Archbishop Timothy Broglio, speaking for the Archdiocese for the Military Services, issued a statement earlier this month in support of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," the discriminatory policy that prevents gay and lesbian men and women from serving openly in the armed forces. Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Bishop Gene Robinson refuted his claims last week, pointing out that the archbishop's arguments are misleading and offensive.
First, the archbishop suggests that a change in DADT would somehow limit Catholic military chaplains’ first amendment rights. This is not the case. Chaplains will still be free to remind gay Catholics in the military of their catechism, which makes clear that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered" and that they "do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity."
As Bishop Robinson writes, Archbishop Broglio’s argument "indicates either ignorance of the proposed legislation or a disingenuousness that is not befitting a clergyman."
The archbishop goes on to compare DADT to Alcoholics Anonymous. One of the most important elements of the AA program is participants’ honesty to friends and family about their alcoholism. If Archbishop Broglio really believes that gay servicemen and servicewomen need to be cured of their homosexuality on the model of AA, he should support legislation that would allow those in his charge to be open about their identities. But this is a mistaken view of homosexuality that is offensive both to those suffering from alcoholism and to members of the LGBT community. Every reputable psychiatric association in the world agrees that homosexuality is not something that needs to be cured.
The first amendment not only protects Archbishop Broglio’s right to freely give his religious opinions to Catholic soldiers. It also prevents the Catholic Church from dictating U.S. national security policy. Read Bishop Robinson’s column here.