Cardinal Timothy Dolan urges church to be ‘not anti-anybody’

A leading American Cardinal has used an Easter chat with ABC Television to suggest the Catholic Church needs to make more of an effort to unite with the LGBT comminity. Cardinal Timothy Dolan suggested that God’s love should be shared with all, rather than be selective.

“We gotta do better to see that our defense of marriage is not reduced to an attack on gay people,” Dolan told ABC, he adds, “And I admit, we haven’t been too good about that. We try our darndest to make sure we’re not anti-anybody.”

“The first thing I’d say to [LGBT people] is, ‘I love you, too, and God loves you, and we want your happiness,’” he said.

Dolan continued to suggest that the Catholic Church should take a conciliatory approach to LGBT Catholics who have become alienated by the church’s continued homophobic outbursts, notably by the former Pope, and widespread opposition to homosexuality by the organisation.

“We got to listen to people,” Dolan said on ABC’s This Week series, noting, “Jesus died on the cross for them as much as he did for me.”

He noted however that the Catholic stance on same sex marriage will not change, noting that such a union is only intended for a man and woman where children can be brought into the world naturally.

“Isn’t it nice the Catholic church has someone with a bit of sense. Of course they’re still very much do as we say not as we do. I mean how many priests have been round the back with their pants down shagging a choirboy, they give the LGBT community a bad name!” says Queenie, our agony aunt.

Below, a clip from The Golden Girls, discussing same-sex marriage.