To the editor:
As a neophyte Catholic — I joined the Church this past Easter — and as someone who struggles with the issue of same-sex attraction, I read with great interest the letter to the editor from Casey and Mary Ellen Lopata regarding the Courier’s article of July 14/15, “Catholics decry same-sex bill.”
I must take issue with the Lopatas’ claim that many in the pews do not decry this bill because of polling data. I for one and many of my fellow pew-sitters do indeed decry this bill for the very reason that I chose to be a Catholic Christian, namely that the deposit of Truth resides in the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church. Catholic teaching on homosexuality is quite clear — one need only to refer to the Catechism.
Are we to believe that from now on the Holy See should refrain from issuing edicts until it has conducted a poll? Are the Holy Father’s ex cathedra pronouncements infallible in matters of morality — except when contradicted by Gallup? Shall millennia of sacred tradition, sacred Scripture and the natural moral law be subjected to mere political consensus?
Surely those who call themselves Catholic must adhere to the teachings of the church to which they profess to belong!
Jonathan Edwards
Hazelhurst Drive
Rochester
