By Zach Howard
CONWAY, Mass., Nov 4 (Reuters) - The oldest Roman Catholic newspaper in the United States has retracted an opinion column that said the devil may cause homosexual attraction after the essay was condemned by gay rights groups.
The 184-year-old weekly newspaper, the Boston Pilot, run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, on Wednesday removed from its website the Oct. 28 article titled, "Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction."
The article stated that "scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil."
The newspaper also posted on its website and in its Nov. 4 print edition a "retraction/apology" by the author, Daniel Avila, who advises on policy against gay marriage for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In his apology, Avila wrote that he opposes "all unjust discrimination" and noted that his column did not represent the position of the Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Pilot echoed his statement of regret and apologized for not having seen the theological error in the column before publication.
DignityUSA, a gay Catholic activist group, expressed outrage at the piece.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, the group's executive director, said Avila and the archdiocese "have inflicted tremendous damage on the souls and psyches" of gay people.
"We are deeply concerned that a man with such extreme beliefs remains an advisor to the U.S. bishops, and will still be permitted to write for the Pilot. This shows that Catholic officials are willing to go to extremes in their anti-gay campaign. The Archdiocese of Boston and the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference should immediately terminate their relationship with Mr. Avila," Duddy-Burke added.
Recent figures show the newspaper has a circulation of about 21,000. (Editing by Will Dunham)
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