An Irish priest is facing criticism for comparing gay people and couples who have sex before marriage to infected zombies.
Delivering a religious lecture in the Friary in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Brother Tom Forde said his words may “destroy” respect for him.
It read: “I begin this homily with an embarrassing admission. It may destroy whatever respect you have for me.
“You may decide to disregard everything I say now and in the future. But there is a point to my admission and I ask you to be patient with me. I am a little odd. I like zombies.”
He then listed films and TV shows featuring zombies, including The Walking Dead, the Irish Mirror reported.
Forde, of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, added that although these shows are fiction, people are still “spiritually dead, morally rotten or at least infected”.
The priest compared gay people to zombies (The Walking Dead)
He said: “We see this when the mask slips and someone we thought a friend is revealed as a fiend, full of anger, spite, malice, lust or pride we had not seen before. We see it in self-destructive, irrational behaviour.
“It is visible in the abuse of drugs and alcohol, in adultery, fornication and homosexuality (and there are other unnameable behaviours). As well as in acceptance of abortion and contraception and in the move to legalise euthanasia.
“In the zombie genre once you’re bitten you’re infected and there’s no hope. The only way to deal with the monsters is to stab or shoot them in the brain for otherwise they are merciless, relentless and unstoppable.
“Zombies, thank God, do not actually exist but I would suggest, spiritual-zombie hood does.”
Earlier this year, new research found one in three LGBT+ people in Ireland have been threatened with physical violence and one in five have been punched or physically attacked in public.
Despite this, just a third of those who took part in the research said they believe LGBT+ people in Ireland are at serious risk of violence.
