It's an important distinction that all too often gets overlooked, usually in favor of accepting sinful behavior as legitimate and "diverse." Sometimes, though, those of us on the other side of the issue are guilty of failing to make that distinction as well.
Hate the sin; love the sinner. It's not always easy to do, but it's our duty.
Hate the sin; love the sinner.....Yeah.
But don't make hime a priest, for Christ's sake!
Seems that if the Church were true to its own teachings, it would remove that priest/Cardinal from his position and minister to his needs. Leaving him in a leadership role surely sends the wrong message to the faithful.
Everyone is tempted by some vice, but what is important is how we deal with the temptations. God will not allow us to have any temptation greater than we can handle with his help. The homosexual problem in the Church really comes down to a lack of faith, prayer and spiritually by the Priests and lack of proper supervision by their superiors. Heterosexual or Homosexual, no one should be allowed to serve as a Priest, Bishop, Arch-bishop or Cardinal if they are not first faithful to their vows to God and the Church.
Fr. Neuhaus of First Things notes that a common attitude today seems to be "Love the sin, love the sinner, and hate whoever calls it a sin and him a sinner."