Homophobia is an insult to God and love must be shown to gay and lesbian people, the Archbishop of Dublin has said.
Speaking in the Church of St Therese in Mount Merrion after the diocesan Mass for the Sick last Sunday, the Archbishop Diarmuid Martin also appealed for temperate language ahead of a referendum on same-sex marriage in Ireland next year.
“God never created anybody that he doesn’t love,” he said, adding that “anybody who doesn’t show love towards gay and lesbian people is insulting God. They are not just homophobic if they do that – they are actually Godophobic because God loves every one of those people.”
On the same day he told RTÉ that some in the Church may be homophobic and Church teaching could be used in a “homophobic way.”
Referring to next year’s referendum, the Archbishop said: “We have to learn a new way in Ireland to live with our differences and for all of us to live with respect for one another.”
However, the archbishop stressed that the Church has “a very clear position that marriage is something between a man and a woman” and “not just a social construct, but part of God’s plan.”
He warned those in favour of gay marriage against presuming a person is homophobic just because they aren’t in favour of gay marriage.
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