Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark John Hine, who chairs the Bishops’ Conference Marriage and Family Life Committee, explained the situation to CNA:
“These leaflets were published and made available over a year ago, and are being used effectively in parishes. They are clearly not teaching documents but aids for pastoral reflection. While focusing on the aspect of welcome, great care was taken to ensure that nothing in these leaflets in any way compromises our Catholic teaching.”
CNA also contacted Dr. Phillip Mango, a licensed psychotherapist in New York and a founding member of the New York-based St. Michael's Institute of the Psychological Sciences.
Though he did not address the pamphlet specifically, Dr. Mango offered general comments on how the Church and society should approach homosexuality.
He emphasized the need for a scientific approach to the phenomenon.
“There is actually no solid evidence that people are born homosexual. There is no scientific evidence anywhere,” he told CNA on Wednesday.
He cited the opinion of Dr. Robert Spitzer, MD, the Columbia University researcher who originally removed homosexuality from the DSM-IV manual used in diagnosing psychological problems.
Spitzer has since changed his view and now considers homosexuality a treatable condition.
“After seeing 200 ex-gays, he was astounded,” Dr. Mango said, mentioning that “voluminous research” supports this position but is not widely reported.
He also criticized the use of the concept “homophobia,” which many blame for the problems homosexuals suffer.
Mango explained that research in the major journal “Psychiatry,” a publication which Mango characterized as “the most open and welcome to homosexuals,” examined homosexuals in “the most quote ‘non-judgmental’ place, the Netherlands.”
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“They found a higher incidence of psychopathology among homosexuals, anxiety, depression, all sorts of things,” Dr. Mango reported. “The idea that it is homophobia for homosexuals causing this, it’s really false. Even the secular psychologists know this.”
Dr. Mango suggested further resources for accurate approaches to homosexuality.
He praised the Catholic Medical Association document “Homosexuality and Hope” as “a very in-depth, authentically Catholic explanation of the causes of homosexuality, how homosexuals should be treated, and how they are being cared for.”
He recommended the work of Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, head of the National Alliance for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. He further mentioned Exodus International as another resource.
Dr. Mango also emphasized that the testimonies of former homosexuals who are now “happily heterosexual” should be taken into account, since they are rarely presented in the media. On this topic, he recommended the website www.PeopleCanChange.com
He compared the treatment of homosexuals to the treatment of women who have undergone an abortion but cannot find professionals who can respond to this element of their past.