Vatican's new dictionary is a "crusade against reason and science". (The Church and State).

A NEW "ETHICAL GLOSSARY" from the Vatican claims that condoms do not protect against sexually transmitted diseases; characterizes homosexuality as an "unresolved psychological conflict;" and claims that nations that approve of gay marriages are filled with people with "profoundly disordered minds."

The 900-page Lexicon On Ambiguous and Colloquial Terms about Family Life and Ethical Questions was prepared by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family. The lexicon has been promoted as the Vatican's response to "secular society's deteriorating social values," and queries the use of 78 key words and phrases related to sexuality, condoms, abortion, birth control and genetic engineering.

The section on homosexuality and homophobia claims that homosexuality stems from an "unresolved psychological conflict" and argues that those who want to give homosexuals equal legal rights "deny a psychological problem which makes homosexuality against the social fabric." Leaders who encourage the use of condoms for safe sex are running a commercially motivated "exercise in self-justification," the book claims, and conceal the fact that tests show condoms do not work 10 percent of the time.

Mr. Franco Grillini, an Italian member of parliament, said, "The Vatican has gone from invective to insults.... It is precisely because of the Catholic church's homophobia that homosexuals have difficulties."

Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, said the lexicon gives "new and disturbing meaning to what has become a Vatican crusade against reason and science in the modern world." She continued, "This document is a throwback to the days when church leaders disregarded scientific advances and ignored the human suffering caused by abstract and absolute application of so-called principles and values in the face of human tragedy and need. Authors of the lexicon should consult any standard dictionary for definitions of abuse, cruelty, obsession and hatred which are the major characteristics displayed by those who promulgate this lexicon." [For more on this story, see p28.]