The archbishop of Bogota said that homosexuals should neither marry nor adopt, and that they may be unfit for the priesthood.
Archbishop Ruben Salazar said that homosexuals had the right to live together and be included in each other’s health plans, but that in his opinion a homosexual couple could not achieve status of a traditional marriage as he believed marriage required an openness to “life and the fertility of women” which he did not believe was possible in a homosexual partnership.
Salazar further said that he was not in full support of the right of homosexual couples to adopt children. Salazar said he was concerned about the “rights of the child” and expressed his opinion that children who grow up with homosexual parents may not develop correctly or acquire personality disorders.
Salazar further commented on the role of homosexuals in the clergy, saying that a homosexual “who has an active homosexual life is not suitable for the clergy” and that if someone who is training for the priesthood is found to be gay, “without doubt he should be asked to leave the training process.”
Salazar did leave the door open for existing homosexual priests in the Catholic Church so long as they remained chaste. If the priest remained chaste the Archbishop felt there would be “no problem,” but if the priest had an active sex-life then he should either be removed or seek counseling to prevent himself from engaging in sexual activity. Salazar added that the same rules applied to heterosexual priests.
Efforts to legalize gay marriage and adoption rights have been proposed in the Colombian Senate, but have been defeated in the past. In 2010 the Catholic Church urged the Colombian Supreme Court not to rule in favor of a suit that would support gay marriage. This year homosexuals won the right to inherit property from their partner.
The Child’s Welfare League of America, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association, have all either endorsed homosexual parenting or recommended research that shows no significant developmental difference between children raised by straight and homosexual parents.