Bishops not united on Section 28.

U.K.--Controversy still continues in Great Britain over the proposed repeal of Section 28 of the Local Government Act which prohibits the promotion of homosexuality in schools. In England, the House of Lords rejected the Blair legislation and in Scotland the "Keep the Clause" referendum, (bankrolled by millionaire businessman Brian Souter, and strongly supported by Cardinal Thomas Winning of Glasgow,) won a majority of the 1.3 million voters or 87% against its removal. (For earlier references, see C.I., Mar 00, pp. 9, 22-23.)

Despite Cardinal Winning's strong stand in Scotland, the two new English Archbishops, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster and Vincent Nicholls of Birmingham, felt called upon to soft-pedal the changes, thereby undermining the Catholic opposition.

After consulting with religious leaders, the Education Minister, David Blunkett, proposed an amendment to the new bill which tells schools to teach about "the nature of marriage and its importance for family life". "Stable relationships" are also to be promoted as "key building blocks of... society" but there are no specifics on the type of relationships recommended.

One of the religious leaders consulted by the government was Archbishop Nicholls, whose approval of the repeal seems to have been backed by Archbishop Murphy-O'Connor. The Anglican Bishop of Winchester, Michael Scott-Joynt, however, noticed what Archbishop Nichols had missed, namely that the amendments place marriage and "stable relationships" on an equal footing. Others had also noted that the amendment clause protecting students from "inappropriate teaching and materials" could be nullified if homosexual teaching were to be deemed appropriate.

Children in Scotland will have even weaker protection from "inappropriate" teaching if their Ethical Standards in Public Life bill goes through their Parliament as expected this summer.

Cardinal Thomas Winning of Glasgow continues to take flak, not only from politicians, but also from dissident members of his own clergy, particularly one Fr. John Fitzsimmons, now a parish priest, but once rector of Scots College, Rome. Fitzsimmons, to whom BBC Scotland affords a weekly public platform, recently lambasted the Pope as "utterly authoritarian", claiming that he was "detrimental to Catholicism". He also attacked Cardinal Winning's pronouncements on homosexuality and abortion. According to Fitzsimmons, the Cardinal doesn't "listen to his priests and his flock." (With files from the Tablet).