Daniel Avila, who was forced to resign earlier this month after writing an article claiming homosexuality was caused by the devil while an unborn baby was still in its other’s womb, has come out to explain why he quit. In an exclusive with the National Catholic Register, Avila, the embattled marriage advisor to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) — the Catholic Church in America – states that he realized he had created a huge firestorm writing about an issue — same-sex marriage and homosexuality — that was a “radioactive topic,” and he didn’t want the Church to have to move its focus from the issue he had dedicated his life to: preventing same-sex marriage. Avila also states not that he was wrong about the devil being the cause of homosexuality, rather, that he hadn’t explained his position enough.
Avila, apparently unrepentant, continue in his explanation to call homosexuality “neither willed by God nor ordered objectively to personal or spiritual good,” and added, defiantly, “I do not take personally but I do take seriously the anger and ridicule expressed toward me on the Internet, by those who do not know me, as a further sign that people with same-sex attraction have suffered greatly and wrongly.”
Claiming there was no “desire on my part to single out any one class of persons as uniquely burdened by the effects of original sin and concupiscence,” Avila stated that, “God loves especially those who bear great trials, such as persons struggling with same-sex attraction. Though none of my reflections was intended to hurt anyone, your pain is a tragedy, and I am heartbroken.”
Apparently Avila is unable to understand that it is his words and his work, not God’s, that cause pain, suffering, and tragedy.
“Unfortunately, some will take away from this the opposite and erroneous lesson that the Church and people of faith should refrain altogether from speaking out to influence policymakers and recede entirely from the arena of debate, or else risk being hounded from the podium as if the Church’s teaching on marriage itself harmed the common good.”
Apparently Avila is unable to understand that it is his words and his work, and that of the Church — not God —  cause pain, suffering, and tragedy, and harm the common good.