The Bishop of Portsmouth has expressed concern at the Catholic Education Service’s controversial document on homophobic bullying, saying it has clearly been influenced by gay rights groups.
In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Bishop Philip Egan said the document, titled “Made in God’s Image”, includes “quite a bit of ‘cut and paste’” from materials produced by Stonewall and LGBT Youth Scotland.
“Strangely, neither of these sources — available on the internet — are acknowledged,” he said.
Stonewall has denied any specific involvement in the production of the document, although it has welcomed the CES using its material as a “positive and welcome step”.
Bishop Egan previously condemned “totalitarian” secularism in his Easter sermon, citing Stonewall as an example of an organisation that has “egged on” secularists in promoting their agenda in “the social services, in the BMA, in the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, in the European Court of Justice and other institutions too.”
He accused secularist groups of being “hell-bent on burying the Christian patrimony of this land” and proposing “Orwellian changes to our language and plac[ing] ever more draconian restrictions on religious expression, even on what we wear.”
In terms of defending Catholic schools against “ideological colonisation”, Bishop Egan told LifeSiteNews that schools should “promote attractively and clearly an authentically Catholic anthropology with its profound understanding of the human person, his/her infinite value and the sacred respect due to others”.
“Personhood is grounded in the equality and difference of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity and every human being made in God’s image,” he said. “This is echoed in a person’s love of God and love of neighbour, and experienced notably in the joy of friendship.
“That image is most perfectly expressed in the complementarity and difference of the sexes and the ordering of men and women to a permanent relationship in marriage, loving and life-giving.”
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.