Inside his cool, sunny office, Michael Doody, S.J. reclined in his chair and hollered, “Come in!” He welcomed me and started chatting before I could even remind him of my name, let alone the purpose for my impromptu visit. I was fearful of breaking the cheery atmosphere with my questions, so I spat it out quickly: “Gays and lesbians and Saint Louis University, how do you feel?”

I feared that I might have intruded, the way a reporter might invade a burning building to ask the not-yet-escaped victims, “How do you feel?” But there was no long silence, just a pause and a disclaimer that it might take a few minutes for him to word his answers, because he would need to word them carefully. We talked in the sunny room for a while about the Church, his opinions, and the students of SLU and the Rainbow Alliance.

What is the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality?

“The Church says homosexuals are people just like the rest of us and that we are all created in the image of God…

“The Church has issue not with homosexuals but with homosexual actions because they would say they are unnatural. We have lots of urges that we shouldn’t act on.”

What about those who say that homosexuality is natural?

“There are theologians who say that the Church’s position should be reexamined outside of natural law, and that there might be other ways to look at sexuality…

“But that is the Church’s legal position, that isn’t how you deal with homosexuals on a pastoral level. “

How do you deal with the homosexual community on a pastoral level?

“You deal with people gently…affectionately, with understanding and knowing that we don’t have all of the answers.

“I have very close friends who are gay, living in a relationship and are deeply in love. I respect and admire them. Do I think God loves them? Absolutely.

How do you approach it when students come to you with questions about their own sexuality?

“You take people the way they are. I can’t make a homosexual person straight…

“The church teaches that our sexuality is a gift, so I think the church has to ask itself, how is the sexuality of homosexuals a gift? I don’t have the answer, but I understand the question.”

What do you think about the importance or unimportance of having the Rainbow Alliance on campus?

“I think students need the support of their peers. That’s why other student groups exist. The international students, the Muslim students and the black students all have their own organizations. Gay students understand the needs of other gay students. “