Dear Editor,

As spokesman for the Catholic Church in Omaha, and the chief catechist and apologist for the Catholic faith, I write to clarify some statements regarding Dr. Janet Smith’s lecture about homosexuality in your March 28, 2008 edition.

First of all, the teaching of the Church regarding homosexuality as a disorder comes from the Scriptures, the teaching office of the Church and a careful analysis of human life and human sexuality. This teaching is not going to be changed now or in the future.

It is the clear and consistent teaching of the Church that everyone is called to live a chaste life. We leaders and teachers in the Church must do everything we can to help all our Catholic people (and non-Catholics who are willing to listen) live a chaste life, including those with a homosexual orientation. The call to chaste-living is part of our call to holiness.

I am grateful to the editorial staff for presenting Dr. Smith’s lecture and following dialogue in an objective and positive way. However, some of the statements in the lead story and editorial indicate a certain amount of confusion about the Church’s position regarding homosexual acts, the serious obligation of all Catholics to struggle to lead a chaste life and the sinfulness that results from all actions that undermine chastity, whether homosexual or heterosexual.

As a Catholic university, Creighton has an obligation to present Catholic teaching as the Church defines it and to encourage Catholics to be faithful to this teaching. I expect everyone connected with Creighton University to take this obligation seriously.

I am sincerely yours in the Risen Lord,

Most Reverend Elden Francis Curtiss

Archbishop of Omaha