Bonny declines gay group’s award

ANTWERP BISHOP Johan Bonny has turned down a prize awarded by a Belgian gay group for his saying that the Catholic Church should be more welcoming to homosexuals, cohabitating couples and those who resort to in-vitro fertilisation (See The Tablet, 13 September 2014).

The group, Çavaria, nominated him for its annual Campaign Award because Bonny wrote an open letter before October’s synod of bishops calling for these reforms. Bonny said at the time he could not accept an award for exercising his mission as a pastor and asked not to be considered.

Çavaria went ahead and chose him as the winner anyway. Gay believers could draw strength from his stand, it said.

Bonny’s office issued a statement last weekend saying he could not accept the award because he wanted to stay independent of all interest groups.