VATICAN PRELATE DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL "LEXICON"

Vatican, Apr. 24 (CWNews.com) - A Vatican Lexicon, issued to clarify the meaning of popular terms regarding marriage and family matters, has been heavily criticized since its appearance in Italy earlier this month. But Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, which issued the lexicon, still maintains that the work is both useful and necessary.

The Lexicon-- available for now only in Italian, with translations now being planned-- is designed to clarify "ambiguous and controversial terms regarding the family, life, and ethical questions." Among the 80 terms included in the Pontifical Council's document are phrases such as "safe sex" and neologisms such as "homophobia." Critics have argued that the Vatican document takes a slanted perspective on these terms.

Paradoxically, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo largely accepts those criticisms. The point of the Lexicon, he explains, was to stimulate open and honest debate about some controversial topics. If the Lexicon forces such a frank discussion, it will have served its purpose.

The Colombian-born cardinal made his remarks in an interview with the Roman news agency I Media. A partial text of that interview follows:

How does your dicastery respond to the criticisms?

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo: I would like to point out, first of all, the great interest that the document has aroused, in public opinion generally, and more particularly among the editors with whom we have been in contact.

Regarding the criticism, we want to give each expert the freedom to comment when the criticism involves his own articles. Although the Lexicon was edited under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Family, we believe that the dialogue can proceed among specialists. Thus for example we have asked the author of the article on homosexuality and homophobia to respond to the reactions on that item. This dialogue will allow for a deeper understanding of the different but complementary scientific aspects of these two studies, and eventually we could have new material for the next edition of the Lexicon.

Within the framework of Church moral teaching, for instance, we might ask whether homosexuality is a disease, or something written in the genetic code. What is its source?

Our objective is to point out where there is confusion. For example, we hear talk about "homophobia, or even discrimination against homosexual persons. But discrimination is a violation of human rights; that is clearly not the case in the matter of homosexual activities.

Regarding "safe sex," the problem is the same. For a long time, specialists have been saying that the use of condoms is a "safe" means of protection, particularly against AIDS. But Father Jacques Suaudeau, a physician and the author of the article on that topic in the Lexicon, insists that, based on the available statistics, far from stopping the spread of the AIDS virus, reliance of condoms has actually hastened its spread!

That is why the Lexicon sets people on guard about certain ideas that are now popular, and reminding people in this case that one in ten condoms is unreliable. What would a skydiver do if we told him that his parachute was only 90 percent likely to open? Just as we now require cigarette makers to warn that "smoking is bad for your health," we should have the same requirement for condoms!

We are trying to help politicians to open their eyes about the so-called solutions that in reality complicate the problem. At the same time we are reminding people of Church doctrines. That is how we will start a serious dialogue.

That dialogue might get quite heated.

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo: We realize that. A well-edited Lexicon must take into account the cultural context of the time in which it is published, and in this case it is normal that this document from the Pontifical Council for the Family would provoke reactions. That was what we expected, from the outset of this initiative.

This culture needs to be challenged: challenged by science, by experience, and even by faith. It is certainly true that this is not a "peaceful" Lexicon, but we had to be mindful of the Church magisterium, and faithful to Christian morality.

If today's world is not capable of dialogue, we are lost. We have to break down the walls the enclose men within their own subjective ideas, and confront them with different opinions, so that together we can find the truth-- a truth that comes not from us but from God. We have to discover this truth, and probe deeper.

Our objective was to open a dialogue with the world. That is why we decided to address the Lexicon to politicians and people who work in the legislative field, on the national and international levels. We wanted not only to stimulate debate, but in particular to confront the growing threat of relativism. There is a problem that in many parliamentary bodies today, political leaders-- even with the best of intentions-- are often very poorly formed regarding anthropological and even scientific questions, and even poorly informed on factual matters, because the information available to them is not clear.

Under these circumstances I don't think the Church can shrink from forming the consciences of men engaged in political work, simply out of fear that it might cause controversy. We have to regain our role in society, particularly through the help of Catholic universities. And I think the Lexicon might help in that effort.

Should the Lexicon be seen as an official document of the Holy See?

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo: It was edited under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and received the approval of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In that sense it is a document of the Holy See.

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