Church views differ on legalising of homosexuality

The church is apparently divided over its views against the verdict of Delhi High Court that legalized gay sex this week.

While certain sections of the Catholic and Protestant denomination welcomed the move, few others have voiced strong opposition against the amending of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC) on Thursday said it would oppose the High Court judgement as it is not only unbiblical but is also against the Indian culture.

Fr Stephen Althara, spokesperson of the KCBC, said homosexuality was against the Indian culture and "since our country is a democratic one, there is no way that this can be legalised through legislation."

Contrary to this, Fr Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, said, the church has no objection against de-criminalisation of homosexuality in the country, as "we never considered them criminals."

But he also warned that homosexual relations were "unnatural and against the design and will of god."

Anjana Masih, secretary of Commission On Policy, Governance, Public Witness of National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), also concurred on the same.

Anjana, an advocate herself, said the decision of court was welcomed but on the Christian perspective she warned it was "against the tenets of Bible and law of nature."

On the other side, Joseph Dias of Mumbai's Catholic Forum, strongly criticized the move and said it will appeal against the judgement. "We protest on both, health and religious grounds. We have statistics to prove that a large number of HIV cases are gay, and this verdict may lead to an AIDS epidemic of sorts," Dias pointed.

Even spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, Babu Joseph, warned against homosexual relations which he said "is not self sustaining and good for the future and the society."

In a judgement after eight years of court battle, the Delhi High Court on Thursday passed a landmark ruling by amending a 150-year-old law that criminalizes gay sex among consenting adults.

Delivering the verdict, Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said that if not amended, section 377 would violate fundamental rights protected by India's constitution.