Cardinal Hollerich Is Not Following the Science
Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, announced, “The sociological-scientific foundation of [Catholic] teaching [on homosexuality] is no longer correct.”
Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., countered: “With all due respect to his office, Cardinal Hollerich has not kept up with the science. He is repeating the claims made by LGBTQ activists.”
“The LGBTQ ideology has implicit scientific claims embedded within it. The major claims are that people are ‘born gay,’ that no one can change his or her patterns of sexual attraction, and that it is dangerous to even try. People could be forgiven for accepting these claims uncritically back in 1968. Today, science has discovered so much contradictory evidence that we can no longer do so.”
Fr. Paul Sullins, Ruth Institute Senior Research Associate, summarized an article published in the journal Science. “Rebutting decades of search by LGBTQ scientists for a ‘gay gene,’ the study’s first author flatly proclaims, ‘It will be basically impossible to predict one’s sexual activity or orientation just from genetics.’”
Sullins explained: “The study found that a person’s developmental environment – the influence of diet, family, friends, neighborhood, religion and a host of other life conditions – was twice as influential as genetics on the probability of adopting same-sex behavior or orientation.”
Regarding the claim that people cannot change their patterns of attraction, Morse stated, “Many people have been helped to shed an unwanted sexual attraction both through spiritual conversions and through therapeutic Sexual Orientation Change Efforts. For instance, Elizabeth Woning came out as a lesbian in her twenties. She was later transformed and has been married to a man for nearly two decades. Woning shared her testimony at the Ruth Institute’s 2019 Summit for Survivors of the Sexual Revolution.”
Finally, recent research has debunked the claim that Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) are harmful. A study of sexual minorities examined data collected by the pro-gay Williams Institute at UCLA. Published inFrontiers in Psychology, the paper found no difference between people who had undergone SOCE and those who had not, in their tendency to harm themselves or experience psychological distress.
Morse stated, “When the Catholic Church is true to herself, she has the potential to lead the culture toward truth and authentic peace. But when the Church follows the world, she inevitably lags behind and ends up looking foolish.”
Morse concluded, “Cardinal Hollerich should support those who, through legitimate therapeutic techniques and the grace of God, have changed their patterns of attraction and behavior. He should cease using outdated unscientific claims to legitimize those in flagrant violation of Church teaching.”
“We were put here to change the times, not to change with times,” Morse urged.
About the Ruth Institute
The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization, leading an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love.
Jennifer Roback Morse has a Ph.D. in economics and has taught at Yale and George Mason University. She is the author of The Sexual State and Love and Economics – It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.
To schedule an interview with Dr. Morse, contact media@ruthinstitute.org.
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