A local church, in the midst of reaching out to the gay and lesbian community, has invited a priest from Berkeley, Calif., to speak about the Roman Catholic church’s stance on homo-

sexuality.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church & Catholic Student Center, 2210 Lincoln Way, is bringing Richard Sparks to discuss the issue. Sparks is a Paulist priest from Berkeley and author of the U.S. bishop’s 1990 document, “Human Sexuality: A Catholic Perspective for Education and Lifelong Learning.”

“Father Sparks has been involved in moral theology for a long time,” said John Donaghy, campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas. “The issue is important to be addressed in Ames as well as on campus.”

Sparks will present “What the Catholic Church Teaches About Homosexuality” at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union on Monday.

“It’s an intriguing topic. We’re all looking forward to Richard Sparks’ comments on a very controversial topic,” said Pat Miller, director of the Lectures Program.

Todd Herriott, faculty adviser for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Alliance, said he appreciates the dialogue about the issue.

“I do know that for a lot of [homosexual] Catholics, it’s hard to understand what the church thinks of their sexuality,” he said.

Through continuing education, St. Thomas has been bringing Catholic wisdom to the public on a variety of topics, Donaghy said, and the “lecture also happens to come at the same time that St. Thomas has begun some ministry to the gay and lesbian Catholic community.”

Although Herriott thinks creating a dialogue is good, he’d like to know what the Catholic Church is doing to legalize same-sex marriages. He said the church used to perform same-sex marriages in the Middle Ages, but now sends out a belief system of “hate the sin, love the sinner.”

“[The lecture] is obviously an attempt to reach out to a population that they haven’t been exactly friendly to in the past,” Herriott said.