Howls of outrage have greeted pronouncements made by the Bishop of Tenerife recently in a press interview in which he appeared to defend paedophiles when he said that many young people are themselves responsible for the abuse and he questioned whether some paedophiles should be labelled sick.

“There are 13-year-olds out there who seek out adults for sex,” he said. “And if one isn’t careful they can even try to provoke one,” he said.

Bishop Bernardo Álvarez also had a lot to say regarding homosexuality in general. His words have not only profoundly shocked the gay community here, but have been picked up and picked over by the press abroad. They have not gone down well anywhere except within a restricted number of fervent churchgoers and dyed-in-the-wool conservatives.

One has to be very careful these days,” he said, “because one cannot infer that homosexuality is an illness. It’s not politically correct to do so or say it is a lack or a deviation from nature … Things which were commonplace in any psychiatrist’s dictionary just ten years ago cannot be said today,” he said.

The Bishop added that he firmly believes homosexuality is harmful to society and that ours will have to pay the consequences, “as other civilizations before us have had to do.”

Following the publication of the controversial interview the president of Spain’s Federation of Gays, Lesbians, Transexuals and Bisexuals issued an ultimatum, warning Bishop Álvarez that if he did not retract the federation would bring legal proceedings against him.

Meanwhile the children’s ombudsman in Madrid called the Bishop’s pronouncements on child abuse dangerous nonsense.
“This is precisely the message those who seek to justify paedophilia use,” said Arturo Canalda.

(Taken from Tenerife News)

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