Resigns: Catholic Church’s Marriage Guy Who Said Gays Made By Devil Quits

The Catholic Church’s marriage expert who last week in an official Catholic Church publication published an op-ed that claimed gays are made by the devil while in their mother’s womb, has resigned his position from the Catholic Church. Daniel Avila, who was forced to retract the article, had recently been promoted from Associate Director for Policy & Research of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, before becoming the Policy Advisor for Marriage and Family for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The Catholic News Service reports:

Daniel Avila, policy adviser for marriage and family to the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage since June 20, offered his resignation Nov. 4 and it was accepted, effective immediately.

Avila’s opinion piece was published in the Oct. 28 edition of The Pilot, Boston’s archdiocesan newspaper. It also was posted online before being removed Nov. 2 and replaced with an apology by Avila who previously worked as associate director for policy and research at the Massachusetts Catholic Conference in Boston.

Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese, told Catholic News Service the column was pulled because Avila “retracted it and apologized and because it simply should not have been printed/published in The Pilot.”

“It is not the position of the archdiocese or the church and is simply wrong,” he said in a Nov. 3 email.

It was not surprising that Avila invoked the devil to describe homosexuality. Of same-​sex marriage, Avila is quoted as saying, “It’s like a nuclear bomb exploding in every home, and that explosion will reshape society itself. I don’t think we can even describe the frontiers of change that confront us.”

In August of 2010, Avila penned, “Marriage and Civil Rights: The Anatomy of a Social Institution from a Constitutional Perspective,” in which he writes, “given the institutional nature of civil rights, an individual rights claim should not gain civil rights status without democratic approval.” In other words, Avila advocates for a plebiscite, a referendum, on same-​sex marriage, along with, assumedly, all civil rights, in direct conflict with the Founding Fathers’ wishes.

The New Civil Rights Movement has an in-depth look at Daniel Avila’s positions on same-sex marriage:

READ: Exposed: The Catholic Church’s Anti-Gay “Marriage Guy” Daniel Avila