Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said he’s not going to hell for being gay after a priest called his sexuality a sin.
Fr Sean Sheehy, who delivered a sermon littered with anti-gay comments, defended his views and claimed the Fine Gael leader needed to repent. The cleric sparked a storm when a clip of his sermon on Sunday in which he hit out at “transgenderism” and declared gay sex a “mortal sin” went viral.
In an interview with Radio Kerry yesterday morning he was asked if he believed “openly gay” politicians such as Tanaiste Leo Varadkar are “going to hell”. He replied: “Absolutely if they don’t repent on sin and seek forgiveness. Because what they’re doing is contrary to the law of nature.
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“Secondly, and more importantly, it’s contrary to the law of God. When you go against God, who is the author of life, you actually go against life itself.”
But a spokesperson for the Fine Gael leader, who is on a trade mission in Singapore, told the Irish Mirror: “The Tanaiste profoundly disagrees with Fr Sheehy’s views, however, he respects his right to express his religious beliefs freely.
“The Tanaiste does not believe gay people will go to hell for being who they are, nor does he believe that any man or woman can make such a judgment.
“As Pope Francis said, ‘Who are we to judge?’ As the Bible says, ‘Judge not lest you be judged’. We are all God’s children.”
A spokesman for Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the Fianna Fail leader “would agree with the comments” of the Tanaiste. The source added: “I don’t think he would agree with any of the views of Fr Sheehy.”
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Fr Sheehy’s comments were “disgraceful”. He added: “They are a reflection on the person that made those comments rather than a reflection on anything else.
“They should be withdrawn and there should be an apology.”
While Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys also condemned the cleric. She said: “I’m disappointed to hear that a priest would make comments like that.
“I understand the Bishop has apologised and said the comments shouldn’t have been made. I think that those comments are absolutely wrong. He should not have said that. They’re very hurtful.
“He should really come out and apologise. They’re wrong. He shouldn’t have said those things.” Asked if she would class the comments as hate speech, Mrs Humphreys replied as legislation on the subject is being progressed, she would not comment.
She also said it was “a matter for the Church” whether or not Fr Sheehy is sanctioned.
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Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne suspended the cleric from saying Mass following the public backlash over his remarks at St Mary’s Church in Listowel at the weekend.
But the priest, who appeared on a number of radio shows, hit back and said the Bishop was “sacrificing the truth to appease people”.
He added he was just preaching “the word of God” and insisted all priests are “obligated” to do that. Asked if he was standing by his comments, Fr Sheehy said: “I am because it’s based on the scriptures and the teachings of the Church.
“The Church has told bishops and priests to base their homilies on the scriptures it has chosen for each Sunday. The scriptures for this past Sunday focused on God’s call to sinners.”
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Speaking on RTE’s News at One, Fr Sheehy was asked by Bryan Dobson if he accepted Bishop Browne’s authority.
He replied: “Would you please listen to what I’m saying? You’re not listening, you typical media. You try to swing things the way you want them.”
Dobson told the priest: “This is not a homily, this is an interview.”
Fr Sheehy added: “I was based on the scripture and the teaching of the Church, which gives me the authority to preach the gospel. That’s the work of a priest.
“If we don’t confront our sinfulness, which is certainly not done very much in this country, then there is no hope for the country. The Church teaching does not change. It was the same yesterday, today and would be the very same tomorrow.
“I told him [Bishop Browne] myself, I said you have sacrificed the truth in order to appease people who do not want to face the reality of sin.”
During Sunday’s sermon a number of parishioners left but Fr Sheehy said they were walking away from Jesus Christ and not him.
He asked: “Why would people leave when they hear the gospel? Only because they don’t want to hear it. People walked away from Jesus... did he follow them? No.
“People walked away from the same word that Jesus spoke himself. They weren’t walking away from me, they were walking away from Jesus Christ himself.
“Which is why I said to the people ‘May the Lord help them’ because they need help.”
Fr Sheehy went on to say his sermon received a standing ovation despite many churchgoers leaving with some members of the congregation even heckling the priest on their way out.
He told Radio Kerry: “What about all the people who remained?
“When I completed the sacrament of the Mass, people applauded, a standing ovation. What about them? What about the people who came into the sacristy and said, ‘It’s high time we actually heard the truth’. Are they fundamentalists too? I mean, that’s the reality.
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“The Bishop of Kerry is totally wrong when he said my words were not in accordance with the Christian message. The poor man must not even know the catechism.
“[Bishop Browne] should have said to the people, ‘Fr Sheehy was only preaching the truth, that’s it. He’s only preaching the gospel. He’s only preaching the catechism, that’s it’.”
Fr Sheehy went on to slam the HSE for distributing condoms to young people, calling it sin and claiming it “promoted promiscuity”.
During a heated debate on Joe Duffy’s Liveline, in which he said the veteran broadcaster was “not even a good journalist”, Fr Sheehy said there are only two genders.
He likened homosexuality to having a disability. RTE Radio host Duffy asked him: “Are you saying homosexuality is akin to a disability?”
The cleric replied: “Well it is a disability because it leans a person in an abnormal direction in terms of expressing sexuality. Telling little boys they can become girls and telling little girls they can become boys, that is lunacy.”
Fr Sheehy also went on to say a lotof what has been reported about the Magdalene Laundries has been “exaggerated by the media”.
But Liveline caller Mags O’Donnell defended the cleric and claimed it’s hard to live a Catholic life. She said: “I’m a Catholic and I try hard to be a Catholic but it’s not easy. It’s much easier to be a non-Catholic.
“So if I have to follow the rules of the Church, Fr Sean spoke the truth but his way of speaking was not helpful.”
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