Anti-gay Cardinal who claimed homophobia is ‘perfectly just’ could be demoted
A notoriously homophobic Catholic cardinal who claims that being gay is “intrinsically evil” could be removed from his senior position in the Church.
Cardinal Raymond Burke – who heads the influential Apostolic Signatura within the church – could be facing demotion to a ceremonial post, according to right-wing news organisation Brietbart.
Burke, who claimed anti-gay discrimination is “perfectly just and good”, said previously: “Sexual acts between persons of the same sex are intrinsically evil, are against nature itself.
“[Homophobia is] simply announcing the truth, helping people to discriminate right from wrong in terms of their own activities.”
It is not the first demotion for the Cardinal, who was dismissed from a Vatican Committee in favour of Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington last year.
According to the website, the Pope plans to appoint Burke as the head of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta – a role with little real influence within the Catholic church.
Last week the Pope upset conservative members of the Church by performing 20 marriages for couples who live outside the Catholic doctrine – but unsurprisingly, none of them were gay.
It is thought to be the first papal wedding performed since 2000, and comes ahead of next month’s much-hyped ‘extraordinary’ assembly of Bishops, where the church is expected to reaffirm its strong opposition to homosexuality.
The meeting of bishops will look at the results of a global survey on attitudes to family and relationships – but despite spin from the church, there have been no tangible public proposals to actually take a softer approach to any of the issues.
