Cardinal Bertone links pedophilia to homosexuality

Santiago - Homosexuality, not celibacy, is what scholars had linked to pedophilia, said Monday Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, in an attempt to defend the Catholic Church, which has recently been swamped by a wave of allegations of child abuse.

In a press conference during his visit to Santiago de Chile, Cardinal Bertone was asked about celibacy and the elimination of the vow of chastity as a solution to the problem of child abuse from members of the clergy. Bertone replied:

"Many psychologists and many psychiatrists have shown no relationship between celibacy and pedophilia, but many others have demonstrated, and they have told me recently, that there is a connection between homosexuality and pedophilia."

Cardinal Bertone’s expressions caused and immediate and very angry rejection from the Chilean Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (MOVILH), which charged that Bertone "lies in a blatant and inhuman manner".

“The Catholic Church seeks to blame people with a different sexual orientation for the brutal pedophilia committed by priests. That’s an immoral use of homosexuals as scapegoats."

said Rolando Jiménez, president of Movilh. He added:

“We do not accept or allow homosexuality to be associated with crimes of any kind. Our society has advanced a lot in understanding this; therefore, we repudiate that Bertone intends to lead the public back to the darkest moments of our world history, such as the Inquisition, by promoting hatred of differences amongst humans."

The Catholic Church has rejected accusations that the Pope helped cover up abuse by priests and the Vatican has accused the media of making a "despicable smear campaign" against the pontiff. "We do not want to force a gag, but we hope that this campaign is over," Bertone has said during his visit to Chile to bring the support of the Vatican to the areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the center and south of the country late February.