Their full message does not depart from the formal position of Vatican doctrine, as it repeats the standard distinction between "homosexual persons" and "homosexual acts", and repeats the warning that these "acts" because they are "contrary to natural law", and do not flow from "natural complementarity". In this respect, they are as offensive as many other utterances from our bishops and the Vatican. (The occasion for this remarks was the Philippines launch of the book " " by Fr John Harvey, the founder of Courage). Nevertheless, I see some good news in this report, supporting my belief that there is a gradual and welcome shift of emphasis underway. There are two elements of this shift evident in the bishops' message.
