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Former Irish President Mary McAleese has warned that the Catholic Church\u2019s teaching on homosexuality is “evil.”<\/p>\nFormer Irish President Mary McAleese has warned that the Catholic Church\u2019s teaching on homosexuality is “evil.”<\/p>\n
Mrs McAleese will be taking part in tomorrow\u2019s Dublin Pride Parade.<\/p>\n
The two-term President was speaking at an event in Navan, County Meath this afternoon.<\/p>\n
In a wide-ranging talk, she also said arguments against women in the priesthood are “untenable\u201d \u2013 and labelled Pope Francis a disappointment when it comes to women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n
She remains a practicing Catholic, but she views the church\u2019s teaching on homosexuality as another dark chapter in the church\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Catholic church\u2019s teaching on homosexuality is in my view evil,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt conduces to homophobia; homophobia is evil; it ruins people\u2019s lives, it has ruined families lives, it has caused people to commit suicide, it has caused people to live in dark shadows, so unsure of themselves.”<\/p>\n
The Irish Government last week apologized to gay men who had been criminalized for homosexual acts \u2013 as recently as 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
Highlighting the experiences of her son Justin McAleese, a married gay man, she said the church has a lot to answer for.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used to rush out in the morning; he was the first out to mass, loved being an altar boy, loved the church; loved the magic and the mystique of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then to discover when he was in his teens that that same church has a view on him which is inimical to the way god made him and to retreat into the shadows of self doubt, of misery, of being really frightened.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is un-Christian; that is worse than uncharitable in my view; that has to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only person who can actually stop that, strangely enough, is the Pope.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the issue of women in the priesthood, the former president said the church is \u201cso far behind the curve that it is embarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she has great difficulty with the idea that the prohibition is a \u201cmatter of infallible doctrine\u201d \u2013 noting that it was never declared as such by the Pope, but rather was decided by consensus of the College of Bishops around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what our church taught and we have to be big enough and generous enough and also honest enough to say that we got a lot of things wrong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat our church got a lot of things wrong and in saying that then we must struggle to get them right.\u201d<\/p>\n