Category: Gay Catholics

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Row Over Release Of Gay Clergy List

By Harry Farley

A row has erupted over a list of gay Church of England clergy published by a conservative Anglican group.

GAFCON UK released the list on Sunday of clergy known to be in same-sex relationships or who have officiated over gay unions. Although those named have already publicly come out as gay, it is the first time such a list has been compiled and raised fears it will lead to increased abuse.

The CofE's House of Bishops will meet to discuss the Church's next steps over teaching on gay marriage in December.
The CofE’s House of Bishops will meet to discuss the Church’s next steps over teaching on gay marriage in December.

The list on the GAFCON UK website said it was recently given as a briefing for conservative bishops around the world to highlight the state of the Church of England.

The notes described “chaos” in each Anglican province and listed a number of “violations” of the Church’s ban on same-sex marriages, as laid out in the landmark Lambeth 1.10 resolution passed in 1998.

“While orthodox believers certainly hope that the Church of England does not go further in violating Lambeth 1.10, the situation in England as it currently stands is already a scandal within the Anglican Communion,” said the briefing.

The “partial list” catalogues “some of the ways in which Lambeth 1.10 has been violated within the Church of England”.

Canon Chris Sugden, a retired minister on the Church’s conservative wing, told Christian Today the list was “a helpful gathering of information”.

He said the Church’s discipline rules for clergy who broke rank were difficult and expensive to enact but said there was a “simple route forward”. He called on bishops to declare they are “individually in impaired communion with those who have breached the Church’s teaching and discipline in these regards”.

But a number of LGBT clergy raised fears the list could lead to targeting and abuse.

Rev Andrew Foreshew-Cain, a married gay vicar in London who regularly receives hate mail, said the list served “no other purpose other than to make us targets in some way”.

Foreshew-Cain’s marriage was highlighted by the list. He told Christian Today: “None of us are ashamed. I am legally married and that should be celebrated.” But he said the list would “encourage the harassment of clergy and lay people” who are openly gay. “If anyone is ashamed here it should be GAFCON.”

Canon Jeremy Pemberton, another married gay priest named on the list, said it was “disgusting to try and target people like this”. But he added he was “glad” GAFCON had made the point the CofE had crossed a line.

Tracey Byrne, chief executive for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), slammed the list as “contemptible” and added: “It is quite clear that their intention is to ‘name and shame’.

“This goes beyond political strategy – this is a deliberate attempt to deny God’s presence in the lives of real people, and to condemn them by public shaming.”

The list was released as senior bishops are preparing to meet in December to discuss the next steps for the Church over its ban on gay marriage. A group of bishops will bring a recommendation to the CofE’s ruling general synod in February. One possible option is some form of “pastoral accommodation” that would allow liberal clergy to celebrate same-sex unions in church without an official change in teaching.

GAFCON has made its opposition to any change in direction clear. The briefing on Sunday said: “To restore order and a credible Christian witness, the upcoming meetings of the House of Bishops and General Synod would need to not merely avoid going further in violating Lambeth 1.10, but it would need to take constructive steps to rectify the numerous public (and presumably private) breaches that have been strategically taken by some to undermine the teaching of the Communion.”

Rev James Paice, part of the GAFCON UK Taskforce, told Christian Today: “This report is shocking because it shows the extent to which revisionism has infected the the Church of England.” He said CofE leaders had turned a “blind eye to blatant violations” and added more conservative Anglican leaders around the world had “concluded that the Church of England is a sinking ship”. 

Rev Canon Andrew Gross, press officer for Gafcon Global later said: 

“There was never any intention to ‘name and shame’ individuals. How could there be? The document lists public actions taken by individuals who are very proud of what they have been doing. In many of these cases, these activists were actively courting the media in order that their violations of Lambeth 1.10 would have the greatest possible impact.

“For these same activists to then turn around and claim that cataloguing each of their media blitzes is some kind of personal attack is completely disingenuine. The “naming and shaming” narrative was invented by activists in a self-serving attempt to paint themselves as victims. It is completely inaccurate.”

Complete Article HERE!

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Vatican condemns radio station over anti-gay comments on quake

File under: Me thinks she doth protest too much.

umbria-reduced-to-rubble

The Vatican has condemned a right-wing Catholic radio station after a broadcast said the recent earthquakes in Italy were “God’s punishment” for gay civil unions.

The remarks, made on the station Radio Maria, were “offensive and scandalous”, the Vatican said.

A Dominican friar said the quakes, including one in August that killed nearly 300, were caused by sins of man.

He said these included the approval of same-sex civil unions last May.

But the Vatican rejected the remarks as pagan, and said they had nothing to do with Catholic theology.

father-giovanni-cavalcoli

“They are offensive statements for believers and scandalous for those who do not believe”, said Monsignor Angelo Becciu, deputy secretary of state, who is close to Pope Francis.

Monsignor Becciu said Radio Maria, which has come under criticism in the past for comments seen as anti-Semitic, had to “moderate the tone of its language” and conform to the Church’s message of mercy.

But the friar at the centre of the scandal stood by his description of the quakes as divine intervention.

“Just read the catechism,” Father John Cavalcoli said, referring to Roman Catholic religious instruction.

Radio Maria has published a statement (in Italian) on its website, saying the offensive comments did not reflect the views of the station.

Complete Article HERE!

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Pope’s words create confusion for Catholics on same-sex relationships

By MICHELLE R. SMITH

Michael Templeton
Michael Templeton

An ideological tug of war over the firing of a Rhode Island church music director for marrying his same-sex partner illustrates the confusion that permeates some U.S. Roman Catholic parishes over Pope Francis’s words on homosexuality.

Francis’s famous declaration “Who am I to judge?” in 2013 energized Catholics who had pushed the church to accept gays and lesbians. Now, some gay Catholics and supporters who hoped for rapid acceptance find themselves stymied by many bishops and pastors.

Francis is being cited by both the music director, Michael Templeton, and by Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin, known for taking a hard line on church teaching about marriage and abortion. Tobin has criticized Francis, writing after the pope’s summit on the family two years ago that “Francis is fond of ‘creating a mess.’ Mission accomplished.”

The pope has upheld Catholic teaching on homosexuality, reiterating the church’s opposition to same-sex relationships. But his shift in tone and broad statements about mercy have left a trail of comments that amount to a Rorschach test open to interpretation, say those who have closely followed Francis.

“Pope Francis has not said, ‘Here’s what you should do in a parish where you have a music director who has married his partner of the same sex,’ ” said Rev. James T. Bretzke, a professor of moral theology at Boston College. “Pope Francis is articulating general principles: forgiveness and mercy and not harsh judgment. But how you handle a particular case like this, he has been very reluctant to weigh in on it.”

That means a gay Catholic’s fate depends on his diocese or individual pastor. Templeton, 38, says he was called in last month and fired from the job he held for five years at the Church of St. Mary. The pastor, appointed in July, told him someone had sent him a 2015 Associated Press article that included details about Templeton’s wedding. A representative from the Providence Diocese also attended. At the end of the meeting, disappointed and hurt, Templeton cited Francis.

Thomas Tobin“This seems truly inconsistent with the teachings of Pope Francis,” Templeton said he told them.

The firing caused an outcry in the parish. A fellow employee resigned minutes after Templeton’s firing. Several lay leaders also resigned and dozens of parishioners have left, including most of the church’s 20 to 30 gay members, according to people interviewed by the Associated Press.

Many cited Francis’s example, saying the firing was in conflict with his declaration that 2016 be a “Year of Mercy.”

The pastor, Rev. Francesco Francese, referred comment to Tobin’s office, and Tobin declined a request for an interview.

Tobin issued a statement to The Providence Journal saying church employees and volunteers are “expected to live in a way that is fully consistent” with church teachings. If a person engages in activity that contradicts those teachings, “that individual leaves the Church no choice but to respond,” Tobin said.

In a later Facebook posting, Tobin defended his approach, citing Francis.

“When church leaders have to respond to situations involving persons living an openly ‘gay lifestyle’ these days, we’re often scolded and told that we should be ‘more like Pope Francis,’ presumably the ‘Who-am-I-to judge’ Pope Francis,” Tobin wrote.

He listed several examples that “critics should also remember,” including that Francis fired a priest who was working in the Vatican upon learning the priest was gay and in a relationship.

In the past few months alone, Francis has made statements or taken actions that give fuel to both sides.

Francis underscored his emphasis on mercy over defending orthodoxy with his first U.S. picks for cardinals, announced Sunday, choosing bishops who have taken a more welcoming approach to gays and others who have felt alienated from the church.

Asked this month about how he would minister to transgender Catholics, Francis responded: “When someone who has this condition comes before Jesus, Jesus would surely never say, ‘Go away because you’re gay.’ ” At the same time, he recently supported Mexican bishops working against a push to legalize same-sex marriage. New Ways Ministry, which advocates for gay Catholics, has documented around four dozen cases during Francis’s tenure where people have been forced from positions in Catholic institutions or faced other negative consequences for reasons such as being in gay relationships or advocating for gay rights.

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways, said gay Catholics continue to see problems in places with conservative bishops, such as Providence. Tobin, he said, was interpreting Francis too narrowly.

Before Francis, “people were afraid to even say the words gay or lesbian,” DeBernardo said. “I do think he’s taken an important step that could lead to further steps. I’m not certain, I don’t think he will make a change in church doctrine, but I think he is laying the groundwork for future changes.”

Complete Article HERE!

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‘Coming Out Day’ Still Celebrated at Catholic Colleges

By

men-kissing-in-church

A number of Catholic colleges and universities across the country are sponsoring or are allowing events on campus in the next week to mark “National Coming Out Day,” a day to celebrate “coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) or as an ally.” According to the LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign, which actively works against the Catholic Church on issues of human sexuality, October 11 marks the 28th anniversary of the celebration.

“Coming out” refers to the phrase “coming out of the closet,” used to express when one publicly declares their attraction outober-events-georgetownto members of the same sex. These sexual attractions are referred to in our current culture in terms of “identities” that define an individual. “Coming Out Day” celebrations serve to lead persons to embrace and be proud of those “identities,” which are rooted in sexual attractions and lifestyles considered either disordered or immoral by the Church.

Same-sex attraction is not a sin, but is referred to as “disordered” and a “trial” for those experiencing those attractions in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Church does teach that same-sex sexual activity is a mortal sin, as is all sexual activity outside the confines of marriage, as understood by the Church.

Despite the mandate of Catholic institutions of higher education to teach and lead students to the truth in Christ, many Catholic colleges continue to support “Coming Out Day” celebrations while completely avoiding events to help students understand Church teaching on sexuality, chastity and gender.

“Events like ‘Coming Out Day’ run the risk of equating a person’s identity with his or her sexual attractions, which, although they form a significant part of a person’s experience, are only one factor in the whole complex reality of what it means to be a human being,” said Father Philip Bochanski, newly appointed executive director of Courage International, in an interview with The Cardinal Newman Society last year. “Promoting events that reduce a person’s identity to his or her sexual attractions betrays our Catholic faith in the dignity of the human person, and does a disservice to those it claims to defend.”

‘Coming Out’ at Georgetown

Georgetown University, America’s oldest Catholic college, is sponsoring a “Coming Out Day” celebration along with events during the entire month of October leading students to celebrate and embrace LGBTQ “identities.” Last year the Newman Society reported on the expansion of the university’s “OUTober” events to focus more on “transgender” students who wish to be recognized as a gender that differs from their biological sex. This year the focus is on “honoring our histories” according to the university’s LGBTQ Resource Center website.

“Coming Out Day” in Red Square, Georgetown’s “free speech” zone, kicks off the OUTober events on October 7. “Come join us on our annual Coming Out Day, featuring a door through which students ‘come out’ as proud LGBTQ Hoyas and Allies,” the event description reads. “Be sure to pick up and wear your ‘I AM’ t-shirt throughout the day to promote visibility and awareness.”

 

Georgetown’s “I AM” campaign encourages students and faculty to tell their personal stories of embracing their same-sex attraction and gender identity confusion. Georgetown’s LGBTQ Resource Center produced a series of videos with students, faculty and staff giving their testimonies.

The listed partners for the OUTober events include Georgetown’s Campus Ministry and Department of Theology. None of the event descriptions include mention of Catholic teaching on human sexuality and chastity.

In their 2006 guidelines on ministering to those with same-sex attraction, the U.S. bishops stated: “Love and truth go together. … The Church cannot support organizations or individuals whose work contradicts, is ambiguous about, or neglects her teaching on sexuality.” The document reaffirmed a 1986 letter to bishops issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that stated: “[W]e wish to make it clear that departure from the Church’s teaching, or silence about it, in an effort to provide pastoral care is neither caring nor pastoral.”

‘Coming Out’ at Other Catholic Colleges

The student group PRIDE at the University of San Diego (USD) is scheduled to hold a “National Coming Out Day” celebration which aims to “encourage the USD community to ‘come out’ as LGBTQ and Ally and embrace our many identities.” Peter Marlow, associate vice president of university communications at USD, told the Newman Society that the event is not sponsored by the university and the university is committed to embodying the Church’s teachings on marriage and human sexuality. But the event is being promoted using university resources on the USD website.

Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., is celebrating “Coming Out Day” on October 11. The university’s LGBTQ+ Resource Center and the Center for Gender and Sexualities Studies developed a series of events to promote October as “LGBTQ+ History Month.”

The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., is holding a “Coming Out Coffee House” on October 20, described as “An open mic space for LGBTQIA individuals to tell their coming out stories.”

Sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center, “National Coming Out Day” will be celebrated at the University of San Francisco with “a quick interactive game” and an “interactive collaborative art piece.” “There are so many words to describe the different identities around gender and sexuality within ourselves, but are they enough? Do we even know all what all these words mean?” the event description reads.

The student club PRIDE at Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus is commemorating “LGBT History Month” with a “Coming Out Week.” A representative of the university’s Office of Multicultural Affairs told the Newman Society that events during the week will include an opportunity to speak at a coffee shop, a door through which people can “come out” as LGBT or as allies, and a trivia night.

Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., which embraces the label of “one of the most LGBT friendly Catholic campuses in the country,” held a “Coming Out Week LGBTQIA Bingo” on October 3.

Fr. Bochanski told the Newman Society last year that silence from Catholic colleges on the issues of chastity and sexual morality not only confuses students “but makes it more difficult for them to hear and live by the truth of the Gospel, which is that chastity sets a person free to love authentically.”

“Catholic institutions should defend the rights and dignity of those who experience same-sex attractions by promoting the whole teaching of the Church: that these brothers and sisters of ours ought to be welcomed with respect and compassion, and ought to receive every support we can give them to live virtuous, chaste lives,” he said.

Complete Article HERE!

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Gay Catholics test Poland’s conservative church

gay-catholics-test-polands-conservative-church
Gay Catholics test Poland’s conservative church

When gay and lesbian Catholics launched a campaign this month to ask for acceptance in the Polish church, the backlash was swift and uncompromising

Adopting the gesture of a handshake that worshippers make during mass, the “Sign of Peace” poster campaign shows one hand with a rainbow bracelet representing the fight for gay rights and the other with a rosary for prayers.

Affronted bishops issued a statement on September 14 instructing the faithful “not to participate in the campaign… because it waters down the explicit demands of the Gospel.”

The handshake sign of peace, they warned, was an “expression of acceptance for a person, but not of their sins, whatever they may be.”

Others have gone further, crudely labelling the campaigners “homo heretics.”

An editorial published in the widely-read conservative Gosc Niedzielny (Sunday Guest) Catholic weekly conflated the fight for equality with efforts to promote masturbation.

But campaigners vow they will not be deterred by hostile attitudes towards homosexuality in the conservative country, a bastion of Catholicism in an increasingly secular Europe.

“After a programme on a public TV channel, we received hundreds of emails, with some from the parents of LGBT children who said that up until now, they hadn’t dared to broach the subject with them,” activist Pawel Dobrowolski told AFP.

“Lay people, priests wrote to tell us that they were praying for us and I was warmly received at the church I attend.”

Dobrowolski also underlined the fact that Polish bishops have called on parishioners to treat LGBT people with “respect, openness and carry on dialogue in good faith.”

But opinion polls suggest deeper acceptance of homosexual couples will take time.

Seventy percent of Poles thought homosexual relations were unacceptable, the independent Warsaw-based CBOS institute found in a 2014 opinion poll, the most recent survey on the topic.

– ‘Invisible’ –

A year earlier, CBOS found that 77 percent of Poles opposed giving gay partnerships legal status and 87 percent said gay couples should not be able to adopt children.

Two-thirds of Poland’s 38 million citizens still identify themselves as practising Catholics and the institution continues to play a key social role in shaping attitudes.

The church hierarchy is currently trying to use its influence to introduce a near-total abortion ban, triggering widespread public opposition.

Four Polish Catholic publications appealing to the relatively small, progressive wing of the church, have officially backed the “Sign of Peace” campaign.

They including the Tygodnik Powszechny weekly, the Znak and Wiez monthlies and the Kontakt quarterly.

“The LGBT community wants to be accepted in the Church and even though it is excluded and invisible, it is looking for its place,” Misza Tomaszewski, a journalist with the Catholic Kontakt magazine that is among the campaign sponsors, told AFP.

Funding comes from billionaire philanthropist George Soros’s Open Society Institute.

On the znakpokoju.com campaign website, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics speak in videos about their need for acceptance in the church.

Anna Strzalkowska, a lesbian and a devout Catholic, recalls a painful time when a priest to whom she confessed her love for woman told her she would do well to gouge out the eye or to cut off the hand causing her to sin.

Now raising a son with her wife Marta, who she married in Britain, Strzalkowska is confident the Catholic church will change its views.

“I’m certain that my love for my for my son isn’t sinful, I’m certain that my love for Marta isn’t sinful,” she said.

“I also really believe that soon the church will change its theology about our place in it.”

Complete Article HERE!