Fr Seán Sheehy is correct to say that his homily in Listowel reflects Catholic Church teaching, and Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry is wrong to suggest otherwise. Father Sheehy said about abortion:
“What is so sad today is you rarely hear about sin, but it is rampant. And we see it for example in the legislation of our governments. We see it in the promotion of abortion…”
This is an uncontroversial statement of Catholic teaching. Pope Francis has compared abortion to hiring a hitman to murder someone:
“Abortion is more than an issue. Abortion is murder.”
“Is it right to hire a hitman in order to solve a problem? One cannot. It is not right to ‘do away with’ a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hitman.”
Father Sheehy said about gender theory:
“We see it for example in this lunatic approach to transgenderism…”
While Father Sheehy deliberately phrased this provocatively, Pope Francis has compared gender theory to using nuclear arms to sin against God the creator:
“Let’s think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings… Let’s think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognise the order of creation… With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator.”
Father Sheehy said about homosexuality:
“We see it for example in the promotion of sex between two men and two women. That is sinful. That is mortal sin…”
Let’s put aside the funny phrase of “sex between two men and two women,” which sounds as if he is condemning foursomes. The underlying sentiment is an uncontroversial statement of Catholic teaching. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recently declared:
“It is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage, as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex… There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family”
It’s always useful to examine the nuance of statements made by Bishops, who believe that an idea called mental reservation allows them to knowingly mislead people. Note here that Bishop Browne said that:
“The homily at a regular weekend parish Mass is not appropriate for such issues to be spoken of in such terms.”
That leaves open speaking of such issues in other places and using different terms. Much like Pope Francis and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have done. Father Sheehy’s problem is not that he is mistaken about Catholic Church teaching. It is that he is too honest about it.