Catholic Paper Yanks Column Blaming Gay Attraction on Devil

The country's oldest Roman Catholic newspaper has pulled a column suggesting that the devil may be behind gay sexual attraction. "Some Fundamental Questions on Same-Sex Attraction," written by Daniel Avila, an associate director for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated that "the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil."

He added that "imbalances" in nature that "disrupt" human behavior point to "supernatural actors, unlike God, who do not have the good of persons at heart." In other words, such behavior could be "imputed to the evil one," Avila noted in The Pilot, the Archdiocese of Boston's official newspaper. The piece was pulled from the website yesterday after editors said it included an unspecified "theological error," reports AP. The site posted an apology from Avila, who stressed that the column didn't represent the position of the bishops conference. He said he was sorry for the "hurt and confusion" the column caused. Several Catholic officials were involved in the decision to yank the piece. (More Catholics stories.)