BELGIUM: CARDINAL CALLS GAYS PERVERTS

Press Association (UK)

Up to 95% of lesbians and gays are not truly homosexual but "sexual perverts," Belgian Cardinal Gustaaf Joos claimed in a recent interview.

"I will sign here in my own blood that of all those who say they are lesbian or gay, at most five to 10 percent are genuinely lesbian or gay," stated Cardinal Joos, 80, in comments to P-Magazine. "All the rest are simply sexual perverts. Don't hesitate to write that down."

Joos, who studied with Pope John Paul II and was appointed cardinal last year, made his remarks during an interview about Roman Catholicism in Belgium, where the legislature legalized gay marriage last year and may soon permit same-sex couples to adopt children.

"Real homosexuals don't walk the streets in colorful suits," Joos said. "They are people with a serious problem who must learn to live with it. If they err, they will be forgiven. We must help those people, not condemn them."

The cardinal insisted his church "rejects homosexuality, not homosexuals."

He was equally forceful in questioning democracy: "Politics, democracy—don't make me laugh. The right to vote, what is that? I find it curious that a snot-nosed 18-year-old has the same vote as a father of seven. One has no responsibilities whatsoever, the other provides tomorrow's citizens."