Cardinal Maradiaga: Homosexuals are not ‘born this way’
Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodrigues Maradiaga of Honduras said “no man is born homosexual” during a two-hour discussion with school children last week in Münster, Germany. In the discussion, the Cardinal brushed over many hot topics raised by students. Yet when asked about the Church’s dealings with people with homosexual tendencies, Cardinal Maradiaga told the children that homosexuality is not a lifelong condition starting from birth. He asserted that “everybody is born a man or a woman, to love the other – that is God’s plan,” the diocesan media website reported. He added that natural sexual orientation is only altered by negative influences in childhood or adolescence such as abuse, neglect, or pornography. “Sexuality is a gift of God,” Cardinal Maradiaga said. It is “not a hobby, but an expression of love. … Nobody should be the slave of his sexual passions, but should learn how to manage them with responsibility and with self-esteem. … Therefore, we need formation, not just...