representatives to be defenders of life and lobby them to collect information on why women continue to seek abortion in such high numbers”, reports The Catholic Weekly.

5. School approval cancellation sparks concern

   The cancellation of building approval for a Catholic school in Throsby, outside Canberra, has sparked fears the entire suburb could soon be wiped off the map, reports The Canberra Times.