Sir, - Letters on the recent Gay Pride demonstrations in Rome, to which Pope John Paul took exception (July 15th and 18th), convey a distorted account of the Pope's words spoken before a recitation of the Angelus on Sunday, July 9th.
The main focus of the Pope's attention was the visit he had made that morning to the Regina Coeli Prison in Rome and he took the opportunity to renew the appeal he had made in his message for the Jubilee in Prisons for inmates everywhere to be offered "a gesture of clemency".
In the final part of his address the Pope said he felt "obliged to mention the well-known demonstrations held in Rome in the past few days." Making clear that he was speaking in the name of the Church of Rome, he referred to what he termed an "affront to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 and the offence to the Christian values of a city that is so dear to the hearts of Catholics throughout the world."
In saying this, the Pope, according to the official English translation (L'Osservatore Romano, July 12th) expressed his "deep sadness". In some news reports the word attributed to the Pope was "bitterness".
The Pope went on to say that the Church "cannot be silent about the truth", and added that he wished "merely to read["] from what the Catechism of the Catholic Church said on homosexuality.
Before proceeding to quote article 2358 of the Catechism, the Pope referred to the preceding article which he quoted as "noting that homosexual acts are contrary to the natural law".
In Article 2358, it is acknowledged that the number of those who have "deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible". The article states that such people must be accepted with "respect, compassion and sensitivity" and that "every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided". Unfortunately, these words, quoted by the Pope, seem not to have been picked up in the media generally. - Yours, etc.,
Des Cryan, Assistant Director, Catholic Press and Information Office, Dublin.