British Catholic Lesbian Leader Meets With Close Papal Advisor

Ruby Almeida and Cardinal Oswald Gracias

A British Catholic lesbian leader has met with one of Pope Francis’ most trusted advisors, and she discussed outreach to LGBT people with him, reports QueeringTheChurch.com.  

Ruby Almeida, the chair of Quest, a British Catholic LGBT organization, met with Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, India, while she visited the country on a personal trip.  During her visit with Gracias, who is one of the eight cardinals that Pope Francis has chosen to be part of his closest advisory council, Almeida discussed LGBT experience with him, and received a very favorable response. In a report to the Quest governing committee, she writes:

“On a recent trip to India, I took  some of our new Quest leaflets when I met with a group of local lgbts. We had an in depth discussion about the reality of their lives under a colonial law that does not recognise their rights as Indian citizens. A few individuals were keen to try and set up something similar to Quest, to act as contact point for social and pastoral support for lgbts. Whilst there I was also able to organise a meeting with Cardinal Oswald Gracias who is one of the Group of Eight Cardinals to help reform the Church. I took along a young gay man who is actively involved in lgbt issues there and is also an organiser for Pride in Mumbai. ! ! The Cardinal was very welcoming and interested in the problems that Catholic lgbts face in India. He was honest enough to say that he was not aware of the difficulties and pain that they suffered as he isolated from grass roots issues and only aware of what he is informed of by his advisers. I suggested to him that if he could appoint a priest as a point of contact for the gay community, so that their needs could be addressed and a level of support could be made available. The possibility of a Mass under the banner of ‘all are welcome’ was also something in which Cardinal Gracias showed an interest, and the hope is that this could be the start of something positive for the Catholic gay community there.”

Terence Weldon, who is the editor and main contributor of QueeringTheChurch.com, commented on this encounter:

“What excites me about this meeting, is simply that it took place, and that we’ve had an attentive hearing from a man so close to the pope, and who will surely be influential in the synod on marriage and family.

“What disappoints me (but doesn’t surprise me) is that he confessed to knowing so little about the real hardships faced by ordinary gay and lesbian people, as he is ‘removed from grassroots issues.’ That is precisely the problem with the Catholic cardinals and bishops as a group  they are necessarily far removed from real life issues at the coal face, especially those concerning sex, marriage and family – and yet they continue to pontificate to the rest of us on issues of which they are largely ignorant.”

I agree with Weldon.  I think this is a wonderful and important step for the Catholic LGBT movement!  Cardinal Gracias has already shown he can be courageous about LGBT issues when last year he was India’s only religious leader to speak out against the possible re-criminalization of homosexuality in that country.  The fact that he is also so close to Pope Francis means that his opinion on these matters can have a lot of weight. In addition to being a close papal advisor, Gracias is also President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and Secretary General of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, so his influence can also be horizontal to other bishops, as well as vertical to the Vatican and Pope Francis.

And we also know that a personal encounter can move someone so much more than any theological or political argument about LGBT issues.  Almeida’s account of the meeting indicates that Gracias’ heart indeed seems to have been opened.  This is certainly an occasion for prayers of joy and thanksgiving!

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Commonweal, Catholicism, and Same-Sex Marriage, Part 1

Last August, Commonweal magazine published an intriguing article entitled  “The Things We Share:  A Catholic’s Case for Same-Sex Marriage.”  What made it most intriguing was that it was written by Joseph Bottum, a religious and political conservative, who is the former editor of First Things magazine, a staunchly conservative publication.  You can read our blog post summarizing and critiquing the article here.

This past week, Commonweal followed up on Bottum’s landmark essay in an equally intriguing way:  they asked both a leading conservative columnist and a leading progressive columnist to respond to Bottum’s arguments.  The New York Times’ Ross Douthat and The National Catholic Reporter’s  Jamie Manson each offered their thoughts on Bottum’s work, and Commonweal provided Bottum’s to respond to them.

Today, we will look at Douthat’s comment and tomorrow we will look at Manson’s remarks.  You can read Douthat’s comments in full here.  If you want to read Bottum’s reply to both of them, you can click here.  After reading it, I decided not to comment on it because I don’t think such comment would add much to the debate about marriage equality.

Ross Douthat

Though Douthat and Bottum’s may agree on many matters, even some that concern same-sex marriage, Douthat believes that one of Bottum’s main argument–that the Catholic hierarchy has lost the debate on marriage equality and that church leaders should not argue the case anymore but instead focus on “re-enchating” the public with its traditional view of marriage–is “either confused or a cop-out.”  Douthat explains:

“For the Catholic Church to explicitly support the disentanglement of civil and religious marriage, and to cease to make any kind of public argument against treating same-sex unions the same way opposite-sex ones are treated in law and policy, would be a very serious withdrawal from political and cultural engagement. It is one thing to urge the church to prepare for political defeat on this issue—such preparations are obviously necessary, more obviously so now even than when Bottum’s essay first appeared. But it is quite another—more separatist, more sectarian, and thus more problematic—to say that the church should preemptively cease to even make the argument.”

Douthat wants no part of such retreat, and he argues that Catholics opposed to marriage equality must, on principle, continue their argument:

“If Catholics are to continue contending in the American public square, if they are going to choose active participation over catacombs and lifeboats, they need to have something to say to actual Americans about actual American debates. . . . there is no honest way for the church to avoid stating its position on what the legal definition of marriage ought to be—even in a world where that definition has changed and doesn’t seem likely to change back.”

While I disagree with Douthat about marriage equality, I have to admit that I sympathize with him about the idea of speaking out on the basis of principle.  As someone who believes in the power of argument and persuasion, I think it is important that people do not give up on their principles just because others, even a majority of others, may disagree with them.

But I don’t think that is necessarily a strategic thing to do.  Pope Francis himself has urged church leaders not to be “obsessed” about same-sex marriage, among other things.  Douthat, I think, agrees with the pope, for strategic reasons, stating:

“This need not mean starting every conversation with same-sex marriage; once the legal change is accomplished, it may involve talking about the issue less often, or talking about it in some very different way. But it cannot mean pretending that the church’s opposition to calling same-sex unions ‘marriage’ no longer exists.”

I tend to think that Pope Francis made his comment from a pastoral, not a political, perspective, based on the context in which he made the statement.  And I think that it is wise pastoral advice for at least two reasons: 1) there are many, many more important pastoral, spiritual, and social issues that church leaders should focus on; 2) constantly speaking negatively about same-sex marriage will certainly alienate many Catholics and others from the church.

Finally, I strongly disagree with Douthat in his estimation of the results of the spread of marriage equality. He states:

“I think a serious look at the trends that have accompanied the advance of gay marriage, at the legal arguments deployed on its behalf, at the shifting understanding of marriage that has made it seem commonsensical, and at the direction of the debate on related issues (from polygamy to surrogacy) should all cast grave doubt on the idea that the church could somehow incorporate same-sex nuptials into its view of marriage without transforming that view beyond all recognition.”

To me, this is not an argument, but simple fear-mongering.  As I see it, the only major social change that has happened since the advent of marriage equality has been the strengthening and protection of more couples and families, providing greater social stability.  Douthat, however, is  almost right on one point: same-sex nuptials will require a transformation of the hierarchy’s views on marriage.  I think that transformation will be for the better of all concerned. But, more on that tomorrow, when we look at Jamie Manson’s piece.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Related article

Bondings 2.0: “Civil Same-Sex Marriage: A Catholic Affirmation” by Professor Lisa Fullam

Marriage Equality:  A Positive Catholic Approach by Francis DeBernardo

 

 

 

 

Canada’s Catholic Schools Take Further Steps toward LGBT Inclusion

Mural painted as part of a Pride Week celebration at a Canadian Catholic high school.

Canada’s publicly-funded Catholic school system has made some great strides in regard to LGBT issues over the past few years. Three recent developments provide hope that these schools will only become more and more inclusive of differing gender identities and sexual orientations.

In April, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) drew criticism from traditionalist groups over the union’s decision to march in the WorldPride Parade. Now, trustees of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board have voted 8-1 in support of OECTA sending over 100 educators to march in Toronto this June.

Several trustees like Anthony Piscitelli spoke about LGBT justice in light of their faith, according  The Record:

” ‘As lay leaders in the Catholic community our words and actions matter,’ Trustee Anthony Piscitelli said. ‘Let’s make it clear here today that the board of trustees supports inclusion.’ “

Other trustees, like Frank Johnson, countered anti-LGBT critics of the teachers’ participation in WorldPride by saying:

” ‘I question your understanding of God’s design…It’s diametrically opposed to what I believe about God.’

“Johnson argued that censuring teachers could force gay Catholic students further underground, where they might harm themselves.”

Elsewhere, fired transgender teacher Jan Buterman’s legal battle with the Catholic school system which fired him after transitioning has moved forward. The Alberta Human Rights Commission will hear the case, and speculation about how the court will rule and what the impacts may be has already begun. National Post writes:

“Between recent rulings demanding greater ease for transgendered people who wish to change their sex on government identification, to debates over whether public and quasi-public religious schools should be able to enforce strict covenants and morality codes that exclude gay, lesbian and transgendered students and staff, Mr. Buterman’s case has provided a worrying precedent for the faithful.

“If Mr. Buterman wins his case with the Alberta Human Rights Commission — its hearing date still to be decided — these schools fear they will be forced to accommodate people whose values and behaviour differ markedly from their own in an environment that is explicitly religious.

“If he loses, it could prove to be a gut-wrenching setback for those with unconventional gender identities.”

You can read Bondings 2.0‘s full coverage of Jan Buterman’s case and find links to stories about all fired LGBT and ally church workers here.

Finally, this blog reported last week on a Canadian Catholic high school’s first Pride week celebration, which included educational programming and a film screening. Students at Blessed Pope John Paul II also painted a mural to promote inclusion of all people, and in our original post, we showed the mural in progress.  At the top of this post, you can see the finished product.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

Fired Employees Seek Papal Audience; Theologian Looks at Discrimination’s Root

The chorus of voices opposing the recent firings of LGBT people from Catholic institutions increased in this past week, as nine fired employees wrote to Pope Francis, seeking an audience. Additionally, theologian Lisa Fullam spoke out  against these unjust firings, and she examined the root causes of them.

The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT political equality organization, released a letter this week which they mailed to Pope Francis on behalf of nine people recently fired, inviting the pontiff to meet with them to discuss employment and LGBT issues in the church.  The letter reads, in part:

We have devoted years, some of us even decades, to serving our communities as teachers, leaders
and role models. We have made a conscious choice to work within the Catholic Church because we
strongly believe that a Catholic education prepares our young people to be responsible citizens, men
and women for others. For each and every one of us, our employment was far more than just a job –
it was a reflection of core Catholic values. . . .

After each termination, school and Church officials have told us we violate Catholic Church
teachings on homosexuality. Yet, such directives have not only caused great harm to our families, but
also contradict your pastoral priority for the Church to reflect the beauty of God in ways that attract
and entice rather than alienate. . . .

The letter writers appealed to Pope Francis’ well-known gestures of welcome to LGBT people:

We take hope from your messages of acceptance and see in your pastoral leadership the possibility
for the Church to correct these hurtful injustices. We ask for a Papal audience with our families, so
that you may hear our personal stories firsthand and see the impact the Church’s actions have had on
us all.

The letter was signed by nine fired employees.  Six are lesbian or gay educators: Tippi McCullough, Flint Dollar, Michael Griffin, Richard Hague, Kristen Ostendorf, Brian Panetta. One is a gay man dismissed from his parish ministry:  Nicholas Coppola. One is the mother of a gay son, who will not be re-hired at a Catholic school because she refused to sign a new, restrictive contract: Molly Shumate.

To learn more about these individual cases, and for an exhaustive list of LGBT people and allies whose service in Catholic institutions has been terminated, visit New Ways Ministry’s page of names and links.

Lisa Fullam, a professor of moral theology at the Jesuit School of  Theology at Berkeley, posted an analysis on the dotCommonweal blog entitled “What Counts as ‘Unjust Discrimination’?”   After citing the Catholic Catechism’s admonition about lesbian and gay people that “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided,”  Fullam recounts the story of Colleen Simon, who was recently fired from her job as social ministries coordinator at a Kansas City parish.

For Fullam, the root of the problem lies not with the employees but with unjust Catholic language about lesbian and gay people.   She concludes her post:

“I’d add also that listening to LGBT people might include being open to the possibility that language like ‘grave depravity,’ ‘intrinsic disorder,’ ‘objective disorder’ and the like is in need of revision and rejection. It seems to be utterly unjust to apply such harsh and hurtful language to two women who love each other deeply and share also a profound commitment to service of the poor. They set a standard for love of neighbor that all of us–gay, straight, or whatever–would do well to emulate. “

(Editor’s note:  Lisa Fullam recently published a theological article in support of civil same-sex marriage on this blog.  You can read it by clicking here.)

As always, we encourage Catholics to begin discussions of non-discrimination policies in Catholic institutions as a way to forestall future actions against LGBT and ally employees.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Related article

LGBTQ Nation: “Fired teachers seek audience with Pope over Catholic Church’s anti-gay stance”

 

 

 

 

‘Hate was just a failure of imagination’

A young, conservative Catholic woman recently wrote about how she opened her eyes to the world of LGBT reality, without leaving her faith, and, perhaps, even strengthening it. Her story is an instructive one about the ways other Catholics, particularly bishops, can learn something about  the LGBT community.  It’s not about our hearts, our minds, our souls.  It’s all about our imagination.

In an article on the website Ms. In the Biz, Kristyne Fetsic traces her development on LGBT issues by working as a writer and producer on the television show EastSiders, a show which centers on a gay couple and airs on cable’s LOGO channel, which primarily airs LGBT content.  She begins by describing her upbringing:

“I was born in Cleveland, OH to parents who were both wonderfully Catholic and wonderfully Ohioan. Both live no more than a 30 minute car ride away from their childhood homes. I spent 13 years attending Catholic school, 4 years volunteering, and at times running, the Catholic community at my college, and 24 and a half years never missing a Sunday mass. (In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m 24 and a half years old and have been attending weekly mass into my adult life.) I was, and to some still am, the good little Midwestern Catholic girl.”

Kristyne Fetsic

Fetsic knew gay and lesbian people in college, but she says that because her religious ideals promoted a negative view of homosexuality, she ended up in what she called an “agnostic” attitude towards LGBT issues, neither affiriming nor condemning them.  When she was offered the opportunity to work for EastSiders, she ran into a dilemma:

“My father always encouraged me to stay true to my values no matter what opportunities presented themselves. He has this dream of me changing the raunchy ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ Hollywood into something society can believe in and trust again. Like the good old days. My father’s voice was a constant resident in my thoughts, but I had loosened up a lot from my strict moral mentality since moving to LA a year prior so I saw little harm in accepting the position. However, I was still in my ‘don’t ask, don’t tell, because I still don’t know how I feel about LGBT issues’ phase.”

Working on the show helped Fetsic see the normality and humanity of lesbian and gay people.  She surprised herself by finding that she could identify with one episode which featured a lesbian couple:

“During an average, ordinary shoot day, I had an epiphany. I had recently gone through a breakup when production of the show began and it all of a sudden struck me how strongly I related to the story of the show. I specifically remember shooting the conversation between Cal and Kathy in the first episode and thinking ‘I know exactly how Cal feels.’ It was through the story of EastSiders that I found how I felt about the LGBT community. If God is love, and if a person is compelled and inspired to love another person (no matter what genders are involved) then that’s God working in this world and that is a beautiful thing.”

This transformation moment is key.  Fetsic saw not just the humanity of this lesbian couple, but, she also saw a bit of herself in them.  She was able to imagine being in that situation, and that made her realize that their lives were not very different from hers.

In one of his best-loved and most powerful novels, The Power and the Glory, the Catholic author Graham Greene wrote about how important imagination is to learning to love someone.  He observed:

“When you visualized a man or woman carefully, you could always begin to feel pity — that was a quality God’s image carried with it. When you saw the lines at the corners of the eyes, the shape of the mouth, how the hair grew, it was impossible to hate. Hate was just a failure of imagination.”

If we want a better church, a better world, we must first come to see that we are all connected as brothers and sisters, regardless of any personal quality that may differentiate us.  We all have the image of God in us.

Fetsic sums up this idea in her closing paragraph:

“What inspires me to be confident in what I’ve learned and how I see the world to be is Jesus’ core message: Love God above all else and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ I know I have no right to judge my neighbor, no right to condemn my neighbor, but every right and every responsibility to love them.”

Now what if we all lived that teaching?  Imagine!

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Related article

Huffington Post: “How a Conservative Catholic Girl Became a Producer on a Gay Web Series”

 

Exploring the What & Why of Church Worker Firings, and Asking ‘What’s Next?’

“Pope Francis’ positive and welcoming statements about LGBT issues have captured headlines and imaginations over the past year, seeming to herald a more inclusive Catholic church. Yet…In the last year or more, the Catholic church in the US witnessed a disturbing spate of Catholic institutions terminating individuals’ employment because of issues related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

That paradox is how Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, begins an essay in Conscience magazine which explores the firings of LGBT people and their allies from Catholic schools, parishes, and social service agencies.  (You can read the entire article by clicking here, and turning to page 26.   The article is part of a special issue of Conscience which focuses on religious liberty issues.  Conscience is published by Catholics for Choice.)

These tragedies are increasing, from two public firings in 2011 to more than a dozen already this year. As LGBT rights,  especially marriage equality, advance in the US, this problem could grow rapidly. DeBernardo explains one reason for this increase:

“The era of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ in Catholic institutions is ending as LGBT people become known by the fact of simply living in mainstream society.”

Tied into employment disputes are questions of religious liberty and social justice, and the reality that excluding LGBT people from Church ministries is not supported by the faithful. DeBernardo notes:

“Religious liberty becomes a factor in these cases because all institutions that have fired LGBT people and supporters have used their identity as religious organizations to justify their discriminatory actions…In most cases, institutions are favored by the law…

“While most of these employers’ actions may be protected by the law, they are not supported by morality. In almost every one of these cases when someone has been fired, Catholic people have strongly protested. The fact that many of these cases happened in schools means that the younger generation, which is more progressive on LGBT issues than their forebears, has organized petitions and active protests…A movement of Catholics outraged by their leaders’ decisions and strategies has emerged…

“All these policies and actions are rooted in the Catholic social justice tradition: a tradition that values equality, human dignity, conscience and the rights of workers.”

Francis DeBernardo

To counter these firings, New Ways Ministry has encouraged the adoption of nondiscrimination policies by Catholic institutions which are inclusive of “marital status, gender identity, and sexual orientation.” DeBernardo says of this effort:

“At the very least, proposing such an idea in a parish or a school will generate discussion of the issue, and perhaps help to forestall future terminations. At best, a Catholic workplace may adopt policies protecting LGBT rights. As strange as a Catholic work environment that does not discriminate against LGBT individuals may sound to some, it is not such a far-fetched idea. Indeed, there is a strong Catholic tradition of such support.”

Included within this tradition, DeBernardo cites St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York which protected gay employees as early as 1973. Now, Catholic institutions for healthcare and for higher education lead the way in extending full protections and benefits to LGBT people and their families.

There are hopeful signs elsewhere that resisting these firings is possible, and DeBernardo includes actions in Seattle, Santa Rosa, Clifornia, Vienna, Austria, and elsewhere as evidence. There is also the reality that “students have been almost unanimously opposed to the firings,” causing DeBernardo to observe:

“For this generation, LGBT equality is most assuredly one of the civil rights issues of today. It’s hard for them to imagine anything as discriminatory as firing a lesbian or gay person for marrying will still occur when they become adults.”

These firings are damaging not only those immediately affected, but the larger Church, as well.  For one thing, the Church is weakened without gifted LGBT and ally employees. And the hierarchy risks further alienating youth who are overwhelmingly supportive of LGBT equality.

In addition to promoting nondiscrimination policies, New Ways Ministry has been tracking each public firing on our “Catholicism, Employment, and LGBT Issues” page.  Each person is fired has been listed there with includes links to more information for each incident. Bondings 2.0 will continue updating readers with the latest information on these employment incidents as they emerge. To stay up to date, enter your email in the “Subscribe” box in the upper right hand of this page.  You can research all of these firings and related topics by checking out the ‘Employment Issues‘ category to the right.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

 

Space Aliens and Exorcisms: What Are the Lessons for Catholic LGBT Advocates?

The most bizarre news stories that have come across my computer desktop in the last few weeks have to be those that have focused around space aliens and exorcisms.  Are there any lessons in these topics that Catholic advocates for LGBT people can learn?

Space aliens made headlines because of Pope Francis’ well-noted line that if Martians showed up on earth and asked to be baptized, he would do so.  Out of context, the statement sounds extremely bizarre, but in the context of the homily he was giving, the pope’s comments make some sense.  He was trying to make the point that the Spirit of God, not our human prejudices, should lead us to act.  Catholic News Service provided context for the pope’s remarks, which were given in a homily on Acts 11:1-18:

“From the very beginnings of Christianity, the pope said, church leaders and members have been tempted at times to block the Holy Spirit’s path or try to control it.

” ‘When the Lord shows us the way, who are we to say, “No, Lord, it is not prudent! No, let’s do it this way” he said. ‘Who are we to close doors?’

“Many parishes, Pope Francis said, have ushers to open the church doors and welcome people in, ‘but there has never been a ministry for those who close the doors. Never.’ “

When Gay Star News ran the story about aliens, they did so with the headline:  “Pope Francis will not marry gay couples, but will baptize aliens.”   While that is true enough, it is a little misleading, too, since the pope did not make any comment at the time about marrying gay couples.  Moreover, the Gay Star News story doesn’t even mention marriage in the body of the text.

But more importantly, it misses the point that Pope Francis’ message was actually a message of welcome, of saying the church is open for all, even those who we might think of as the most “alien” to ourselves.  To me, that is a wonderful message of welcome to Catholics who feel marginalized, such as many LGBT Catholics do.

What is also wonderful about this story is that Pope Francis’ question,”Who are we to close doors?” so beautifully echoes his famous comments about gay priests, “Who am I to judge?”  It seems that Pope Francis is building up a theme in his pontificate of cautioning people from feeling too arrogant.

The news stories about the exorcisms might be a little more complicated.  The Washington Post  ran a story about Pope Francis’ seeming interest in the reality of the devil and the rite of exorcism.  Entitled “A modern pope gets old school on the Devil,” the article notes:

“After his little more than a year atop the Throne of St. Peter, Francis’s teachings on Satan are already regarded as the most old school of any pope since at least Paul VI, whose papacy in the 1960s and 1970s fully embraced the notion of hellish forces plotting to deliver mankind unto damnation.

“Largely under the radar, theologians and Vatican insiders say, Francis has not only dwelled far more on Satan in sermons and speeches than his recent predecessors have, but also sought to rekindle the Devil’s image as a supernatural entity with the forces­ of evil at his beck and call.”

The article explores Catholic history and ideas about the devil, but where the topic becomes problematic for Catholic LGBT advocates is when it quotes a priest who is a practicing Catholic exorcist and an experience he had on an airplane:

“. . . [T]he Rev. Cesar Truqui, an exorcist based in Switzerland, recounted one experience he had aboard a Swissair flight. ‘Two lesbians,’ he said, had sat behind him on the plane. Soon afterward, he said, he felt Satan’s presence. As he silently sought to repel the evil spirit through prayer, one of the women, he said, began growling demonically and threw chocolates at his head.

“Asked how he knew the woman was possessed, he said that ‘once you hear a Satanic growl, you never forget it. It’s like smelling Margherita pizza for the first time. It’s something you never forget.’ ”

The  homophobia in such a comment makes one realize that so much of “devil talk” relies more on people’s own prejudices, and less on a belief in objective evil.

It’s not just Catholicism that runs this risk of prejudicial Satan-labeling when it comes to lesbian and gay people.  Certain Charismatic Christian groups are also involved in such activity.  Slate.com’s Mark Joseph Stern wrote an article that took a look “Inside The Horrifying World of Gay Exorcisms.”   He cites a very reliable source, credible because he experienced such an exorcism:

“Roland Stringfellow, a pastor of the gay-friendly Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit, notes that these denominations spiritualize just about everything and believe that people have a spirit for every problem. Homosexuality, to these religions, is its own discrete problem—one even more troubling than alcoholism or drug addiction. Accordingly, Charismatic congregations are eager to cast the ‘demon’ of homosexuality out of gay people through exorcism, often in public at the altar of a church.

“Stringfellow himself was subject to such an exorcism when he was in college and was still closeted.

“ ‘I was trying to get rid of my same-sex attractions,’ he told me. ‘The person at the altar yelled so everyone could hear: “Demon of homosexuality! Come out of this young man!” And he smacked me on my forehead to “slay me in the spirit.”A friend had to get me up from the altar, pick me up, and get me back to my seat, because I was absolutely mortified. My secret had now been announced, proclaimed, to all of these individuals.’ ”

Professor Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit school, acknowledges a belief in the reality of the Devil, but he notes that the recent rise of interest in Satan can be dangerous.  Schmalz concludes a Huffington Post article on the topic with the following concluding paragraph:

“As a Catholic, I do believe that Satan exists and that there is something both intellectually and psychologically valuable in understanding evil as an objective force or entity. But I was also always taught that Lucifer was the most beautiful of the angels — and that evil can come under the most beguiling and attractive forms. For this reason, we have to be very careful where we see the Devil. When you try to cast out demons, it’s all too easy to conjure more in the process.”

Schmalz’ caution is one that U.S. Catholic bishops should heed, especially when they ramp up their rhetoric, a la Springfield, Illinois Bishop Thomas Paprocki, to insinuate that marriage equality is the work of the devil.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

Catholic Bishops and U.S. Evangelicals Make Strange Bedfellows

One of the more unusual political alliances that has developed over the past two decades has been the deepening relationship between U.S. Catholic bishops and Evangelicals in this country.  Not surprisingly, one of the areas of common ground for these otherwise seemingly disparate groups is their opposition to marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples.

Yet recent research confirms what other reports have shown:  that U.S. Catholic lay people strongly support marriage equality, unlike their counterparts in Evangelical churches. The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released statistics which show that while 69% of Evangelicals in the U.S. oppose marriage equality, only 37% of Catholics do.  On a related issue, PRRI reports the following data:

“Fewer than half (49 percent) of American Catholics agree with the traditional Catholic teaching that sex between two adults of the same gender is sinful, while nearly 8-in-10 (78 percent) of white evangelicals agree.”

Writer Patricia Miller notes that for a long time now, Catholics have been outpacing Evangelicals on support for LGBT people.  In a Religion Dispatches article, she reports:

“On the . . . . issue of same-sex marriage, Catholic opinion has tended to be slightly more favorable than the population as a whole and way more favorable than Evangelical opinion. The 2007 Pew Poll found that 42% of Catholics expressed support for same-sex marriage versus 36% of the population as a whole. In terms of trends, 40% of Catholics supported same-sex marriage in 2001 with that number increasing to nearly 60% by 2014. By contrast, only 13% of Evangelicals favored same-sex marriage in 2001 and just 23% approve of it today.”

As for the latest data, Robert Jones, the head of PRRI, points out an interesting twist for those who thought that they knew the difference between Catholics and Evangelicals.  It turns out that Evangelical Christians are more in line with official Roman Catholic positions on some social issues than Catholics are.  In an article in Tbe Atlantic, he notes the following results from his research, in addition to the two statistical comparisons mentioned above:

“Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of white evangelical Protestants say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, compared to less than half (47 percent) of Catholics. Perhaps most surprising is the white evangelical Protestant view on whether employers should be required to provide employees with no-cost contraception coverage. Despite their history of criticizing Catholics for opposing artificial means of birth control, white evangelical Protestants are far more likely than lay Catholics to oppose mandated contraception coverage (58 percent vs. 37 percent).”

Jones notes, however, that the role Pope Francis will have in politics can complicate this alliance between Catholic bishops and Evangelicals.  Of the pope, he states:

“On March 31, for example, he met with 18 members of the Green family, staunch Southern Baptists and owners of the billion-dollar Hobby Lobby empire that is suing the Obama Administration over the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act. But the pope’s call for economic justice complicates the relationship, because it calls both Catholics and evangelicals to cooperation beyond a narrow band of cultural politics. It remains to be seen whether this evangelical flock will hear in Pope Francis’ broader message the voice of a shepherd they can follow.”

Miller’s analysis shows that not only is it unusual that so many Evangelicals are following the Catholic bishops on politics, but that few pundits are picking up on the fact that Catholics, in fact, are not following their bishops.  She writes:

“The real Catholic-Evangelical convergence is between the Republican leadership, the Catholic bishops, right-wing Catholics, and rank-and-file Evangelicals, a coalition that was cemented by Karl Rove with his aggressive outreach to ‘conservative‘ Catholics during the Bush administration. But the fact that a big chunk of moderate and progressive Catholics are missing from this coalition continues to be lost on many in the media. It’s as if as long as the bishops are vocal in their objections to progressive polices and someone in the public is making noise, there’s a tendency to attribute it to “Catholics.” How else to explain the PPRI number that only 37% of Catholics oppose the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, when the widespread perception that Catholics were broadly disapproving of it helped gin up early and critical opposition?”

While ecumenical networking is definitely a positive development, it is troublesome that the U.S. bishops seem to have more in common with members of another denomination than they do with their brother and sister Catholics.  This news should be a wake-up call to U.S. bishops that they need to be in better dialogue with lay Catholics, particularly on issues of sexuality.  At stake is the very unity of the church.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Related articles:

Gay Star News: US Catholics more liberal on gay issues than white evangelical Protestants

Religion News Service: Evangelicals and Catholics Together marks 20 years

 

Brazilian Bishops Endorse Legal Equality, Promise to Accompany LGBT Community

Dom Leonardo Steiner

Brazil is the world’s largest Catholic nation, containing an estimated 123 million Catholics which is about one-tenth of the global Church overall. When its Church leaders speak, their words can have a profound impact on the life of their local Church  and increasingly in the age of Pope Francis, abroad as well.

This week, a top Brazilian bishop endorsed legal rights for same-gender couples and cited the pope in so doing. His words follow-up on the Archdiocese of  São Paulo’s positive statement to that city’s Pride Parade participants in early May that promised the Church’s solidarity to Brazil’s LGBT community who face daily violence. 

Dom (Bishop) Leonardo Steiner is general secretary of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) and an auxiliary bishop of Brasilia, the capital city. He was recently interviewed by GLOBO where he made the gay-positive comments, which Bondings 2.0 makes available via a translation from Iglesia Descalza.

While Steiner endorsed civil unions, saying same-gender couples “need a legal protection in society,” his focus in the interview was on how the Church can support lesbian and gay people. Referencing Pope Francis, Steiner tells the interviewer:

” ‘You could say that the Pope is echoing what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about gay people: “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.” It’s understood that accepting them with respect, compassion and sensitivity means walking and being with the homosexual person and helping them understand, deepen and guide their condition as a son or daughter of God’ …

” ‘Acceptance and walking with them are necessary to reflect on what fits or doesn’t fit the reality experienced by homosexual people and what, in fact, is rightfully theirs, for their own good and that of society.’ “

Finally, when asked about the possibility of change in the Church, the bishop said:

” ‘The Church isn’t the same through the ages. It seeks answers for the present time, using the Gospel as the illuminating force of its action…The Church is always seeking to read the signs of the times, to see what must or must not change. The truths of faith don’t change.’ “

Dom Steiner’s remarks echo tue positive statement made by the Archdiocese of São Paulo’s Justice and Peace Committee in April, released in anticipation of the city’s 18th Pride Parade, which took place on May 4th.  The statement positioned the Catholic Church as an advocate for LGBT rights. Bondings 2.0 obtained a rough translation, in which the Committee writes:

“We can not remain silent in the face of the reality experienced by this population that is the target of prejudice and victim of systematic violation of their fundamental rights, such as health, education, work , housing, culture, among others…[LGBT people] face unbearable daily verbal and physical violence, culminating in murders that are true hate crimes…

“[P]eople of good will, and in particular all Christians, reflect on this deeply unfair reality of LGBT people and to actively engage in their overcoming it, guided by the supreme principle of human dignity.”

The statement quotes the opening of Gaudium et spes, a Vatican II document, linking “the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties” of LGBT people with those of the Church. Strengthening this connection, the Committee’s director, Geraldo Magela Tardelli, told Estadao:

” ‘The committee has a mission, according to D. Paulo Evaristo Ars [the cardinal archbishop emeritus of Sao Paulo]: ‘we have to give voice to those who have no voice.’ Right now, what we are finding is that there is an increase of violence against homosexuals, so we can not overlook this violation of human rights…

” ‘We are engaged in upholding human rights and do not agree with violence, regardless of the color and the sexual orientation of people.’ “

These statements of solidarity, and the further endorsement of legal rights, are important in Brazil where more than 300 LGBT people are murdered annually in hate crimes. Let us hope such positive words from Catholic bishops, and more so their commitment to be among those who are marginalized for their sexual orientation or gender identity, will spread throughout Brazil and beyond its borders.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

As Firings and Restrictions Continue, So Does the Determination of the Faithful

It seems that almost every day, we receive news concerning employees from Catholic institutions being terminated because of LGBT issues.  Such news can be depressing, when we think about how much our church leaders need to learn about LGBT issues and Catholic principles of human dignity and equality.  On the other hand, sometimes these stories can be inspiring when we learn about the courage of individuals who are standing up to the oppression, and of groups of Catholics who are making known their opposition to using support for LGBT issues as a reason for being fired.

In the latest round of news on these matters, we have witnessed two more teachers who have refused to sign new diocesan contracts which restrict school employees from showing support for LGBT people.  Let’s hope and pray that their courage inspires others to resist.

Kathleen Purcell

In the first case, Kathleen Purcell, a teacher and program director at Bishop O’Dowd High School, Oakland, California, signed the new contract, but crossed out the offending clauses with which she disagreed.  Purcell, a former constitutional lawyer, interviewed by ABC7News.com, said:

“This contract would be a huge step backwards, and would say, ‘We’re stripping these employees of civil rights.'”

Purcell added:

“Then you throw the employees’ personal lives into the middle of all the disputes currently in the Catholic Church.”

The news report noted that the schools’ parents are threatening to withhold donations, as a sign of support to Purcell.  We have seen time and again in disputes like this that parents and students have organized in support of courageous teachers.

Richard Hague

Such was the case in Cincinnati, Ohio, this week, too. Students, alumni, and parents demonstrated outside of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s office in support of Richard Hague, a teacher who worked for 45 years in Catholic education and has refused to sign his diocese’s new contract.  Hague, who teaches at Purcell Marian High School, was eloquent in his letter to the archdiocese explaining why he will not be signing the new, restrictive contract.   WLTW-TV quoted from Purcell’s letter:

“I simply cannot believe that Jesus would require me to condemn my friends, nor that Jesus would require me to report any of my colleagues who supported, even loved, gay persons, nor do I believe for a moment that Jesus would punish me for my earlier ministry.” 

Robin Hoopes and Richard Miller

And another Cincinnati teacher was told by his employer that his contract would not be renewed next year.  Richard Miller, a teacher at St. Rita’s School for the Deaf, lives with another man, Richard Hoopes, and their six children, in a committed relationship.  He told WNKU-Radio that he told his employer of his relationship when he was hired:

“I was assured at that time that what I did in my personal life was my business and I was being hired for my abilities and my capabilities as a teacher and he was very excited to have me on board. About three weeks ago, I was issued a letter by the very same director stating that my contract would not be renewed and when I was asked why my contract would not be renewed his response was, it was just too risky.”

Flint Dollar

In Macon, Georgia, Mount de Sales Academy’s band leader, Flint Dollar, was just fired , because he announced plans to marry his male partner.  WMAZ-TV reported, though, that just as soon as the firing was made public, parents of the school’s students have begun to organize, and that within two days of the news, they are planning a public protest.

The school, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, has an employment policy that says the institution is “committed to the principles of equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, gender, ancestry, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, or any other characteristic or status that is protected by federal, state, or local law.”

Principal David Held sent a cryptically-written email this week to parents “to address recent social media posts regarding personnel decisions at Mount de Sales Academy, and to share some information that might clarify some of the rumors that are circulating.” Yet, though he discusses school governance and policy making, he does not mention Dollar or his firing in the email.

Catholic commentators have also weighed in on these new contracts, questioning how these new policies fit into the seemingly new agenda that Pope Francis is setting for the Church.  In The National Catholic Reporter, Isabella Moyer recalls a homily last year where the pope asked people to build bridges, not walls.  The new contracts, she observes, are basically walls, designed to be defensive. Bridges are especially needed for people who are tenuously attached to the church.  Moyer writes:

‘There are many good women and men hovering around the doors of the church. Some are contemplating joining us for the first time or returning after long absences. Others are struggling with a growing desire to leave. Hard-handed tactics and judgmental pronouncements will not convert hearts. Sadly, they might provide the final push out the door.”

Regina Brett, columnist for Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, also referred to Pope Francis in her commentary about the new contracts:

“Just when the new pope made the church more welcoming, the church found another way to turn more Catholics away.

“My church needs a heart transplant. I thought it got one with the new pope. Now I’m not so sure.”

The firings and new policies seem to be coming at us fast and furious.  Catholics, however, are ready to stand up to these measures with an equal amount of determination and vigor.  One can become depressed by such oppressive actions, or one can attempt to band together with others and stand up for what their consciences are telling them is right and just. Our church will change not because the hierarchy changes, but because Catholics are willing to make their voices heard and stand up for their faith.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Related article:

U.S. Catholic: “Food pantry worker gets fired as the Catholic litmus test gets more stringent“