By MAIKE HICKSON
As I reported on August 11, 2015, Bishop Vitus Huonder of Chur, Switzerland, had been sued by the homosexual organization Pink Cross, and by several other individuals, because of a few quotations from the Old Testament on homosexuality that he had presented at a conference in Fulda, Germany.
Pink Cross claimed that Huonder had stated that homosexuals should be killed, whereas he merely took some biblical quotations in order to present the biblical teaching on the matter of homosexuality. As I said at the time:
“Bishop Huonder, in his own contribution to the conference on July 31 [in Fulda], had presented essential parts of Holy Scripture — Old and New Testaments — in order to show God’s plan for marriage and the family. With regard to homosexuality, he quoted two parts from the Book of Leviticus, saying:
“ ‘These two parts would be sufficient to give us the right direction with regard to homosexuality, in the light of our Faith.’ Both quotes show how the practice of homosexual acts is condemned in Holy Scripture, and [in one of the quotes] with the claim that such persons commit a grave crime and deserve to be put to death. Huonder continues, saying that even to claim that there are a variety of models of marriage and family is already ‘an attack against the Creator, but also against the Redeemer and against the Sanctifier, that is to say, against the entire Holy Trinity’.”
Later, Bishop Huonder made clear in a statement that he had no intention of calling for violence against homosexuals, as Pink Cross had claimed. The first attempt of Pink Cross to sue Huonder failed. Kath.ch, the website of the Swiss bishops, reported on May 20 that the second attempt of Pink Cross to sue Bishop Huonder for his conference speech has been rejected by a Swiss court.
The court’s judgment — which I have been able to consult — states on March 30, 2016 that the statements of Bishop Huonder do not show “either explicitly or implicitly a call to kill homosexuals.” It is clear, the Court of the Canton of Graubünden now says, what Huonder thinks about the pastoral care for homosexuals.
The court had already ruled in the first instance that Bishop Huonder’s statement “had no criminal relevance.” The court was not able to establish even the intention of Bishop Huonder for any such criminal act.
Therefore, the legal case has been closed, and Pink Cross has been told, by way of partial reparation, to pay the legal fees and even to repay Bishop Huonder a material sum of 1,000 Swiss francs. The Diocese of Chur, in Graubünden, was apparently not surprised by the favorable outcome of the legal case.
However, one may fittingly question how long it will still be possible for anyone — even a priest — to present traditional Catholic teaching on homosexuality — namely, that such acts are sinful and against God’s laws. And to do so without thereby being promptly tried and sentenced by state authorities.
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