Tweets sink head of US bishops' news agency

By Matt C. Abbott

A series of recent pro-LGBT tweets have led to the ouster of Tony Spence, the now former director and editor-and-chief of Catholic News Service, the official news agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

From LifeSiteNews.com:

Over the past few weeks, Spence had tweeted criticism of a new North Carolina law that requires individuals to use bathrooms that correspond with their biological sex. The Catholic bishops in North Carolina had previously encouraged the state legislature to overturn a city ordinance that allowed men to access women's bathrooms.

Spence told the National Catholic Reporter: "The far right blogsphere and their troops started coming after me again, and it was too much for the USCCB."

Ah, yes, blame us right-wing Catholics for drawing attention to your own tweets. Got it.

In an April 11 blog post, Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute wrote:

Clearly, the head of the Catholic News Service has an agenda that is in direct conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Given that he so openly sided with the homosexual agenda, against faithful and practicing Catholics both in the pews and in the clergy, some previous statements of his now take on a decidedly pro-homosexual tenor as well.

I agree. Pro-homosexual activism has no place in the church. Sadly, such activism has been far too common among the laity, clergy and religious over the last few decades.

The key difference in the last several years is that deviants and dissidents can no longer hide behind the establishment gatekeepers in order to advance their agenda. They have to contend with Catholics who desire to investigate and quickly expose, by way of the Internet, moral corruption within the church bureaucracy and media.

Of course, in this case, Spence's public tweets didn't require investigation. They were out there for everyone to see. If not for the tweets, he'd still have a job at the USCCB, which would have kept things business as usual.

But don't worry: I'm sure Spence will find employment with one of the many pro-LGBT – and perhaps anti-Catholic – publications and corporations currently opposing religious freedom legislation while demonizing pro-family advocates.

Regarding homosexuality, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches (paragraphs 2357–2359):

Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

© Matt C. Abbott