While expressing his belief that homosexuality was not a sin at a university conference on gay marriage and adoption this past Thursday, Colombian Bishop Juan Vicente Cordoba managed to offend traditional Catholics as well as the homosexuals he was trying to welcome into the church.

After stating that gays would be accepted in Roman Catholicism, he brought up the historical uncertainty regarding the sexual orientation of key New Testament figures. According to Catholic website Crux, Cordoba said, “We don’t know if one of Jesus’ disciples” might have been gay, and “we don’t know either if Mary Magdalene was a lesbian.”

As reported by the BBC, not only were conservative Catholics in the audience offended by the Bishop's sexual speculation, but gays in attendance were likewise upset by Cordoba's use of a negative Spanish slur to denote homosexual men.

On Friday Cordoba apologized for his words and his word choice, while maintaining that the church should display respect for the gay community. As reported by Fox, he said his remarks were taken out of context and that he was unaware that the media was even present.

Whatever upset feelings the apology was meant to assuage, it does not change the church's core stance against homosexual marriage.

Cordoba said, “Even if homosexuality as an inclination doesn’t constitute a sin, it’s regarded as a disordered conduct.” The Jesuit Bishop also made clear his belief that same-sex relations were against natural law.

The issues of gay marriage and adoption are currently being vigorously debated in Colombia as last year the Latin American country’s constitutional court ruled that same-sex couples would only be allowed to adopt a child if the child in question happened to be the offspring of one of the partners. Two years prior to this decision Colombia’s Congress voted against gay marriages.