Praise, Protest for Pope Francis’ Outreach to LGBTQ Persons

Pope Francis greets the crowd after praying the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sept. 8.

By Gina Christian

Pope Francis has evoked both praise and protest for his outreach to LGBTQ persons during his decade-long papacy, as he has offered warmth and welcome while upholding the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality.

“My experience of Pope Francis has been hope-filled and also frustrating,” Ish Ruiz, a gay theologian and post-doctoral fellow in Catholic studies at Emory University, told OSV News.

Ruiz praised Pope Francis’ “breakthrough papacy,” which he said has helped remove barriers between the Catholic Church and LGBTQ persons.

At the same time, Ruiz told OSV News he “wishes the pope would go a little bit further with what he’s done” and “allow church doctrine to be transformed by the grace-filled witness” of LGBTQ persons.

Grace Doerfler, a graduate student in journalism at Stanford University, told OSV News that “as a lesbian Catholic, I think (Pope Francis is) really a pastor. … He has such an attitude of welcome, kindness and love, and I think his papacy has made a real difference in how I and other LGBTQ Catholics feel about the church, and about staying (in it).”

Yet Doerfler also said she “would love to see a church where I could have a church wedding someday, and where Catholic school teachers and other people in ministry could be openly gay and not lose jobs over it.”

Since the early days of his papacy, Pope Francis has offered an open hand to persons experiencing same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria, and recently condemned the criminalization of homosexuality in several parts of the world.

Asked by a reporter in 2013 about homosexual individuals among the clergy, the pope famously responded, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

For Matthew — now a married father of two in the St. Louis area who asked his last name be withheld for privacy — that reply coincided with a growing awareness that he was sensing homosexual inclinations, which along with homosexual acts are regarded as “disordered,” according to church teaching as outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

“The 10-year anniversary of Pope Francis really resonates with me, because I was a freshman in college exactly when I started to realize my experience,” he told OSV News. “This 10-year journey is very much my timeline of my first (recognition) and then realizing the beautiful grace (of) the Lord in my life.”

While stressing he remains “respectful” of the pope, Matthew told OSV News he wanted to “be real” about how Pope Francis’ approach to the topic of homosexuality “has hindered me.”

Specifically, Matthew pointed to “ambiguity and lack of clarity” in reports of the pope’s occasional statements to media on the subject, which he told OSV News could be misconstrued as support for same-sex unions.

Evgeny Afineevsky’s 2020 documentary “Francesco” created an uproar when spliced clips from a 2019 interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa appeared to show Pope Francis broadly endorsing legal protections for such civil unions, while defending church doctrine that made it “a contradiction to speak of homosexual marriage,” said the pope.

Subsequent media coverage showed the film had not included key contextual information and caveats made by the pope in addressing the topic with journalist Valentina Alazraki.

Struggles to accurately understand Pope Francis on the topic of homosexuality often result from a failure to appreciate the fullness of his pastoral outreach to LGBTQ persons, said Father Philip Bochanski, a priest of the Philadelphia Archdiocese and executive director of Courage International, a Catholic apostolate that supports same-sex attracted men and women in living chastely according to church teaching.

Pope Francis’ approach seeks “to receive the person and accompany them mercifully, and having heard and received their story, to orient them in the teaching of the church,” Father Bochanski told OSV News. “It would be too simplistic to say that this pope says, ‘homosexual acts are sinful’ or ‘who am I to judge?’ That’s overlooking much of what Pope Francis has said on this topic. He always refers people back to the catechism.”

In his apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis summed up that perspective in two back-to-back passages, acknowledging the challenges same-sex attraction presents to both parents and children, and calling for “respectful pastoral guidance” while upholding church teaching that views same-sex unions as not “even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”

Above all, “Pope Francis has, through words and gestures, helped to open up the conversation around the Catholic Church and LGBTQ people,” said Jesuit Father James Martin, a consultor to the Vatican Dicastery for Communication who ministers extensively to LGBTQ persons.

Admitting that “many LGBTQ people in the West tell me that they wish (Pope Francis) would ‘go further,’” Father Martin told OSV News the pope’s outreach has “marked a sea change in the church’s approach to this community.”

Father Martin pointed out Pope Francis has even appointed Juan Carlos Cruz, an openly gay man who advocates for fellow survivors of clergy sex abuse, to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

“I don’t think we can underestimate how much more welcome LGBTQ people — and their families — feel in their own church, thanks to Francis,” said Father Martin.

The pope sees not ideologies but “individual people, and he wants to make some kind of path for them to come closer to God,” Eve Tushnet, author of “Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith,” told OSV News.

In so doing, she added, Pope Francis provides a “desperately needed vision for some kind of good future” for LGBTQ persons in the church.

“The church has wisdom here,” said Tushnet. “The church gives guidance to shepherd these longings and desires, and a path by which they are made more chaste, and even more loving and giving, than your own desires.”

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

March 10, 2023March 10, 2023

French Catholics want to change view on homosexuality

— Some French bishops want to reformulate the view of the Roman Catholic Church on homosexuality. To that end, they are working on some proposals.

The clergy want more attention to pastoral care for homosexuals in the Church, La Croix writes. Last week Tuesday, members of the Reconnaissance Association, an organisation for parents of homosexual people that pleads for more consideration for them in the Church, met in the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre.

Taboo

According to La Croix, the trends in society to lift the taboo on homosexuality and make better care for gay people available have pushed the Church to reconsider its position on homosexuality.

In addition, some bishops want to reformulate the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore, they want to revise the Catholic Catechism, which deals with homosexuality in paragraphs 2357, 2357, 2359 and 2396. Especially the wording of paragraph 2396 that calls acts of homosexuality intrinsically disordered is a thorn in the side of some clergy.

Discernment

According to Archbishop Hervé Giraud, the process of reconsidering homosexuality in the French Roman Catholic Church has been ongoing since the ad limina visit to Rome in 2021. Since then, several bishops have been working on revising the doctrine. Archbishop Giraud says these proposals “must obviously be examined by the competent dicastery and submitted to the discernment of the Pope.”

At the same time, it is not likely that the trends in the French Church will lead to a change in the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church in general. A source in Vatican City tells La Croix that he does not see a fundamental change taking place “because the question of homosexuality actually engages more than itself: the anthropology and sexual morality of the Church.”

Questions

Therefore, the main goal of the French clergy is to make the topic more audible. To that end, the National Family and Society Service of the Conference of Bishops of France has ordered three theologians to work on some commonly asked questions on the topic and answer them. In the process, they involved homosexual people and associations that specialise in homosexuality in the Church.

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

March 10, 2023March 10, 2023

In accusing Cardinal McElroy of heresy, Bishop Paprocki was aiming higher

— The American episcopate’s anti-Francis faction takes it to a new level.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, from left, Pope Francis and Bishop Thomas Paprocki.

By Mark Silk

On Feb. 28, the Catholic bishop of Springfield, Illinois, Thomas Paprocki, accused the newest American cardinal, San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy, of heresy.

Not that Paprocki made so bold as to call out McElroy by name. In a Feb. 28 essay, “Imagining a Heretical Cardinal,” on the website of the magazine First Things, the bishop began by quoting directly from an article McElroy had published in the Jesuit magazine America a month earlier:

Imagine if a cardinal of the Catholic Church were to publish an article in which he condemned “a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist” and stated that “unworthiness cannot be the prism of accompaniment for disciples of the God of grace and mercy.”

Anyone who plugged the quotes into a search engine did not have to imagine for long.

Newly created Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of San Diego, attends a reception for relatives and friends in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Aug. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) — Newly created Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of San Diego, attends a reception for relatives and friends in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Aug. 27, 2022.

Paprocki then proceeded to a second imaginary: “Or what if a cardinal of the Catholic Church were to state publicly that homosexual acts are not sinful and same-sex unions should be blessed by the Church?”

Public statements along those lines have been made by Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, not McElroy — though a reader might think otherwise. In his America article, McElroy concerned himself with the question of whether access to the Eucharist should be permitted to the divorced and remarried and to sexually active LGBT people.

Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki in 2018. Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois — Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki in 2018.

McElroy took the position that members of both groups should be so permitted for the reasons of “eucharistic conherence” that Paprocki quoted in his response. The Springfield bishop pronounced the remarks heretical and proceeded to cite canon law indicating that those holding heretical views are automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

But, Paprocki continued, since a cardinal can only be removed from office by the pope, one who is automatically excommunicated (i.e., McElroy) might get to vote for the next pope. “We must pray,” Paprocki piously concluded, “that the Holy Spirit will not let this happen, and will inspire anyone who espouses heretical views to renounce them and seek reconciliation with our Lord and his Church.”

I guess Paprocki figured there’s no way the present pope would himself avert the danger by removing the heretical cardinal in question from office. And with good reason.

After all, in his 2013 apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis wrote:

The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. These convictions have pastoral consequences that we are called to consider with prudence and boldness. Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.

In his 2016 exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” (Love’s Happiness), Francis declared that it “can no longer simply be said that all those in any ‘irregular’ situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace.” And that “science needs to be better incorporated into the Church’s praxis in certain situations which do not objectively embody our understanding of marriage.”

And: “At times we find it hard to make room for God’s unconditional love in our pastoral activity. We put so many conditions on mercy that we empty it of its concrete meaning and real significance.”

Pope Francis speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to homosexuality in terms of "sin." But he attributed attitudes to culture backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) — Pope Francis speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican, Jan. 24, 2023.

Did I mention that, to the consternation of some conservative prelates and laity, the pope in fact did, in Chapter 8 of “Amoris Laetitia,” give bishops the power to grant divorced and remarried persons access to the Eucharist?

No one should have the slightest doubt that the McElroy remarks condemned as heresy by Paprocki convey precisely Francis’ magisterial teaching — indeed, that the pope’s injunction to “make room for God’s unconditional love in our pastoral activity” is clearly mirrored in McElroy’s advocacy of a “radical inclusion” of some people whose sexual activity outside of church-sanctioned marriage violates church doctrine.

If McElroy pushed the envelope, it was by extending the pope’s principles to sexually active LGBTQ persons. But that’s not where Paprocki brought his hammer down. He brought it down on the principles themselves — effectively applying the same automatic excommunication he assigned to McElroy to Francis himself.

It’s hard to imagine a bishop affronting any other pope in this way with impunity.

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023

Archbishop of Canterbury offers to stand down, as England OKs gay-union blessings

By Terry Mattingly

In England, proclaiming God’s blessing on same-sex relationships has become the new orthodoxy for clergy with established ties to the powers that be.

But not in Nigeria and the Global South, where Anglican leaders have urged the Church of England to consider the impact of its actions on believers facing conflict with Jihadi terrorists.

“I am genuinely torn by this,” said Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, about an appeal for General Synod leaders to consult with Anglican primates around the world before proceeding. “It isn’t just about listening to the rest of the world – it’s caring. Let’s just be clear on that. It’s about people who will die, women who will be raped, children who will be tortured.

“So, when we vote, we need to think of that. It’s not just about what people will say – it is about what they will suffer.”

But after years of tense dialogues and visiting war zones, Welby told the synod to proceed. Thus, the General Synod bishops, clergy and laity voted 250-181 to offer blessing rites for same-sex couples married by the state – while retaining church doctrine that marriage is between a man and a woman.

“For the first time, the Church of England will publicly, unreservedly and joyfully welcome same-sex couples in church,” said Welby and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, in their Feb. 9 statement. Anglicans have “deep differences on these questions which go to the heart of our human identity.”

This move angered LGBTQ activists who said mere “blessings” were not enough, while leaders of giant Anglican churches in Africa and Asia also rejected the compromise.

Welby said he had little or no choice, when addressing a Feb. 12 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Accra, Ghana.

After the synod vote, he said, “I was summoned twice to Parliament and threatened with parliamentary action to force same-sex marriage on us, called in England ‘equal marriage.'”

As always, the question was whether changes in the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in America, the Anglican Church of Canada and other shrinking – but often wealthy – First World churches could change the shape of the 42-province Anglican Communion.

In Ghana, Welby said the institutions that guide the communion “must change with the times.” While the “role of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the See of Canterbury, is an historic one,” he said, “I will not cling to place or position. I hold it very lightly, provided that the other Instruments of Communion choose the new shape, that we are not dictated to by people, blackmailed, bribed to do what others want us to do, but that we act in good conscience before God seeking a judge that is not for our power, but exists for the new world with its extraordinary and terrifying threats.”

The next day, 12 leaders of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches – representing about 75% Anglicans who attend worship rites – agreed with part of Welby’s blunt assessment of the crisis.

While seeking to “keep the unity of the visible Church and the fabric of the Anglican Communion” the Global South leaders released a document stating that they could not share Holy Communion with “provinces that have departed from the historic faith and taken the path of false teaching.” Also, the fellowship said it would no longer recognize Welby as the “first among equals” among national-church Anglican leaders.

“With the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury forfeiting their leadership role,” they said, Anglicanism’s “orthodox” primates across the global communion will meet to “work out the shape and nature of our common life together” because “for us, and perhaps by his own reported self-exclusion, the present Archbishop of Canterbury is no longer the … Chair of the Primates’ Meeting by virtue of his position.”

Uganda Archbishop Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu stressed that there will be no Anglican compromise this time around.

“The only significant difference between a wedding and a service of ‘blessing’ is the terminology used,” he said, in a public statement. “The Church of England insists it is not changing its doctrine of marriage. But, in practice, they are doing precisely that. …

“But, what I want you to know is that if it looks like a wedding, and sounds like a wedding … it IS a wedding.”

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!

March 2, 2023March 1, 2023

LGBT+ History Month

— Navigating faith as a gay man

Numair Masud found it “impossible” to express his sexuality growing up in Pakistan

By Liz Clements

“I spent a great deal of my time in the shadows, hiding. That is not a happy existence for anyone.”

Dr Numair Masud from Cardiff used to practise Islam but left his faith as he felt he could not express his sexuality but instead had to hide it.

But for David Williamson and Matthew Dicken, from Cwmbran their experience couldn’t be more different – they are looking forward to receiving a church blessing when they get married in May.

“Being same sex attracted and being a Christian are not mutually exclusive. They can co-exist,” according to David.

During LGBT+ History Month three gay men share their views on their respective faiths – a relationship that is historically complicated with views varying from person to person in diverse religions across the world.

‘You can be persecuted by law’

Raised in a Muslim family in Pakistan, Dr Masud found it “impossible” to express his sexuality there.

“It was an upbringing of repression and oppression,” said the 32-year-old.

“By virtue of being in love with the same sex, you can be persecuted by law. There was fear because you don’t want the truth to come out because it can harm you.”

Mosque in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan — In Pakistan, where Dr Masud was born, homosexuality is illegal

In Pakistan homosexuality is illegal and punishable by possible life imprisonment.

Numair moved to the UK to start a degree in zoology in Bristol and then moved to Cardiff to study for his PhD.

Navigating his identity as a gay man he became critical of his relationship with Islam and decided to leave the faith.

When he fell in love with another man, Numair realised he could not and would not return to Pakistan.

In 2017 he claimed and was granted asylum in the UK and now lives in Cardiff working as a research scientist at Cardiff University.

“Perhaps the most important freedom of all that I discovered, was the freedom to be able to help others through learning from my own trials and tribulations, to be able to help others discover their own voice”, he said.

Numair is now an LGBTQ+ activist, helping others who struggle to reconcile their sexuality and religion.

Dr Numair Masud — Dr Masud is a research scientist in Cardiff

He worries that there is a danger when faith informs potentially harmful views.

“You have a right to believe in what you want, but the moment your belief when acted upon harms me or anyone else or any other community, that is unacceptable”, he said.

He acknowledges his experiences are personal and there are LGBTQ+ Muslims who are able to continue practising their faith.

While some attitudes are changing towards LGBTQ+ people in Muslim communities he personally was unable to do this.

“It feels bittersweet, because I’ve had to give up a lot in my life to be where I am today. Saying goodbye to the people you love is not easy,” he reflects.

“The sweet element, the sense of joy comes from realising that I have the freedom to be myself and find love, to love and be loved without too much judgement here in Wales… I’m so thankful and grateful for that.”

While Numair struggled, for David and Matthew, their religion is at the heart of their relationship.

‘Celebrate our love’

In just under three months, Matthew, 34 and David, 46 will tie the knot in Cardiff’s City Hall.

But what the couple, who are members of the Church in Wales, are most excited for is a blessing at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff.

It will be the first blessing of its kind at the 12th Century cathedral.

“People have worshipped on this site for over 1,000 years, so there’s something special about that and to be able to celebrate our love there,” headteacher Matthew said.

The couple who live in Cwmbran have been together for two years but met years earlier.

Matthew and David’s individual journeys with sexuality have been different and complicated at times.

“Growing up, I always knew I was same-sex attracted but that was something to keep hidden or not talk about,” said David, who now works as executive assistant to the Bishop of Llandaff.

“It took me until my 30s to accept that for myself, and then a journey to actually see I’m still a person of faith, and my relationship with God is fundamentally intrinsic to who I am,” he added.

“I’d love to be able to say that everyone’s accepting but that’s not my full experience,” said Matt.

‘Difficult conversations’

“People have quoted little bits of scripture from out of context and that has happened to us.

“We’re not going to pretend it’s easy, but our understanding is based on the fundamental thing of love,” he said.

“Being same sex attracted and being a Christian are not mutually exclusive. They can co-exist,” David added.

The couple said there are “ways to conduct debate carefully”, and despite difficult conversations or upsetting remarks, they believe things are progressing.

“I think the Church in Wales are really trying to be inclusive, and that’s so important. Communities of faith are on their own journey as well,” Matt said.

“It’s difficult to try and forge a way forward and accepting and blessing something that’s different from what has been, for however many centuries.”

‘Celebrate love in all its variety’

In September 2021, the Church in Wales’ governing body voted in favour of offering blessings to gay marriages or civil partnerships. In theological terms, a blessing is God’s approval.

The first same-sex blessing was in November that year.

The blessing is currently being used experimentally for five years, but individual clergy can decide whether to bless partnerships.

Earlier this month, the Church of England backed proposals to allow same-sex blessings there, as is already granted in Wales, but the topic proved divisive.

An amendment to force a vote on changing the Church’s teaching and allowing gay couples to marry in Church was rejected during the eight-hour debate in the Church of England’s national assembly.

In Wales the law prohibits same-sex marriages by the Church in Wales.

Andy John, Archbishop of Wales — In 2021, the Archbishop of Wales, The Most Rev Andrew John said same-sex weddings could be held in churches in Wales in five years

In 2021, the Archbishop of Wales, The Most Rev Andrew John said same-sex weddings could be held in churches in Wales in five years and should “welcome people, where they are, who they are”.

Matthew agrees changing the rules on same-sex marriage in churches in Wales could mean inclusion for more people.

“It needs to move forward I believe to be more accepting and to celebrate love in all its variety. I think there is a sense of urgency, because you lose people, not only to a church building or congregation, you lose people to faith,” he said.

For now though, both Matthew and David cannot wait for their special day.

“To celebrate our love for each other and our love for God and wanting to seek God’s blessing on our relationship and to be able to do that publicly in a place of worship is just more than we ever thought would be possible.”

Complete Article ↪HERE↩!