Pope in "Saving the World" controversy

It is very much a case these days of the the secular society at odds with the Catholic Faith. Unlike in previous generations, though, many of us think the ways of the secular world are trying to get into the church. Trojan horses come to mind.

The Pope has a traditional end-of-year address to senior Vatican staff. This time he said that saving the dignity of the human race was just as important as saving rainforests. We live in an era where the word "sex" has been erroneously translated into "gender". So we have more than two genders suggested to us. Any government form now will have abandoned the word sex. "What gender are you?", the various documents will declare.

The church has an understanding of the role of the male and the female. These are not blurred by fashion, but understood to be a part of a timeless Creation. Of course, it is perfectly reasonable and legitimate for others to have alternative views. My case is that taking the church's doctrines and somehow mendaciously twisting them is doing the debate no good whatsoever.

Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of Britain's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, has described the Pope's remarks as "totally irresponsible and unacceptable". "When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way," she said. I doubt that is the case. It is her hyperbole. She is suggesting things that are not so. I do not know of any Christian leader (other than those of crank sects) exhorting followers to be aggressive and violent.

Ms Ferguson has her views. This is a democratic society. However, the church has an understanding of the relationship between the sexes. It is not "totally irresponsible and unacceptable" as she says, but the basis of the Catholic Faith. It may not be easy, but it is certainly not the travesty she and others suggest.