THE question of whether a person can change their homosexual orientation has been canvassed widely in the media in the past week as a result of the visit to Australia of Fr John Harvey, the founder of the gay support group, Courage.
The debate has been largely a red herring because what the Church teaches, and what Fr Harvey is saying, is that homosexuals are all called to lead chaste lives. Courage assists them to do this.
As Ray Campbell of the Queensland Bioethics Centre points out, the question of reorientation therapy for gay people is not a Church issue. This remains a scientific debate which will be fought out between psychologists and psychiatrists. It is unfortunate that the Church has been drawn into this argument.
