Let down by Baum

I was greatly disappointed by Gregory Baum's conclusion in his article, "Should homosexuals remain in the Catholic Church?"

Although of our prominent Canadian theologians, he sounds as if he is hamstrung by the powers-that-be to provide a politically correct Catholic response that is neither fish nor fowl.

I would have thought that Catholic advisors would have learned that "discreet dissenting" as a modus operandi has led to more than a few problems in the recent past: cover-ups and secrecy.

Perhaps a fourth and a fifth option are available. As a fourth option, the Catholic Church should invest in research to enable it to determine the sexual orientation of a child at birth and then simply exclude them from baptism. Better to be excluded sooner than later. That policy could also be expanded to exclude other minorities should the church deem it necessary.

As a fifth option, the celibate males in authority could be convinced by the majority to re-evaluate their understanding of human sexuality in light of the information provided by the sciences of the 20th century.

"Change" in the church could then become an option that Gregory Baum could not realistically put forward.

Openness to change in the official church's policy on the use of artificial birth control, condom use and homosexuality might then catch up with the majority of North American Catholics who already consciously choose to ignore the church's, medieval positions on so many issues.

Paul Campeau

Winnipeg

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