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Truth about Homosexuality: The Cry of the Faithful

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I strongly reccomend to read this book. It is a continuation of father Harveys earlier book:"The homosexual person: new thinking in pastoral care". The immense knowledge and experience contained in these both books are a fruit of many years of father Harvey's ministry among persons with homosexual leanings. These are "THE BOOKS". Short, comprehensive, informative non judgmental. With love without unnecesseary and evil passions or bigotry. A work of a saint.

An excellent presentation of orthodox Catholic teaching on homosexuality and suggestions for pastoral outreach. The author is the founder of Courage, an organization for homosexuals who accept the challenge to live according to Gospel values.

Fr. Harvey gives a carefully written, sensitve, and thought-provoking look at the issue of homosexuality. I have found this book to be an excellent resource in thinking through the truths and lies of the current "cultural war". A good resource for anyone interested in this issue.

Many reviewers of this book d o not understand the perspective of the author or their own biases well. Fr. Harvey comes at the topic of homosexuality from the perspective of Roman Catholic teaching which says that "the causes of homosexuality are largely unknown" and that "all people who experience homosexual desire are equal in value and deserve respect and care, but none the less homosexual relationships and homosexual activities are not parts of Gods design for the universe." Since Fr. Harvey's book there have been many similar works such as "Light in the Closet" by Arthur Goldberg, "Straight and Narrow?" by Thomas Schmidt, and others. Because of the strong bias in the media and education for the view that all sexual relationships equal in both value and essence creates an unfortunate backdrop against which the books mentioned tend, to the reader unaware of his/her own and public biases, to sound quaint and hokey.

As a person who has identified as homosexual who has lived a chaste life for many years I believe that neither view is totally satisfactory. My main criticism of the works mentioned including this - is the over optimism about orientation change. But I must criticise the mainstream also. For the mainstream holds that orientation is IM-possible. This is plainly false. Orientation is flexible. Anyone who has gone to prison, served in the marines, lived in a college dormatory, or studied history (Alexander the Great, Jack Kerouak, etc) knows that peoples desires usually shifts throughout their lives to some degree.

A second area this book and other like it address is the epidemeology relating to the homosexual person and homosexual practices. Here I must starkly criticize the mainstream. As one can read in many published journals - there are glaring and obvious problems in the gay community and issues that homosexual people suffer from that many have deliberately concealed out of, I believe, sheer political malice. Studies on STD transmition, bulemia, suicide, drug abuse, relationship abuse, and other mental and relational health disorders have been showing for many years the risks and problems with homosexual behavior. The mainstream, on the other hand, tends to sweep these claims under the rug in favor of a peaches, and cream view of homosexual relationships and behaviors. I encourage anyone interested in the truth about homosexuality or interested in their own choices and consequences in their personal sexual lives, to carefully study the matter and take account of all the information from all sides. Fr. Harvey will doubtless be found to have made a vital contribution to the discussion of homosexual behavior and its consequences.

I am 46 years of age and cannot believe that I have had to wait this long to discover a book which speaks to me so clearly and compassionately about this subject which has been such a huge part of my life since early childhood. I highly recommend this book to all who are attracted to the same sex, and who are interested in a relationship with God.

Very good book and gets to the meat of whats important in life -- GOD

I was glad to hear about this book. It covers the topic sensitively, and helps to keep carers up-to-date.
The book was delivered speedily, and in good order.
Thanks to all involved.

The Truth About Homosexuality: The Cry of the Faithful
by John F. Harvey
San Francisco: Ignatius Press,1996
377 pages
ISBN-10: 9780898705836
ISBN-13: 978-0898705836

Review by Reverend Brian Van Hove, S.J.
Published in The Catholic Faith 5/1 (1999): 50-51

Readers who in 1986 enjoyed John Harvey's The Homosexual Person will be pleased and rewarded with this newer book. It is both an update and a consistent deepening of the lines already traced, as well as a survey of current literature and research in the field.
In recent times those who propose that homosexuality is inborn or genetic in origin have been in retreat. Not only is it evident that male homosexuality is rather rare (between 1% and 4% of the male population), but biological factors appear to be secondary predispositions and then in just some cases. Today it is next to impossible to say that the homosexual condition is God-given when so much experience and writing have shed light on the personality dynamics involved in male homosexuality. Why blame God when Original Sin is the operative doctrine?
Much less is known about female homosexuality which is treated in Chapter Ten. Among the points made is that modern feminism has politicized the lesbian lifestyle as the ultimate liberation from men. While there are fewer lesbians than male homosexuals percentagewise, the structure of this type of homosexuality presents different characteristics. Generally, homosexual women become less addicted to the physical-genital aspects of their relationships than are men. Women are more interested in the quality of the emotional attachment they have with their lovers. Harvey's remarks are based on the case studies of individuals he has interviewed in the course of his pastoral activity. These lives are respectfully reported as portraits, and perhaps should not be called "cases" at all.
Like the men, women follow the adapted Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous when they are members of Courage. This support group founded by Harvey called "Courage" is well-known. Sadly, it is often under attack in North America today where the gay rights movement is shrill and intolerant.
Harvey does not rely on one researcher or source. He gives us a survey which borrows from Bieber, Moberly, Nicolosi, Socarides, van den Aardweg, and others. He also expresses his thanks to Protestant writers and activists. Furthermore, the present work is a collaborative effort. Maria Valdes and Richard Fitzgibbons contribute valuable appendices.
Jeffrey Keefe provides the competent chapter which speaks of "homosexualities" since universal norms and applications are just plain lacking in the research. Taken as a whole, the "compulsive", "symptomatic", or "episodic" variants of male homosexuality are more understood to be the result nurture, not nature. Psychological factors weigh more heavily than the media have led us to believe. Keefe points out that the type of family environment a boy experiences, and a careful understanding of his early relationships with parents and peers, usually is sufficient to explain and account for either a homosexual orientation or the presence of strong homosexual feelings. Homosexuality is an involuntary developmental disorder, in other words. As a radical minimum, those who claim homosexuality in men is inborn or is not a disorder have not proved their case, nor have they closed the debate. Keefe ends his chapter by saying, "The position one takes regarding homosexual orientation as a normal or abnormal development is a separate issue from one's treatment of persons who are homosexual." (p. 65) Thus the reader is reminded of the teaching of the Church, that homosexual persons have a right to the love and esteem of everyone.
Part of that esteem means that no homosexual person should be lied to, and this is the importance of the title of the book. Father Harvey speaks with the authority of over forty years of pastoral work in this field. He compromises neither the Catholic Faith nor the homosexual person.
Harvey does not equivocate when he insists that a homosexual orientation is not only treatable, it is reversible. Every individual's case is specific in how this might be undertaken or evaluated. Orientation change is a reality, even if this position is unpopular for the secular establishment and for many in the Church. He never uses the "gay" terminology except to say it is political, not clinical or religious. He does not say that all homosexuals ought to change their orientation, but that enough of them want to do so to warrant the present book. The subtitle, The Cry of the Faithful, is met with this response of 375 pages.
Many Catholic homosexuals have been disserved by either Dignity or other diocesan-sponsored organizations which are either vague or ambivalent about Catholic teaching. Harvey discusses these "church politics" in the opening part of his book. Along with the truth, Harvey offers hope. Catholic homosexuals can learn to be chaste, can in some cases become heterosexual, and at times may enter into heterosexual marriage. Along with all the baptized, they are bound by the universal norm of chastity, and it is a realistic goal for even the most compulsive. To tell a homosexual person that it is better to have one stable homosexual sex-partner, rather than to live promiscuously, is lying. Only the virtue of chastity will do for the Christian, and it is the explicit goal of every pastoral minister to help Christians live chastely, and to develop nonerotic friendships with others. These friendships are far more satisfying and true than the enslavement of certain neurotic dependencies can ever be. It is a sin to shun homosexual persons and relegate them to the illicit avenues of the sex trade or the illusions of same-sex unions. It is essential to introduce them to the Person of Christ who alone satisfies all the cravings of the human heart, homosexual or heterosexual.
Over forty pages of this book are dedicated to a "Response to the Gay Rights Movement." In this section he examines the content of the slogans and words we so often hear--"homophobia", "The Religious Right", "religious intolerance." Policy-making and legislation are covered in this chapter, and a separate chapter is reserved for the subject of same-sex unions or what have been termed "Gay Marriages."
A book review is not intended to say everything, or even to provide all the nuances of the book under review. Father Harvey is an excellent resource person when it comes to discussing Catholicism and homosexuality. One hopes that every bishop and pastor in America will take to heart the wisdom and insight available in The Truth About Homosexuality: The Cry of the Faithful. While Father Harvey may be the founder of Courage, it is he who is courageous in bringing us a frank and balanced presentation on this anguished moral topic.

This book is one of the best I read on the topic. The main thesis of the book (testified by many cases), is that the homosexual orientation is changeable and not the other way round as it's proclaimed by many these days. Do not look for any sort of wishy-washy argumentation here, for you will be deceived. What you get is instead a consistent argumentation (along through 10 chapters & two appendices), where you are invited to face the facts and think hard about their implication for a life of faith and sacraments in the Church. Hard words, sometimes, but also the testimony of many people who venture to speak out about their difficulties and their change of orientation. A book written by a Catholic, and primarily, for Catholics. One of the points made clear here is that, morally speaking, Catholics living or being active in the homosexual lifestyle are not in communion with the Church and should not receive the Holy Communion. I quote here to avoid misrepresentation: "There is a difficult pastoral problem in parishes with a large number of openly gay persons who regularly receive Holy Communion despite their active homosexual lifestyle. Such persons should be informed ... that they are not to receive the Holy Eucharist until they have reformed their lives. [...] There is no way that the Catholic Church can sanction same-sex genital unions" (p. 305). But there is much more to explore in this book (beyond Harvey, co-authored by O'Connor [Foreword], Groeschel [Introduction], Keefe [ch. 3], Fitzgibbons [App. I], and Valdes [App. II]). I strongly recommend it for everyone interested because (i) either living in such existential dilemma, (ii) or working with people living in such situations (e.g., pedagogical educators, teachers, etc.). Again, one of the best books on the issue: hard, frontal, but fair and serious.

Harvey discusses a qualitative study by Pattison & Pattison (American Journal of Psychiatry, 1980) as support that orientation. However, the study was later shown to have highly fraudulent report ... more ». Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper were two of the 11 participants and also were responsible for selecting the other participants. Bussee later said this:

[We] carefully handpicked and coached the research subjects. We (Gary and I) were two of the eleven who had "changed" since we were both married with kids. We told the research subjects how important it was to EXODUS's ministry and future that the subjects give the most positive response possible. We weren't lying -- at least we didn't think we were. We believed it. . .. "Name it and claim it". By faith, you speak it into reality. Believe that it is yours and God will give it to you. Sadly, we were deluding ourselves and misleading others. (http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2007/11/a-critique-of-jones-and-yarhouses-ex-gays-part-2/)

Bussee admitted this 16 years before this book was published but Harvey makes no note of this. Harvey has not done enough research on this topic and should not be writing books about it acting as if he has.