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In response to World Pride 2000, held concurrently with Millennium Jubilee, Pope John Paul responded with angry and venom in response to critics and criticisms of the Catholic Church and its policies towards gays and lesbians throughout the years.
His brutal comments included a condemnation of homosexual "acts" (which I think we may all safely assume means sexual and not portions of any current or past Broadway hits) as being "against natural law."
| "1943: The Vatican says nothing about the deportation of Gays and Jews; 2000: The Vatican speaks out against Gay Pride" - on a placard carried at the march |
The march itself was lead by a Priest, and many priests from across Europe had joined in the march.
Marchers held signs which called into question the Church's current and historical policies towards gays and lesbians including this one which should serve to a reminder to all the possible results of unbridled ignorance and prejudice, "1943: The Vatican says nothing about the deportation of Gays and Jews; 2000: The Vatican speaks out against Gay Pride," one of the placards read.
The Pope's anger was primarily in response to this and similar signs and placards, although it is believed that he was encouraged by local rightest politicians to take a harsh stand whose comments about the march included describing it as "a depressing spectacle."
There are those who believe these politicians are hoping to use this event to wrest political power back from the current center-left government as members of the current government had participated in the parade.
Apparently the Pope believes that gays and lesbians should not be allowed out in public as he found their mere presence an affront, "In the name of the Church of Rome, I must express sadness for the affront to the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 and the offence to Christian values of a city that is so dear to the heart of Catholics of the whole world," he said.
The Pope didn't stop at taking offense he had to designate gays and lesbians as evil by saying that the Church "could not keep quiet about the truth" and had a duty to "distinguish between good and evil."
Quoting from an entry on homosexuality in the Church's Catechism, which calls it "objectively disordered" but also says that homosexuals should be treated with compassion and respect and should not be subjected to "unjust discrimination" the Pope apparently failed to realize that his previous remarks were both encouraging and supportive of "unjust discrimination."
The responses from marchers and World Pride 2000 organizers were swift and on the mark.
Franco Grillini, honorary chairman of gay rights group Arcigay responded, "The real offence is the homophobia and the anti-gay prejudice which is fuelled by the Vatican hierarchy." He followed that with "The Pope is mistaken when he says homosexuality is unnatural." Asking, "Who decides what is natural and what is not?" and "'Objectively disordered' -- what does that mean?"