Writing in the Times of Malta March 18, Father David Muscat said Father Schembri’s views certainly were not an authentic development of doctrine, recalled how the Church has always viewed the grave sin of sodomy, and prayed for the conversion of priests like Father Schembri.Ī priest in Malta, who requested anonymity, told the Register March 14 he had been “overwhelmed” by members of the Maltese faithful hoping that Father Schembri’s comments were not true, and wondering if the archbishop would issue a clarification. He gave a “terribly false impression of the truth,” he wrote. He told the Register March 17 that the priest’s comments, which he said were “tantamount” to justifying homosexual activity if the relationships are “loyal and genuine,” were “bitterly received” by large sections of Malta’s Catholic population, “both young and old alike.” Farrugia also said the “LGBTIQ lobby” were reportedly triumphant “as soon as the interview was broadcast.”Īnother layman, Benjamin Camilleri, said the priest only quoted half of the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. Medical doctor and Maltese politician Herman Farrugia wrote an open letter on Facebook accusing Father Schembri of committing “five doctrinal errors.” Sources told the Register that the archdiocese has been “inundated” with complaints. The archbishop spoke publicly against reparative therapy in 20.įather Schembri’s comments caused considerable anger and frustration among Maltese faithful and clergy who contacted the Register to express their concern. In the TV interview, he also rejected reparative, or conversion, therapy, and said Archbishop Scicluna had also spoken against it. “Where love is, there is God,” said Father Schembri, who is known for his ministry to same-sex attracted Catholics, adding that homosexual love is simply a “variant” created by God.

He also said a sincere “relationship of love” between homosexuals is as “good” as a relationship of “love between heterosexual couples.” VALETTA, Malta - A priest representing Pope Francis’ point man on sexual abuse in the Church, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, spoke approvingly of homosexuality as created by God and “part of his plan” to a talk show audience last week.Īppearing March 8 on the show, called Xarabank, Father Kevin Schembri, who teaches canon law at the University of Malta, also told the show’s host, Peppi Azzopardi, that God created people with “difference sexual orientations,” and that being homosexual “cannot be something bad, because he created it.”Īccording to an English translation of his interview transcript provided to the Register, Father Schembri, who is the archdiocesan defender of the bond, went on to say that if a person recognizes he is “a gay person as created by God, he does not need to change,” and he would actually be “harming himself” if he did not accept himself “as a gay person.”

Was dan schutte a priest