The Bishop of Tenerife, Bernardo Álvarez, the same one who coined the saying that if you are careless, 13-year-olds “provoke you”, jumps back to the fore with some controversial statements about homosexuality. In an interview in Good afternoon, Canary Islands of Canarian Television, the prelate responded to the question of whether homosexuality is a mortal sin stating that “it depends on the person and the circumstances”. “For something to be a mortal sin, the person must be aware that it is a sin; secondly, that they do it freely and that they are not conditioned by anything, but that they know that it is wrong and even though they know that it is wrong, they do it.” do freely.”
The bishop of Tenerife clarifies that “he has not justified the abuse of minors”
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For more INRI, the bishop compared homosexuality with alcoholism in his speech. “That’s like the person who drinks. When he drinks, he does any nonsense and excuses himself that he was drunk. What you have to do is not drink so as not to do the next thing, which he does without realizing it,” he concluded in a metaphor that has left more doubts than clarifications. In the same answer, he continues to exemplify about “being aware that homosexuality is a mortal sin” with a recent case of matricide, “it seems that psychological studies say that the person was not in his right mind, because that person was not aware that what he was doing was wrong,” he concluded in a comparison that has left all viewers ojiplático.
The LGTBI Diversas association has been scandalized by these opinions and has demanded from the Catholic ecclesiastical authorities the “immediate” dismissal of the bishop of Tenerife, whom it accuses of homophobic “recidivism”, which “is not a sin but a sign of hatred” that violates human rights.
It should be remembered that in 2008, after making those statements about the sexual “provocations” of 13-year-old children, which will remain forever in the memory of the public, and to justify and apologize, the highest leader of the Church in Tenerife stated that “This sexuality thing is more complex than it seems” and that he would measure his words “when dealing with such sensitive issues”, two statements that he seems to have forgotten during the interview on Televisión Canaria this Tuesday, January 18.
Álvarez pointed out 14 years ago that homosexuality “harms people and society.” He also confessed, assimilating it to sexual assaults, that “the person practices homosexuality as he can practice the abuse of minors.” Days later he clarified the answers that were reflected in the extinct newspaper The opinion, “I had not tried to justify, in any case, the abuse of minors, which is always absolutely reprehensible, morally it is a very serious sin and legally, a crime. In no way, have I compared, nor did I want to compare, nor do I compare, homosexuality with child abuse”.
The bishop who slipped into the vaccination protocol
In February 2021, the name of Bernardo Álvarez jumped to the media after it became known that he had skipped the vaccination protocol.
The bishop had received the first dose when it was not his turn, along with the older priests of the San Juan de Ávila priestly residence, the nuns, those responsible for the center, house staff and the external company that deals with cleaning. Through a press release, the Nivariense Bishopric added that “Álvarez was included in the list sent to the health authorities by keeping his address in that place, specifically in an adjoining apartment, and with whose residents he has frequent contacts and shares some of the services that are provided.” However, the Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Blas Trujillo, made public, in the Control Commission to explain the vaccination plan against COVID-19, a report that debunked those statements.
