A new Vatican document is an attempt by Pope Francis to be more welcoming of gay people, suggesting they have “gifts and qualities to offer.”
At the direction of Pope Francis I, the Vatican has released a document that says gay people have “gifts and qualities to offer,” and even praises same-sex relationships for being “a precious support in the life of the partners.”
It is being called “a dramatic shift in tone” in news reports, and “an earthquake” in tone by John Thavis, a Vatican expert and author of the New York Times’ bestseller, The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities, and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church.
“Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a further space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home,” the document, the relatio, reads, according to the AP.
“Are our communities capable of proving that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?” it asked.
A number of participants at the closed-door synod have said the Church should tone down its condemnatory language when referring to gay couples and avoid phrases such as “intrinsically disordered” when speaking of homosexuals.
While the Church continued to affirm that gay unions “cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman”, it should recognize that there could be positive aspects to relationships in same-sex couples.
“Without denying the moral problems connected to homosexual unions it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners,” the document said.
But just last week, Raymond Burke, the Vatican’s number two man — a judge second only to Pope Francis – in an interview said parents should not let their children have any contact with gay people, who engage in “evil, wrong,” and “disordered” relationships.
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