To the editor:

On April 8, the Vatican released the apostolic exhortation “The Joy of Love.” As a lifelong Catholic and a gay man, the proclamation is deeply troubling, because it dodges any discussion of gay marriage based in evidence.

When Pope Francis writes that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family,” it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes a marriage and/or family.

The Church claims that “every child deserves a father and a mother.” There is no evidence that kids with straight parents have better outcomes than those with gay parents. You don’t get to make a claim that has no evidence to support it – that’s what we call a lie. It will not stand.

Pope Francis and the Catholic Church are wrong on this one. Nobody gets to hide behind their idea of “God’s plan for marriage and family” as an excuse for hurtful rhetoric and discrimination – it’s dishonest. This kind of teaching discredits the moral authority of the Church and anyone (clergy or layperson) that stands in line with it.

Unless it comes around, the Church (and its people) will continue to be an agent in the discrimination it claims to seek to prevent.

Rob Humble

Estherville