A Catholic Church in Scotland is getting a lot of praise for remarks they made about homosexuality… but no one should be fooled by the window dressing.

St Bride’s Roman Catholic Church said this on Facebook over the weekend:

GAY CATHOLICS — Fr Morton wants to repeat again that all gay Catholics are accepted and welcomed in this parish. Every single human person is loved by God and created to love by Him, this is a fundamental belief of our faith. No one is ever excluded from God’s love or his concern or his care or his plan for them. In God’s house all are welcome and are the blessed and loved children of God. There should be no place in our language or our attitude which allows for prejudice or exclusion. Anyone who is gay and who wishes to share or discuss this with Fr Morton please feel free to come to the parish house. Also any family member who wishes to discuss or share this please come along. We must do everything we can to redress the harm that has been done in the past by the negative stance we seem to have taken up. We must join with others who are seeking to build a more inclusive society.

It almost sounds like they’re going against the Catholic Church until you realize this is fully in line with Church teaching.

Notice what wasn’t said in there. It’s much louder than these platitudes.

If you’re in a gay relationship, the Church condemns it.

If you consummate a same-sex relationship, the Church condemns it. Catholics still believe “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and demand chastity of gay members.

If you’re a gay Catholic who wants to get married in the Church, it’s not permitted.

Saying that gay people are welcomed in Church is fine, but it’s hardly praiseworthy. (Are we supposed to thank them for not stoning LGBTQ people?) Even leaders at evangelical churches and Mormon temples say they welcome gay people. The real question is how they treat same-sex marriage and gay relationships, because Catholic leaders from the Pope on down have always rejected those. If this Church disagrees, they should say so. And if not, they should stop pretending like they’re any better than other congregations.

They’re just putting a positive spin on their despicable beliefs.

I’ve asked Father Morton for a response and clarification. I’ll update this post if and when I hear back.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Liz for the link)

