We at Vida Humana Internacional, the Hispanic Division of HLI, have done an extensive Internet research on the activities of the international movement that promotes the acceptance of homosexual activity in the Hispanic world. As a result of this research, we became convinced that the situation is urgent and so we decided to prepare a report, which we sent to Hispanic bishops and pro-life leaders all over the Hispanic world including the U.S. The following information is the summary of our 24-page report, which is fully documented with over 100 references.

Worldwide, there are very well organized networks of groups and individuals, with plenty of resources, that promote homosexual conduct and that are seeking to change the laws that prohibit it. The main groups involved in the movement in favor of homosexual activity are the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Among their concrete objectives are: to get special legal "rights" for people who practice such conduct; to legally protect this immoral activity; to legalize "unions" between persons of the same sex, including their "right" to adopt children; and to promote the "teaching" of this "lifestyle" in the schools.

The above are just some of the plans that we have been able to confirm exist today. Part of this agenda has been accomplished in the U.S. and other developed countries. These groups and individuals regularly send "solidarity petitions" to all their contacts all over the world, so that the latter in turn write to legislators and other persons in positions of power so that they can influence in favor of their cause.

The above mentioned organizations have "re-interpreted" human rights in such a way that homosexual activity is among them. With this in mind they are working with international organizations that supposedly defend human rights, such as the United Nations (UN), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI). The objective of ILGA and IGLHRC is for the UN, HRW and AI to turn homosexuality into a fundamental human right, so that these international human rights organizations can pressure governments to change their laws accordingly. Their basic argument here is that since fundamental human rights are beyond civil laws and national sovereignty, then these governments must accept so-called "gay rights" and change their laws to protect them.

The basic error here is the failure to realize that the source of human rights is the human person and not an immoral activity, such as homosexual activity. The law must indeed protect persons who suffer from a homosexual inclination from actions that endanger their physical and psychological integrity. But these persons must be protected because they are persons and not because they practice homosexuality. Furthermore, some of their rights, like the right to work, can be limited somewhat for reasons of external misconduct, without incurring in unjust discrimination. Here come into play the rights of parents and their children. The latter must not be exposed to teachers who promote, by their behavior or teaching, an activity that is immoral, be it homosexual activity or any other activity that is evil. The movement in favor of homosexual rights has been very successful in blurring this important distinction and it continues to label "homophobic" anyone who dares to oppose its agenda, even if it is done for objective and valid reasons that have nothing to do with an irrational fear of homosexuality.

Among the governments that the movement in favor of homosexual relations has been targeting are those of the Hispanic countries. In fact, this movement, unfortunately, has been so successful in the Hispanic world that all these countries, except Nicaragua, have eliminated all laws that prohibited homosexual conduct. Worse still, some Hispanic countries have laws that permit sexual relations between an adult and a minor of a lower age that in some European countries. For example, in England the age of consent is 18; whereas in Costa Rica it is 15; in Colombia and Paraguay it is 14 and in Argentina it is 12! These facts become even more disturbing when we realize that one of the tactics of this movement is precisely to lower even more the law of consent. In England itself, for example, the "gay" movement is trying to lower it to 16. If this movement is also successful, the link between homosexual activity and pedophilia will become even more pronounced.

In our report, we also alerted Hispanic bishops and pro-life leaders that the movement in favor of homosexual activity has also penetrated religious institutions, including the Catholic Church. This movement wants to subvert religion and the Church, for it itself has claimed in a gathering of activists in Mexico that religion is its "major obstacle". At present, there are networks of "gay Christians" all over the world, especially in the U.S. and other developed countries. One such network is "Other Sheep, Multicultural Ministries to Sexual Minorities". In its website it has articles claming that homosexual acts are not sinful, in obvious contradiction to the Word of God (in both the Bible and Sacred Tradition) and to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, which is composed of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him. It is important to note here that this dissent is being "exported" to the Hispanic world, since the website of "Other Sheep" is both in English and Spanish.

Our report not only denounces the inroads of this movement in the Hispanic world, it also contains suggestions of what we humbly think should be done about it. We proposed that the preaching and teaching about the homosexual problem has to be strengthened and enriched. Bishops, priests, religious and lay leaders must educate themselves more about the psychological, social and political aspects of the movement in favor of homosexual conduct. The biblical, doctrinal and theological knowledge must be deep, firm and balanced. The Catholic Church has more than enough intellectual resources to answer the ideological challenge of dissent both within and outside the Church. We find these resources most specially in the rich teaching of John Paul II on the Christian view of the human person and human sexuality, called "the theology and the nuptial meaning of the body".

We also suggested to the Pastors of the Church in the Hispanic world, to get more involved in the fight against this evil in the public arena. We know, of course, that it is not the role of ordained ministers to get themselves directly involved in politics. Nevertheless, when it is a question of public morality, pastors and Church leaders have the right and the duty to influence society with sound teaching. Let us remember that the moral and psychological integrity of children is as stake here, as well as the rights of parents, the very institution of matrimony and the family, the basis of society.

Our next proposal was that the pastoral ministry to persons who suffer from homosexual inclinations must of course be doctrinally solid, but also professionally solid. This latter point means that the priests and lay persons serving in this delicate ministry must be of unquestionable moral integrity and endowed with special training and knowledge of how to deal with the homosexual problem. In this context, priests and mental health professionals can help each other in a way similar to how they do it in Project Rachel for post-abortion healing and reconciliation. We mentioned the existing programs of Courage and Encourage and the wonderful work that Father Harvey and his collaborators are doing in the U.S. We expressed our desire that this ministry be extended to Latin America and Spain. But right now there are not enough resources for it. This is very unfortunate, for we know for a fact that there are Hispanic countries where pro-life/family activists get a lot of calls and emails from people struggling with homosexuality, specially the young. These people ask for help to overcome this problem and sadly these activists are very willing but many times unable to help them.

We closed our report offering our educational materials and resources to this important area of the pro-life/family apostolate. In our website we have a section dedicated to this issue and other materials, which we plan to increase.

We ask you to help us expand the support we are trying to give to this ministry in the Hispanic world. Vida Humana Internacional wants to make a difference. You can help!

Adolfo J. Castañeda is the Director of Educational Programs for Vida Humana Internacional. Please visit VHI's new section in English at www.vidahumana.org/english/index.html. Find out more about the work VHI does and how you can help.

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