You did show interest in the quotation from the Catholic bishop Geoffrey Robinson I gave in my Web of 15th January. Many of you have written, and most of you in favour. I’m going to enlarge on his opinion on sex. The bishop says:

“The four consecutive commandments (4th-5th-6th-7th) should be seen as a unity, for they demand respect for four complementary aspects of human life, namely:
     - life and physical integrity (you shall not kill),
     - family life and relationships (you shall not commit adultery),
     - material goods (you shall not steal),
     - a person’s good name (you shall not bear false witness).

I would, therefore see the sixth commandment referring to a world of sexual teaching only in so far as wrong sexual actions can harm relationships, and any discussion of sexual morality must be placed within that context. The placing of the sixth commandment in the context of the three that surround it would be a good first step towards the building up of a new sexual ethic.

The teaching of the church would say that the essence of sexual sin is that it is a direct ‘offence against God’ because, irrespective of whether harm is caused to any human being, it is a violation of the divine and natural order that God established. Sexual sin is said to be against ‘nature’ as established by God.

I must ask whether God will be offended by any sexual thought or action in an of itself alone, considered only as a direct offence against God before any question of its effect on other persons, oneself or the community is taken into account. Is God ‘offended’ by masturbation or sex before marriage?

Should we not look at sexual morality in terms of the good or harm done to persons and the relationships between them rather than in terms of a direct ‘offence against God’? Should we not move to an ethic based on the good or harm done to others, oneself and the community? Are we moving towards a genuinely Christian ethic if we place the sixth commandment in the context of the three that surround it and base ourselves on respect for the relationships that give meaning, purpose and direction to human life and on treating our neighbour as we would want our neighbour to treat us?”

Thus far the bishop. Pretty revolutionary, to be sure. He says all that in his book “Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church”, The Columba Press, Dublin 2007, and he says it in writing, he says it very delicately (though also clearly and forcibly), and he says it as a bishop. I told you in my last Web how I wouldn’t dare say what he was saying; I only ventured to quote a book written by a bishop, which – I told you with my usual innocence – was approved by at least one bishop. Today I’ve entered Internet to see the last about Bishop Geoffrey Robinson in Australia, and after a description of his brilliant career in the episcopate, I’ve read this at the end: “The pope has accepted his resignation for reasons of health.” He is 70 years old.