New Delhi, July 4: The Church is planning to include homosexuality in its sermons, moral talks and pre-marital courses, scared that its flock may go “astray” in the light of the recent high court judgment on homosexuality.

It might also issue an advisory on the negative implications of homosexuality. The advisory is likely to be discussed after Sunday mass while community heads may hold sessions for boys and girls separately during Scripture classes.

The Church’s stated position on homosexuality is that it is appropriate to remove the stigma of “criminality” associated with it. But at the same time it disagrees with the view that homosexuality is a socially normal form of behaviour.

“We are against the court order not because we want gays to be criminalised but because we fear that this will have a negative influence on the lives and behaviour of people and might open the floodgates for licentious conduct,” said Father Babu Joseph.

“Homosexuals should not be thrown in jail or discriminated on the basis of their orientation. However, their behaviour cannot be considered normal,” the spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India added.

According to him, it is the duty of the Church to help the laymen in taking ethical decisions. “We will try our best to explain the negative social implications of homosexuality through these orientation programmes,” Joseph said.

“A family is composed of a man and a woman who share a complimentary nature and through whom a new generation is brought forth to be sustained in society. This basic unit of society, namely the family, cannot be violated. This would be the crux of our orientation sessions,” he added.

Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), said Christians were “increasingly” being exposed to homosexuality because of their westernised, urbanised lifestyles and so were in “greater danger” of being lured by the “glamour of the gay world”.

“In view of the ‘decriminalisation’ of the Section 377, Christians run an imminent risk of getting drawn into vice and sin, as homosexuality is forbidden by the Church.”

Crime, says Lalu

Lalu Prasad today denounced Delhi High Court’s ruling decriminalising gay sex and said the Centre should appeal against the judgment in the Supreme Court.

“Gay sex should not be legalised at any cost and the Centre should appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court. I am dead against legalisation of gay sex and will strongly raise the issue in Parliament,” the RJD chief said, adding that homosexuality “is a crime”.