Bishops adopt statement on pastoral care of homosexuals

Published: 2006-11-14

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 14 approved a statement on the pastoral care of homosexually inclined persons. The statement reiterates church teaching that all homosexual acts are morally wrong but affirms the dignity of those with homosexual inclinations and says that experiencing such an inclination is not in itself sinful. In Baltimore at their yearly fall meeting, the bishops approved the statement 194-37, with one abstention, after turning back a motion to send it back to the USCCB Committee on Doctrine, which drafted the document, for more consultation and revision. The draft document the bishops received before the meeting was amended heavily before it came to a final vote.

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