Cardinal Rouco tells homosexuals baptism cannot be erased

Madrid, Spain, Jul 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Responding to the decision of about 1,500 homosexuals who “officially” renounced their Catholic faith in writing to the Archdiocese of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco said Baptism is a sacrament that leaves an indelible mark and the person that receives it will always be Catholic.

The Cardinal recalled that whoever receives Baptism will be a Catholic “always, their whole life,” and although one can renounce one’s faith, like a child who repudiates his father, being Catholic is something that cannot be erased—it is a “part of one’s DNA.”

The Cardinal underscored that Baptism “cannot be erased” and that baptismal records always serve a civil purpose since they are used to determine the number of Catholics.

He also emphasized the indelible mark left by Baptism, comparing it to a child who denies his father.  “He might be able to repudiate him, change his last name, renounce his inheritance, refuse to know anything about him, but he will always be his son and there is nothing that can be done about that,” he said.

He also referred to the example of a priest who leaves the clerical state and marries.  He will never cease to be a priest, since orders is a sacrament which also leaves an indelible mark.  “It is for all eternity,” said the Cardinal.

Cardinal Rouco expressed his sadness over the recent decision of homosexuals, emphasizing the “affection” of the Church for all her children and the special “the charity and comprehension” it extends to homosexuals.

Homosexual unions

Cardinal Rouco also reiterated the impossibility of making homosexual unions the equivalent of a marriage contracted between one man and one woman, which has one of its purposes procreation.

Marriage “is a common sense thing” and defended not only by the Catholic Church, but it is also a reality that belongs to natural law 350 years before Christ, he added.

Cardinal Rouco also recalled that the Pope recently exhorted the Spanish government during the visits of the new ambassador to the Holy See, and the president of the country, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero:  defend the family and avoid treating homosexual unions as “marriages.”