In a statement published in The Church World newspaper, the Diocesan Public Policy Committee said: ''The teaching of the Church makes it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended.''

The statement, also published in The Church World on Jan. 22, was called a clarification of the diocese's position on the statewide referendum scheduled Feb. 10 on the gay-rights law.

Voters will be asked if they want to overturn legislation approved last spring that bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. At least a quarter-million Mainers are Catholic, and some of them may look to the church's position on the issue before voting.

Although the diocese opposes discrimination, it is officially neutral on the ballot question because it believes the new law does not make clear whether the state is condoning homosexual activity.

It also believes that the law is ambiguous about what kinds of religiously affiliated organizations, such as schools and charities, could be exempt from the law.

In its statement, the diocesan committee said, ''there is a need for the protection of people because of past and present acts of discrimination and violence'' based on sexual orientation.

The committee stressed that the church approves of sex only between a man and a woman within marriage. However, the church teaches that homosexual orientation by itself cannot be considered sinful.

The Rev. Paul Cote, who chairs the policy committee, said the diocesan statement was in the making for several months before its publication.

He said the diocese saw the need to make its stance clear last summer, after the gay-rights bill was approved by the Legislature and Gov. Angus King.

''The diocese is not neutral: it supports the human rights of gay individuals in . . . terms of housing, credit, employment and public accommodation,'' Cote said. ''It's just that the current legislation is considered flawed.''

The diocese tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to ease its concerns.

This month's policy statement did not mollify Rosemary Ananis or Paul Madore, two Maine Catholics with strong feelings about the referendum.

Ananis, of Wells, is the New England regional coordinator for Dignity, the national organization of gay and lesbian Catholics.

''I want the diocese to recognize this referendum is about discrimination and to stand up against it,'' said Ananis. ''Jesus always stood up against injustice, and unless the referendum is defeated, that's what we're up against.''

Madore is deeply involved in the campaign to overturn the gay-rights law. He was an active supporter of an unsuccessful anti-gay-rights referendum in 1995, and helped overturn Lewiston's gay-rights ordinance in 1993.

Madore said he accepts Catholic teaching that says homosexuals deserve the love of God and other Christians.

But he attacked the diocesan policy statement as opening the door to laws that would encourage the spread of homosexuality and what he called sexual depredation of children.

Madore said the statement ignores church teaching, which he said allows discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in situations involving children.

''To allow something like this to be printed in Church World is an act of violence against children, because they'll fall victim if these laws pass,'' he said.