THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 4, 1994 TAG: 9410040438
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Roman Catholic Bishop Walter F. Sullivan has clashed with the Vatican by speaking out in defense of civil rights for gays and lesbians in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodation.
On Monday, he challenged students at Regent University for their view that homosexuality is a chosen orientation, and that gays can be redeemed from a sinful state of mind.
``I firmly believe that a person is homosexual from birth,'' Sullivan said. ``God made that person that way. If that person is gay or lesbian from birth, how can that person be at fault? There is absolutely nothing wrong with homosexual orientation. What is wrong is genital sex.''
That statement sent a disturbed murmur through a group of about 40 students and faculty members. One after another, they stood up to quote the Scriptures and offer personal stories challenging his views. He argued back.
And when the clock ticked down on the free-wheeling debate, the students wouldn't let go. They stood in a cluster around Sullivan and continued the dialogue.
It's the kind of spark university officials want to bring to the evangelical Christian campus.
Regent University President Terry Lindvall said his scholarly community spent too many years shutting out people of opposing ideas. Now, he's mailing them invitations. On Friday, thinkers from liberal bastions, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, came to campus to debate American culture.
Sullivan, leader of the Roman Catholic diocese that includes South Hampton Roads, was invited to Regent University to celebrate the Red Mass, which invokes the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit on legal deliberations. Sullivan is only the third, and clearly the most high-profile, leader to conduct a Roman Catholic service on campus in the school's 17-year history.
Some on campus are protesting the new direction. On Friday, a leaflet was pinned on bulletin boards and doors around the university, excoriating Sullivan for his defense of homosexuals. And several divinity professors declined to attend the Mass or the bishop's talk.
The leaflet, which was not signed, focused on Sullivan's decision two years ago to sign a public statement protesting discrimination against homosexuals. Sullivan was one of only two sitting U.S. bishops to sign the statement, which contradicted a Vatican letter.
Robert J. Schihl, a Regent professor and former Catholic priest, decried the ``judgmental nature'' of the faculty. ``This handout on his homosexuality position gave them the license to boycott,'' he said.
Lindvall said protests won't halt the drive toward debate. During Sullivan's visit, he announced the endowment of a new chair of interdisciplinary Roman Catholic studies, which will bring Roman Catholic scholars to campus.
Lindvall said the weekend's activities aren't just for image-making, or an attempt to gain accreditation from the American Bar Association for the law school.
Instead, he said, the university is returning to its roots. ``In the beginning, the original founding professors were very diverse,'' Lindvall said. ``Then people came in who were more sectarian and strident. I call it the Masada complex - we threw rocks out,'' he said, referring to an ancient Jewish fortress besieged by Romans. ``We need to get back to who we are meant to be.''
The morning Mass was attended by about 120 people, many of whom were not Roman Catholic.
Fewer people attended Sullivan's question-and-answer session afterward. Sullivan organizes spiritual retreats for gays, an approach that puts him at odds with conservative Catholics and many evangelicals.
``Pastorally, homosexuality divides us the most,'' said Schihl. ``You look at most evangelical ministers, they don't minister to gays. They hold them at arm's length. Only Roman Catholics minister to them.''
Several students told Sullivan that homosexuals could be redeemed from their homosexual tendencies to enjoy a heterosexual lifestyle and even marriage.
``Christ has the power to transform a person, regardless of what the problem is,'' said Paul Tilton, a former Green Beret who is now a Franciscan lay brother. ``I didn't have a struggle with homosexuality, I had a struggle with violence. He helped me overcome.''
Sullivan said that the two inclinations, violence and homosexuality, are not really comparable. ``To say we are going to transform this person, like it's some magic operation from homosexual to heterosexual, is a dream world. It's not possible.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by NAOMI LASDON
Keith Rothfus, assistant dean of administration at Regent
University's School of Law, escorts Bishop Walter F. Sullivan at the
school's Virginia Beach campus Monday.
Photo
University President Terry Lindvall said opposing ideas have been
shut out too long.
KEYWORDS: REGENT UNIVERSITY CATHOLIC CHURCH
by CNB