Conservative Leaders Push Catholic Church To Backtrack On Gays

On Monday, news came that the Vatican was ready to acknowledge the “gifts and qualities” gay people have to offer. By Tuesday, conservatives at the highest levels of the Vatican made sure that would not happen.

The headlines read as if there had been a major change in the Roman Catholic Church: Groundbreaking! Revolutionary! A seismic shift! All this for a preliminary draft of a document that is itself merely a recommendation for later documents.

Recently cardinals and bishops in Rome convened for what’s called an “extraordinary synod” – essentially a meeting – to discuss family in the 21st century. On Monday, a spokesman for this meeting referred to a preliminary statement regarding divorced Catholics, gays and lesbians, and challenges to marriage including cohabitation. 

Much of the media coverage was on what was thought to be more inclusive language that was, in reality, less than what the LGBT community and allies deserve.

The draft uses the term “incomplete and imperfect” to to describe LGBT people (and divorced Catholics). That’s more insulting than welcoming.

The document continues a two-tiered system of personhood for legally married straight and gay couples. “The Church furthermore affirms that unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman. Nor is it acceptable that pressure be brought to bear on pastors or that international bodies make financial aid dependent on the introduction of regulations inspired by gender ideology.” To the Vatican, the push for equality is “gender ideology.”

Yes, the document says pastors should recognize the “positive aspects of civil unions and cohabitation.” It also notes, “Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community” and asks if parishes are “capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities.” There are some LGBT-affirming Catholic communities, such as St. Francis Xavier on East 15th Street in Manhattan. Other parishes have vocally objected when their pastors fired gay and lesbian lay leaders, ministers and teachers, but their voices fell on deaf ears. To the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, making a doctrinal statement by laying off a gay or lesbian person is more important than that person losing his or her income, health insurance, housing and security. 

Just one day after this document was released, conservative prelates, led by Cardinal Raymond Burke, the head of the Vatican’s version of the Supreme Court, and African Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, attacked the draft document, causing the Vatican to backtrack on its meaning. 

Africa is a growth area for the Catholic Church, as is Asia, both of which are extremely conservative, and in the case of the African Church, very homophobic. Bishops from those two continents will surely join forces with fellow holdovers from John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Those bishops and cardinals make up the vast majority of the “magisterium,” or teaching authority of the Catholic Church. Debate over this document will be a battle royale behind closed doors. The ultimate decision will be made by Francis, but in the spirit of collegiality, will he use the force of his personality to overrule the orthodox hard liners? Can the Church go from calling gays and lesbians “intrinsically disordered” and “suffering from same-sex attraction” to opening its arms in a welcoming embrace?  

Actions will speak louder than words. Will gays and lesbians no longer be fired from churches and schools? Will children of gay and lesbian couples no longer be denied admission to parochial schools? Will LGBT Catholics be allowed to participate in lay ministries? Will they stop drumming gay men out of seminaries? Will legally married gay and lesbian couples be allowed to receive Communion? Will national conferences of Catholic bishops move rapidly to implement changes toward LGBT people, or move at a glacial pace? The final document, due in October 2015, runs the risk of being mere marketing window dressing.

We should wait to see what happens one year, two years, 10 years from now. If warranted, we should reserve a seismic “yay” until then.

 

Image: Prayer Vigil with Pope Francis ahead of the Synod.
Photo by Catholic Church England and Wales, via Flickr