Quest attac k

Winning's 'extreme' views on gays
By Simon Caldwell A CATHOLIC gay and lesbian pastoral support group has criticised Cardinal Thomas Winning for protesting against the repeal of a law stopping local authorities from promoting homosexuality in the classroom.
Charles Keal, chairman of Quest, denounced a warning from Cardinal Winning, the Archbishop of Glasgow, to the executive of the Scottish Parliament to beware of a "careless repeal" of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988.
The Parliament wants to scrap the section on the grounds that it stops teachers from tackling "homophobic" bullying. Gay rights groups have called the section a "bigots' charter".
But the Cardinal claimed repeal could "leave the way open to a new form of values-free political correctness which would impose an 'anything goes' morality on our children", warning that "more misery, not less, would ensue".
Quest, which last year was suspended from The Catholic Directory by Cardinal Basil Hume when it refused to give explicit support to Church teaching on sexual morality in its constitution, says his views were not representative of most Scottish Catholics.
"The gay peop e who belong to Quest are far removed from the dangerous and predatory figments of the Cardinal's imagination," said Mr Keal in a letter to The Catholic Herald. "Cardinal Winning is taking an extreme position which is not supported by the majority in his Church .. . it is important that Catholics in Scotland realise that his views are not that of the Catholic mainstream, and that they should not support unjust discrimination. Section 28 must go."
Since Cardinal Winning's plea, the Government has announced that Section 28 will also be repealed in England. An amendment to the 1988 Act was included in the local government Bill in the Queen's Speech, while it was declared the homosexual age of consent will be lowered to 16 years.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in Scotland revealed it will produce educational guidelines on homosexuality, called Relationships and Moral Education.
The document, which will be published at the end of the month, will say Catholics must display sensitivity and awareness to homosexual people, but rigidly re-affirms Church teaching that homogenital acts are wrong.
Fr Joe Chambers of the Catholic Education Cornmission said: "There will be guidelines about homosexuality for secondary school age and Church teaching on homosexuality. That has never been put in print before."