For Immediate Release
December 10, 2003
ANOTHER CATHOLIC COVER-UP ?
Colorado Springs -- Dr. Paul D. Cameron of the Family Research Institute (FRI) -- a Colorado think tank that specializes in studies on homosexuality -- charged Bishop Joseph Adamec of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, with repressing medical research that reflects badly on homosexuals.
"Health officials are always proclaiming the need for explicit and detailed information about homosexual activity," said Cameron, "but when scientific facts reveal its very real dangers, then gay rights supporters do whatever is necessary to repress it."
Cameron referred to a letter sent to Father John Nesbella, a priest in Northern Cambria, PA, ordering him to cease the dissemination of "Medical Consequences of What Homosexuals Do" (a pamphlet produced by Cameron's institute) "or any other similar material."
Nesbella had used the research in rallying support for a constitutional amendment forbidding same-sex marriage. The letter, written by Larry R. Sutton, Director of Finance and expressing the position of Bishop Adamec, warned Father Nesbella that distribution of the pamphlet might be illegal. Sutton specifically mentioned "various prohibited action that you are bordering upon, such as discrimination, pornography, or defamation."
"The pamphlet is nothing more or less than a summary of scientific studies, thoroughly documented," Cameron said. "Facts don't discriminate. The material -- which concentrates on diseases that proceed from homosexual behavior -- is anything but pornographic. And it is absurd to suggest that you can defame homosexuals as a class, particularly when you are quoting scientific authorities.
"If Mr. Sutton is a lawyer, he is a poor one. If he is not a lawyer, then he may be practicing law without a license. I plan to send his letter and the pamphlet to the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Meanwhile, you would think that Catholic bishops would stop trying to cover up the unpleasant consequences of homosexual behavior. It has cost them millions of dollars and the respect of a large segment of their own people."
Contact: Paul Cameron, Ph.D. Chairman, Family Research Institute 303 681 3113
The phamphlet in question can be viewed and downloaded at:
www.familyresearchinst.org
The letter to Father Nesbella follows:
_______________________________________
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown
Temporalities Secretariat
Office of Finance
126 Logan Boulevard
HollidaySburg, PA 16648
Telephone: (814) 695-5579
Fax: (814) 695-8894
Website; diocesealtjtn.org
November 24, 2003
Reverend John Nesbella
Prince of Peace Parish
811 Chestnut Avenue
Northern Cambria, PA 15714
Dear Father Nesbella:
Your efforts to garner support for a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriages has included the dissemination of graphic sexual material. This creates a very real legal risk to you and the Church. By campaigning on one legal issue, you may break other laws with the use of this material. At the very least, it invites legal action against you, the Parish, the Diocese, and the Bishop.
It is my duty, as Secretary for Temporalities, to provide legal advice to the Bishop. After consulting with attorneys on this particular concern, I am writing on behalf of Bishop to instruct you to cease certain activity.
Specifically, do not disseminate "Medical Consequences of What Homosexuals Do" or any other similar material. The sexual content is too strong, and the audience is too random. It is very conceivable that minors are being exposed to your material. That is unacceptable.
It also invites legal action against you, the Parish, the Diocese, and the Bishop for various prohibited action that you are bordering upon, such as discrimination, pornography, or defamation. These could be construed when the message is too negative, or too graphic. Even if that is not what is in your heart, it may be up to a court to decide.
When you "enlist" the volunteers at every parish, you extend the liability to others. Even though you are acting as an individual, it appears to be an official act of the Church as an entity. Your ordination makes you an inseparable part of the entire Church entity, so you can no longer act as an individual without representing the Church. Therefore, please discuss any future campaign or political activity with your Dean, or Monsignor George Flinn, before taking action.
With regard to your good intentions, I am,
Respectfully,
Larry R. Sutton, Director of Finance
Cc: Most Rev. Joseph V. Adamec, DD, STL
Rev. Msgr. Stanly B. Carson, VG
Rev. Msgr. George B. Flinn, VG, STL _____________________________________
AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA
http://www.afaofpa.org
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 9, 2003
CONTACT: Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355
Bishop Joseph Adamec 1.814.695.5579
Father John Nesbella 1.814.948.5130
PRO-FAMILY GROUP BAFFLED BY BISHOP'S ACTIONS
(Harrisburg) -- Today a statewide pro-family organization expressed bewilderment in the actions of Bishop Joseph Adamec of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. The recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court declaring that the state was acting unconstitutionally by not permitting same-sex marriage has intensified the efforts in support of passage of a Federal Marriage Amendment. The faith community has united to defend marriage as between one man and one woman. As Father John Nesbella, also of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, has led the way in his area by showing support for and educating his parishioners on the need for a Federal Marriage Amendment, he has come under fire from the Bishop himself.
"This situation is totally bewildering. In July we applauded the Vatican's statement strongly opposing same-sex marriage and we hope that all in the Catholic Church would agree on the wisdom of the Pope's document," said Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA).
In a faxed statement to Bishop Adamec, AFA of PA expressed concern about the Bishop's apparent lack of support for the efforts of Father Nesbella. The statement also requested that the Bishop remove the 'cease and desist' order.
The controversy began with the distribution of literature supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment. The informational packet included "Medical Consequences of What Homosexuals Do." http://www.familyresearchinst.org/FRI_EduPamphlet3.html
Distribution of this written description of homosexual activity resulted in the 'cease and desist' letter from Bishop Adamec to Father Nesbella.
"Homosexual activists are following the plan laid out in the 1989 book After the Ball which directed them to divert Americans' attention away from homosexual sex acts. The idea is to gain the nation's approval by pulling the victim card and claiming theirs is a civil rights issue. This is in the hopes that we will not concentrate on the unnatural sex acts that are part of their lifestyle," Gramley asserted.
Continuing, Gramley said, "To be compassionate is to be honest about the dangers of any lifestyle. Father Nesbella is showing compassion by working to preserve marriage as between one man and one woman. He knows that legalization of same-sex marriage is not for the common good of our society."
Specifically the July document states, "The present Considerations do not contain new doctrinal elements; they seek rather to reiterate the essential points on this question and provide arguments drawn from reason which could be used by Bishops in preparing more specific interventions, appropriate to the different situations throughout the world, aimed at protecting and promoting the dignity of marriage, the foundation of the family, and the stability of society, of which this institution is a constitutive element."
"The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society. Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behaviour, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to he common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself."
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html
# # #
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Letter from AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA to Bishop Adamec: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown
126 Logan Blvd.
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
December 8, 2003
Dear Bishop Adamec:
As a statewide pro-family organization we fight for traditional values on a daily basis. In recent months, with the pending Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage looming over the nation's collective heads, our greatest concern has been in preserving the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. The July 2003 statement from the Vatican opposing same-sex marriage was a bold step on the part of the Pope to make the uncompromising position of the Catholic Church known. My immediate response was and still is "Bravo!"
As I attended a meeting in Washington, D.C. on November 11 and 12 to organize in support of a Federal Marriage Amendment, little did I know that the efforts were already beginning in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown! My "hat goes off to" the Reverend John Nesbella. To truly show compassion on the issue of homosexuality requires being honest about the dangers of the lifestyle. An uncompromising description is found in the "Medical Consequences of What Homosexuals Do." This honest appraisal of their lifestyle is neither of a discriminatory or defamatory nature. Homosexual activists, following the plan laid out in the 1989 book After the Ball, attempt to divert our attention away from the sex acts that define them as homosexuals. The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has a list of recommended books for children as young as 6th grade which tell, in graphic detail, the homosexual encounters of men with boys or young teens.
It is my understanding that what could be considered a 'cease and desist' order has come from your office. In light of the Pope's strong statement opposing same-sex marriage, I would hope, instead, that your office would join in all efforts to get a Federal Marriage Amendment passed. The public must know that acceptance of same-sex marriage (and I've always heard that silence is acceptance) is endorsement of the sex acts described in "Medical Consequences of What Homosexuals Do." I would hope, sir, that you will reconsider your "cease and desist" order and instead commend the Reverend Nesbella for taking the initiative to 'put feet' to the Pope's July statement.
Awaiting your reply.
Sincerely,
Diane Gramley
President
Letter in which Adamec forbids clergy from opposing homosexual marriage without prior chancery permission: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown
Office of the Vicar General
126 Logan Boulevard
Hollidaysburg., PA 16648
Telephone (814) 695-5579
M E M 0
TO: Clergy of the Diocese
FROM: (Rev. Msgr.) George B. Flinn, V.G.
RE: Controversy surrounding "same-sex unions"
DATE: December 2, 2003
Upon his return from the Fall meeting of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC, Bishop Joseph shared with us a report on specific
actions taken by the Conference, which included a document entitled, "Between Man and
Woman: Questions and Answers about Marriage and Same Sex Unions." In this
document, the bishops respond to the current social discussion regarding so-called "same-
sex marriages."
On the state level, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference is carefully monitoring a
number of pieces of legislation which purport to protect the rights of homosexuals but in
point of fact put in jeopardy the church's right to proclaim the gospel message and
discriminate on the basis of"sexua1 orientation" or "gender identity expression."
At both the national and state level, when the support of our clergy and
laity is needed our representatives will inform you about what appropriate action is called
for. On the other hand, efforts to get our people involved in initiatives to defeat or
support legislation that has not even been proposed, tends to dilute and. weaken our
efforts, when the time comes to call upon the faithful to follow the lead of our bishops in
promoting Catholic values at the state and national level. .
Because of the sensitive nature of this issue and the need to present a
united front, pastors are cautioned to wait for information from the Chancery or check
with Chancery officials, before calling upon the faithful to support or oppose any
particular piece of legislation that deals with this issue.
Ping to Dr. Kopp's (Polycarp's) ping list
If they let this go on, the next thing you know Priests will be distributing literature on how Christmas is really about the birth of the savior of mankind...
"All things being equal, I don't see the risk" in gay sex as being greater than straight sex, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, an emergency room physician who is also the executive director of the American Public Health Association. Benjamin said gays and heterosexuals both partake in some behaviors that can cause health problems but knows of no studies that prove gays take more risks than others."
I know this guy has to have an agenda, because otherwise he couldn't say this with a straight face.
Just one small example - I can't remember the last time any of my girlfriends had sex in public bathrooms with total strangers, just for the fun of it.
ARG-G-G...I just went through the destructive episode when the Catholic's first cousin (EUSA) confirmed a gay bishop; and was considering conversion into the RC community. But, now, I see both churches abandoning long-held doctrine to embrace the gay and lesbian communities...what's up with these American Catholic and Episcopal bishops?
Sister Mary Parks, a spokeswoman for the diocese that covers west-central Pennsylvania, said the pamphlet "borders on the pornographic."
Shut up, sister, you're lying. If it really were pornography, you'd probably defend it.
What Homosexuals Do
The major surveys on homosexual behavior are summarized below. Two things stand out 1) homosexuals behave similarly world-over, and 2) as Harvard Medical Professor, Dr. William Haseltine,33 noted in 1993, the "changes in sexual behavior that have been reported to have occurred in some groups have proved, for the most part, to be transient. For example, bath houses and sex clubs in many cities have either reopened or were never closed."
Homosexual Activities (in %)
US16 US13 US US18 Denmark20 US19 London27 Sydney/London26 Canada25
1940s1977 83/84 1983 1984 1983 1985 1991
ever ever ever in yr in yr in mo in mo last 6mo
oral/penile 83 99 100/99 99 86 67
anal/penile 68 91 93/98 95 92 95 100
oral/anal 59 83 92/92 63 69 89 55/65
urine sex 10 23 29/
fisting/toys 22 41/47 34
fecal sex-eating 4 8
enemas 11 11
torture sex 22 37 37
public/orgy sex 61 76 88
sex with minors 37 23 24/
ORAL SEX Homosexuals fellate almost all of their sexual contacts (and ingest semen from about half of these). Semen contains many of the germs carried in the blood. Because of this, gays who practice oral sex verge on consuming raw human blood, with all its medical risks. Since the penis often has tiny lesions (and often will have been in unsanitary places such as a rectum), individuals so involved may become infected with hepatitis A or gonorrhea (and even HIV and hepatitis B). Since many contacts occur between strangers (70% of gays estimated that they had had sex only once with over half of their partners17,27), and gays average somewhere between 106 and 1105 different partners/year, the potential for infection is considerable.
RECTAL SEX Surveys indicate that about 90% of gays have engaged in rectal intercourse, and about two-thirds do it regularly. In a 6-month long study of daily sexual diaries,3 gays averaged 110 sex partners and 68 rectal encounters a year.
Rectal sex is dangerous. During rectal intercourse the rectum becomes a mixing bowl for 1) saliva and its germs and/or an artificial lubricant, 2) the recipient's own feces, 3) whatever germs, infections or substances the penis has on it, and 4) the seminal fluid of the inserter. Since sperm readily penetrate the rectal wall (which is only one cell thick) causing immunologic damage, and tearing or bruising of the anal wall is very common during anal/penile sex, these substances gain almost direct access to the blood stream. Unlike heterosexual intercourse (in which sperm cannot penetrate the multilayered vagina and no feces are present),7 rectal intercourse is probably the most sexually efficient way to spread hepatitis B, HIV syphilis and a host of other blood-borne diseases.
Tearing or ripping of the anal wall is especially likely with "fisting," where the hand and arm is inserted into the rectum. It is also common when "toys" are employed (homosexual lingo for objects which are inserted into the rectum--bottles, carrots, even gerbils8). The risk of contamination and/or having to wear a colostomy bag from such "sport" is very real. Fisting was apparently so rare in Kinsey's time that he didn't think to talk about it. By 1977, well over a third of gays admitted to doing it. The rectum was not designed to accommodate the fist, and those who do so can find themselves consigned to diapers for life.
FECAL SEX About 80% of gays (see Table) admit to licking and/or inserting their tongues into the anus of partners and thus ingesting medically significant amounts of feces. Those who eat or wallow in it are probably at even greater risk. In the diary study,5 70% of the gays had engaged in this activity--half regularly over 6 months. Result? --the "annual incidence of hepatitis A in...homosexual men was 22 percent, whereas no heterosexual men acquired hepatitis A." In 1992,26 it was noted that the proportion of London gays engaging in oral/anal sex had not declined since 1984.
While the body has defenses against fecal germs, exposure to the fecal discharge of dozens of strangers each year is extremely unhealthy. Ingestion of human waste is the major route of contracting hepatitis A and the enteric parasites collectively known as the Gay Bowel Syndrome. Consumption of feces has also been implicated in the transmission of typhoid fever,9 herpes, and cancer.27 About 10% of gays have eaten or played with [e.g., enemas, wallowing in feces]. The San Francisco Department of Public Health saw 75,000 patients per year, of whom 70 to 80 per cent are homosexual men....An average of 10 per cent of all patients and asymptomatic contacts reported...because of positive fecal samples or cultures for amoeba, giardia, and shigella infections were employed as food handlers in public establishments; almost 5 per cent of those with hepatitis A were similarly employed."10 In 1976, a rare airborne scarlet fever broke out among gays and just missed sweeping through San Francisco.10 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that 29% of the hepatitis A cases in Denver, 66% in New York, 50% in San Francisco, 56% in Toronto, 42% in Montreal and 26% in Melbourne in the first six months of 1991 were among gays.11 A 1982 study "suggested that some transmission from the homosexual group to the general population may have occurred."12
URINE SEX About 10% of Kinsey's gays reported having engaged in "golden showers" [drinking or being splashed with urine]. In the largest survey of gays ever conducted,13 23% admitted to urine-sex. In the largest random survey of gays,6 29% reported urine-sex. In a San Francisco study of 655 gays,14 only 24% claimed to have been monogamous in the past year. Of these monogamous gays, 5% drank urine, 7% practiced "fisting," 33% ingested feces via anal/oral contact, 53% swallowed semen, and 59% received semen in their rectum during the previous month.
OTHER GAY SEX PRACTICES
SADOMASOCHISM as the Table indicates, a large minority of gays engage in torture for sexual fun. Sex with minors 25% of white gays17 admitted to sex with boys 16 or younger as adults. In a 9-state study,30 33% of the 181 male, and 22% of the 18 female teachers caught molesting students did so homosexually (though less than 3% of men and 2% of women engage in homosexuality31). Depending on the study, the percent of gays reporting sex in public restrooms ranged from 14%16 to 41%13 to 66%,6 9%16, 60%13 and 67%5 reported sex in gay baths; 64%16 and 90%18 said that they used illegal drugs.
Fear of AIDS may have reduced the volume of gay sex partners, but the numbers are prodigious by any standard. Morin15 reported that 824 gays had lowered their sex-rate from 70 different partners/yr. in 1982 to 50/yr. by 1984. McKusick14 reported declines from 76/yr. to 47/yr. in 1985. In Spain32 the average was 42/yr. in 1989.
Medical Consequences of Homosexual Sex
Death and disease accompany promiscuous and unsanitary sexual activity. 70%25 to 78%x,13 of gays reported having had a sexually transmitted disease. The proportion with intestinal parasites (worms, flukes, amoeba) ranged from 25%18 to 39%19 to 59%.20 As of 1992, 83% of U.S. AIDS in whites had occurred in gays.21 The Seattle sexual diary study3? reported that gays had, on a yearly average:
- fellated 108 men and swallowed semen from 48;
- exchanged saliva with 96;
- experienced 68 penile penetrations of the anus; and
- ingested fecal material from 19.
No wonder 10% came down with hepatitis B and 7% contracted hepatitis A during the 6-month study.
Effects on the Lifespan
Smokers and drug addicts don't live as long as non-smokers or non-addicts, so we consider smoking and narcotics abuse harmful. The typical life-span of homosexuals suggests that their activities are more destructive than smoking nd as dangerous as drugs.
Obituaries numbering 6,516 from 16 U.S. homosexual journals over the past 12 years were compared to a large sample of obituaries from regular newspapers.23 The obituaries from the regular newspapers were similar to U.S. averages for longevity; the medium age of death of married men was 75, and 80% of them died old (age 65 or older). For unmarried or divorced men the median age of death was 57, and 32% of them died old. Married women averaged age 79 at death; 85% died old. Unmarried and divorced women averaged age 71, and 60% of them died old.
The median age of death for homosexuals, however, was virtually the same nationwide--and, overall, less than 2% survived to old age. If AIDS was the cause of death, the median age was 39. For the 829 gays who died of something other than AIDS, the median age of death was 42, and 9% died old. The 163 lesbians had a median age of death of 44, and 20% died old.
Two and eight-tenths percent (2.8%) of gays died violently. They were 116 times more apt to be murdered; 24 times more apt to commit suicide; and had a traffic-accident death-rate 18 times the rate of comparably-aged white males. Heart attacks, cancer and liver failure were exceptionally common. Twenty percent of lesbians died of murder, suicide, or accident--a rate 487 times higher than that of white females aged 25-44. The age distribution of samples of homosexuals in the scientific literature from 1989 to 1992 suggests a similarly shortened life-span.
The Gay Legacy
Homosexuals rode into the dawn of sexual freedom and returned with a plague that gives every indication of destroying most of them. Those who treat AIDS patients are at great risk, not only from HIV infection, which as of 1992 involved over 100 health care workers,21 but also from TB and new strains of other diseases.24 Those who are housed with AIDS patients are also at risk.24 Those who are housed with AIDS patients are also at risk.24 Dr. Max Essex, chair of the Harvard AIDS Institute, warned congress in 1992 that "AIDS has already led to other kinds of dangerous epidemics...If AIDS is not eliminated, other new lethal microbes will emerge, and neither safe sex nor drug free practices will prevent them."28 At least 8, and perhaps as many as 30 29 patients had been infected with HIV by health care workers as of 1992.
The Biological Swapmeet
The typical sexual practices of homosexuals are a medical horror story --imagine exchanging saliva, feces, semen and/or blood with dozens of different men each year. Imagine drinking urine, ingesting feces and experiencing rectal trauma on a regular basis. Often these encounters occur while the participants are drunk, high, and/or in an orgy setting. Further, many of them occur in extremely unsanitary places (bathrooms, dirty peep shows), or, because homosexuals travel so frequently, in other parts of the world.
Every year, a quarter or more of homosexuals visit another country.20 Fresh American germs get taken to Europe, Africa and Asia. And fresh pathogens from these continents come here. Foreign homosexuals regularly visit the U.S. and participate in this biological swapmeet.
The Pattern of Infection
Unfortunately the danger of these exchanges does not merely affect homosexuals. Travelers carried so many tropical diseases to New York City that it had to institute a tropical disease center, and gays carried HIV from New York City to the rest of the world.27 Most of the 6,349 Americans who got AIDS from contaminated blood as of 1992, received it from homosexuals and most of the women in California who got AIDS through heterosexual activity got it from men who engaged in homosexual behavior.23 The rare form of airborne scarlet fever that stalked San Francisco in 1976 also started among homosexuals.10
Genuine Compassion
Society is legitimately concerned with health risks-- they impact our taxes and everyone's chances of illness and injury. Because we care about them, smokers are discouraged from smoking by higher insurance premiums, taxes on cigarettes and bans against smoking in public. These social pressures cause many to quit. They likewise encourage non-smokers to stay non-smokers.
Homosexuals are sexually troubled people engaging in dangerous activities. Because we care about them and those tempted to join them, it is important that we neither encourage nor legitimize such a destructive lifestyle.