Canadian Professor Gives Catholics a Lesson on Courage and Faith

In December 2014, Bondings 2.0 reported on a controversy in the Alberta province of Canada concerning Bill 10, a proposed law which would give local school boards the final say on whether a gay-straight alliance (GSA) could be established by students in a school.  This is especially important for Catholic schools in Alberta, which are state-funded, and run by Catholic boards.  The bill would make it more difficult for students to establish a GSA.

Alberta’s Premier delayed a vote on the bill so that a wider debate could happen among parents, school board members, administrators, students, and faculty.

But it seems that the hoped-for debate has not taken place. At least that’s the feeling of one University of Alberta professor, who recently penned an open letter calling on the Catholic school boards to start discussing the matter openly.

Dr. Kristopher Wells

Dr. Kristopher Wells of the university’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies challenged the trustees to start speaking, but he suspects their silence is caused by the fact that even though a recent poll showed that 80% of Albertans support GSAs, the two bishops of the province would like to see the controls put in place that Bill 10 offers.

660News.com quoted from Wells’ letter:

“What we’re asking is for that curtain of silence to be lifted. We certainly have seen the pastoral letters from the bishops in Edmonton and Calgary but our democratically elected trustees have yet to speak and talk about how they understand GSAs and if they’ll support them.

“They can’t bring the issues forward out of fear for precautions and certainly the premier has promised consultation and we feel like democratically elected trustees should be part of that consultation, and we should be hearing from them, that’s their jobs.”

The Vauxhall Advance quoted Wells’ allegations that it is fear imposed bishops which caused the silenced discussion and interference with democracy:

“Catholic school trustees are not speaking out. We know that, for example, Catholic students have been silenced, parents have been silenced, along with trustees, teachers, and administrators on these LGBQT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer and Transgender/Transsexual) issues in schools. So what does that say about democracy if so many people are prevented from speaking out on these issues? I think for many of the Catholic trustees, and teachers in particular, there’s a great fear of retribution, where they’ve been told to stop speaking out.

“We’ve seen the letters from the Catholic bishops who refuse to support gay-straight alliances in schools. The fact that we have this ongoing censorship, I think as a public we have to ask if democratically-elected Catholic trustees are forbidden to voice their views, or speak on behalf of their constituents, is democracy being served? Do voters and their views not count?”

Wells noted that in the past the trustees did not always side with the bishops on other issues of controversy such as HPV vaccines:

“Science, reason and the evidence moved trustees to make decisions that would support students in their schools, and we’re asking for the same kind of consideration here on this issue surrounding gay-straight alliances — let the science, let the research, and let the evidence speak, and let’s have discussions, rather than this curtain of silence being dropped on trustees, with no dialogue, no debate, and certainly no democracy being served.”

This development is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in our Catholic Church when lay people are afraid to speak their opinions because of fear of the hierarchy.  Fortitude/courage is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church gives this description:

“Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause.”

And Canon 212 of the Code of Canon Law states:

Ҥ2.The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

“§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.”

Pope Francis has clearly signaled that debate and discussion should not be foreign to Catholic circles. That is the method of discernment that the Church should exercise.

The road to LGBT equality in the Catholic Church would be much easier if more Catholics found the courage to speak their beliefs to their pastors, bishops, and other leaders.  We should all pray to always have that kind of courage.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Widen the Synod Circle with Diverse Voices

“WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?” is  Bondings 2.0′s series on how Catholics–the hierarchy and laity–can prepare for the Synod on Marriage and Family that will take place at the Vatican in October 2015. If you would like to consider contributing a post to this series, please click here. 

Since before the synod in 2014, New Ways Ministry, along with other Catholic reform organizations, has been calling for Vatican leaders to include diverse families, including those headed by LGBT people, to offer testimony about their faith journeys and relationships to the bishops assembled at these important meetings. Now, New Ways has joined with 31 other national and international Catholic organizations to encourage Catholics around the U.S. and the globe to sign an online petition asking the Vatican “to widen the circle of people invited to participate in the upcoming Family Synod 2015.”

The petition states:

“We urge the Vatican Synod office to make every effort to include a wide diversity of Catholics, especially those from the constituencies being discussed including divorced and remarried people, co-habitating couples, interfaith families, impoverished families, single parents, families with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members, same-sex couples, and families torn by the violence of war and abuse. These women and men can share their lives and stories in a way that creates greater understanding among the bishops who will, in the end, make critical recommendations about the Church’s priorities and pastoral practices for years to come.”

The deadline for signing the petition is March 3, 2015.     In addition to mailing and emailing  the petition, a representative of the coalition of endorsing groups will hand deliver the petition to Cardinal Baldisseri at the Office of the Synod of Bishops in Rome.   The list of the 32 endorsers can be found at the end of the petition.

The coalition has a website, OurCatholicFamily.org, which includes other ways that people can influence the synod organizers to plan a more open synod:

1. Host a listening and discussion session at your parish or faith community to examine the issues that members face concerning marriage, family, and sexuality.  The website has resources for facilitating such a meeting.
2. Meet with your local bishop.  The website offers a template of a letter requesting such a meeting, as well as a list of tips for speaking with your bishop.
3. Contact the synod delegates and share your family’s story with them. The names of the U.S. delegates, along with some background on them, can be found by clicking here.  Their addresses, as well as addresses for Vatican officials, can be found by clicking here.

A press release from the coalition offered the following perspectives:

“Pope Francis wants a synod that is characterized by a ‘culture of encounter.’” said Sheila Peiffer, Coordinator of Catholics Organizations for Renewal, a leadership forum of US organizations inspired by Vatican II.  “He wants the synod fathers to recognize ‘the Lord’s gratuitous work, even outside customary models, ’” she said.  “That is a powerful mandate that is only achievable if Catholics whose experience has a direct bearing on the issues being discussed are invited and heard at the synod.”

“Listening to Catholics who know the issues being discussed from the inside, from experience, is essential for meaningful dialogue,” said Deborah Rose-Milavec, Executive Director of FutureChurch, an organization promoting the rights and responsibilities of all Roman Catholics.  “That kind of listening and dialogue will create greater understanding among the bishops whose final recommendations to Pope Francis will likely impact our Church’s pastoral practice for years to come,” she said.

The coalition is also maintaining a list of potential speakers that are being recommended to the synod.  Those which have New Ways Ministry connections are:

Reverend Joseph A. Brown, S. J., a professor of Africana Studies at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and a speaker on African-American Catholics and LGBT issues at New Ways Ministry’s Seventh National Symposium in 2012.

Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of Dignity/USA, a speaker at New Ways Ministry’s Fourth National Symposium in 1997. She is being recommended with her wife, Becky Duddy-Burke.

Deacon Ray Dever of St. Paul parish, Tampa, Florida, who recently penned a Bondings 2.0 blog post about his family’s acceptance of his transgender daughter.

Hilary Howes, a transgender woman, who with her wife, Celestine Ranney-Howes, spoke at New Ways Ministry’s Seventh National Symposium in 2012 about their Catholic marriage, before, during, and after Hilary’s gender transition.

Mary Hunt, a feminist theologian, who co-founded and co-directs the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual. Mary served on New Ways Ministry’s Board in the 1980s. She is being recommended with her wife and ministry partner, Diann Neu.

Tom and Linda Karle-Nelson, parents of gay sons, who helped establish Fortunate Families, a national network of Catholic parents of LGBT children.  The Karle-Nelsons are frequent participants at New Ways Ministry programs.

If you choose to write to your bishop, or to synod delegates and Vatican officials, you might consider sending your own recommendations for who would be a good speaker.  If you have some suggestions you would like to share with our readers, please post them in the “Comments” section of this post.

New Ways Ministry is proud to support all these efforts, and we hope and pray that the synod in the fall of 2015 will be much more representative of the Church than the synod in 2014 was.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

Catholic Schools Inspire Resistance to Injustices Against Church Workers

This week is National Catholic Schools Week, a celebration of the church’s educational efforts in the U.S. There is much to be celebrated, but it is also an opportune moment to consider the firing of LGBT and ally church workers.

Last year, Bondings 2.0 reflected on fair employment practices in Catholic schools during this week. Since then more than twenty church workers have lost their jobs in LGBT-related disputes.

This year, we are highlighting the many instances in which those educated by Catholic schools organize resistance against these unjust actions. Students have walked out of their schools in protest, held rallies to support beloved teachers, and even held a national day of action last January.

Garlia Cornelia Jones-Ly, an alumna of Marian High School, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, which fired lesbian science teacher Barb Webb last year, wrote a perceptive article in The New York Times about those formed by Catholic education who are now challenging the church about LGBT justice. She writes:

“The sense of shame I felt for the halls I once walked in dissipated as I joined both graduates and nongraduates of Marian in a social media movement supporting Ms. Webb. I wasn’t the only member of our community to be angered — far from it . While I have had a distant relationship with the Catholic Church for a few years now, I was one of many who had hoped for better from two establishments — my school and the church I grew up in and still loved. The values of the Catholic Church will always be within me and are passed onto our children.”

Jones-Ly writes about her own time at Marian, specifically recalling a paper arguing for same-sex marriage that received a failing grade for not expressing the “view of the Catholic Church.” These experiences, coupled with nearly 50 dedicated church workers disputing employment actions from 2008 to now because of LGBT issues, leave this alumna questioning Catholic education today:

“While my paper affected my class grade, it wasn’t damaging enough to alter my life. Ms. Webb seems to have made some of the same assumptions I did when I turned in that paper — that a church that counts among its most important principles the command that each of us “love thy neighbor” would place blind adherence to doctrine over an individual member of the community’s welfare…

“The school, and the church, would likely say that the firing of Ms. Webb wasn’t ‘personal’ either. But when I consider my children, the religion in which to raise them, and our coming choice about whether to send them to Catholic school, I find myself wishing the church would be more personal, and take into account the people who are part of it, and the global community of which we are a part today.”

These firings were identified by Bondings 2.0 readers as the worst Catholic LGBT news in 2014 and are a growing crisis for the American Church. On its face, threatening employees with the loss of their job unless they violate their conscience or suppress their identities and relationsships is antithetical to the Gospel. These firings also act as a vaccine against the Catholic faith and could lead the Catholic Church to become a shrinking cult as younger members leave more and more. As the tremendous good of Catholic schools is celebrated this week, it is essential to consider how the church’s educational ministries can more credibly and inclusively engage LGBT issues.

For Bondings 2.0‘s full coverage of these and other LGBT-related disputes, click the ‘Employment Issues‘ category to the right or click here. You can also find a full listing of the more than 40 incidents made public since 2008 by clicking here.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

Pope Francis Reportedly Meets with Transgender Man Rejected by Parish

Diego Neria Lejárraga

According to a Spanish newspaper report, Pope Francis recently held a private meeting at the Vatican with a transgender man and his fiancee.

Diego Neria Lejárraga had written to the pope about being rejected by his faith community after undergoing gender confirming surgery.  Neria explained: “After hearing him on many occasions, I felt that he would listen to me.”

Neria told the newspaper Hoy, from the Extremadura region of Spain, that Pope Francis had initially responded to his letter with  a phone call, and the pontiff told Neria that the letter “touched his soul.”

According to The Huffington Post, the private meeting last week was a result of this December exchange on the phone. A spokesperson from the Vatican, Fr. Manuel Dorantes, would not confirm the meeting, however.

In the Huffington Post article, Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, questioned the Vatican’s silence but said he would not be surprised if the meeting had happened. He said the meeting did not necessarily indicate a stance of papal “acceptance,” but it was definitely a very positive indication of the way that Francis wants the church to respond:

” ‘The Vatican’s reluctance to verify the meeting is another indication of why I don’t think their attitude can yet be called ‘acceptance’…

“This pope, through his many gestures of meeting with those who society and the church treat as outcasts, has made it his mission to lead by example, and to send a strong message of welcome and hospitality to all people, regardless of their state in life. . . .

” ‘Pope Francis is an intellectual who values discussion…I think that his meeting with the transgender man was a gesture not only of pastoral care, but of genuine interest in learning about the transgender experience from a firsthand source.’ “

Speaking to the Washington Blade, Marianne Duddy Burke, executive of DignityUSA, called the meeting”a very significant event” and continued:

“For the pope to meet with a transgender man about to be married, and for that meeting to result in this man feeling more hopeful about his place in the Church, shows a concern for those at the very margins of our church…I hope the pope listened carefully to this man’s experience, and will speak about what he heard.”

Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera, director of Latino and Catholic Initiatives for the Human Rights Campaign, affirmed this view, saying the meeting was an “extraordinary event.”

Pope Francis has communicated with LGBT communities before, including a letter to the Florence-based Catholic group Kairos. This outreach was one of the things that inspired Sr. Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, to ask the pope if he would meet with a group of LGBT Catholic pilgrims next month in Rome.

Neria told the Spanish daily Hoy that he had long struggled because of his identity, saying “My jail was my own body…Because it absolutely didn’t correspond with what my soul felt.” Transitioning at 40, the man said rejection and condemnation led by the church still left him trapped. Priest mades comments to him such as, “How do you dare to come here with your condition” and “You are the devil’s daughter.”

Neria’s encounter with the pope was entirely transformative and set the man at peace, reports The Washington Post: 

“Neria told Hoy when he got before the pope, he asked whether, after his transition, whether there a ‘corner in the house of God’ for someone like him. And he said Francis then embraced him.”

Indeed, it has been these personal moments during Francis’ papacy which most clearly reveal his desires for the church and direction for ministry to LGBT people. DeBernardo tells People magazine:

“A pope’s influence is more from his personal example than from any doctrinal edicts…That’s why this meeting is very powerful and can really help to bring about a lot of good.”

If the Vatican confirms the meeting with Neria, the impact of Pope Francis’ witness that being a disciple of Christ means welcoming all would be that much more powerful. Hopefully, the pope will continue encountering many more LGBT people before next fall’s Synod on Family Life, and these meetings could inspire him to permit LGBT people to speak of their experiences of faith, relationship, and identity to the synod bishops.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

New Film Considers Life of a Gay Man After Being Fired from a Catholic School

When I first saw the trailer for the new film, Love Is Strange, a few weeks ago, I thought that the producers could advertise it with the tagline:  “Ripped from the headlines of Bondings 2.0!”  But then I got real about how well-known this blog is.   LOL!

John Lithgow and Alfred Molina in “Love Is Strange”

Still, the main premise of this new film starring John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, and Marisa Tomei is indeed on a topic about which we report and comment frequently on this blog:  a gay employee being fired from a Catholic institution when it is found out that he has legally married his lifelong partner.

Ben (Lithgow) and George (Molina) are an aging gay couple who marry in New York City after having been committed to one another for 39 years.  George, a music teacher at what to all appearances is a Manhattan Catholic school, is soon fired, however, when the administrators at the school learn of the marriage.  What follows is a sometimes touching, but more often sad, story of what can happen to a couple, and their extended families, when a main source of their livelihood is taken from them.

Ben and George end up having to sell their apartment, and when they do not receive the amount they had expected from the sale, they are forced to live separately with their respective family members (one of them played by Tomei).  The impact of this abrupt change on their relationship and on their relatives comprises the bulk of the film’s story line.

As far as I know, the film did not have a long or wide theatrical release. in the U.S.  It is available as a Netflix DVD, which is how I viewed it.

My hope and expectation for this film is that it would examine a bit of the crisis that occurs because of an unjust decision by a religious institution.  The writers and director, however, take the movie in a different direction, making it more of a family drama than a story concerned about injustice to LGBT people.

There are two scenes which focus on the employment issue.  The first is the firing itself, which takes place in a priest-administrator’s office, and highlights the hypocrisy present in the decision.  In defending himself, George points out to the priest that his relationship was well-known for many years to the faculty and students at the school, and that even his plans for marrying were known publicly for months, with no repercussions until after the actual marriage itself.

Perhaps the most religious dialogue of the movie are the two lines which end the conversation between the priest and George.  The priest closes the conversation by saying, “Let’s pray.  I don’t want this to make you question your faith.”    George’s response is the strong declaration: “I still believe in Jesus Christ as my savior.”

The second segment that deals with the firing is a memory montage of George’s music teaching, as the voice-over narration is the text of a letter that he wrote to the parents, explaining why he was fired.  He encourages the parents to have a conversation with their children to see if they think that justice was served in this situation.  He also urges parents to tell students not to ever hide who they are or to fear what they think.

As a story about how an elderly gay couple must navigate their relationship through a rocky patch of economic woes and forced separation, Love Is Strange is a moving film.  As the story of the faith and justice questions involved when a gay person is fired from a church job, the film only barely scratches the surface.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

Will Pope Francis Meet With Sister Jeannine Gramick and LGBT Catholics?

Pope Francis

Since becoming pope in March 2013, one of Pope Francis’ most endearing habits has been making phone calls or writing notes to ordinary people, and even sometimes meeting with them in a personal encounter.

Sister Jeannine Gramick

So, is it too much to hope that he might meet with friends of New Ways Ministry when Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder, leads a pilgrimage of LGBT and ally Catholics to Rome in February?

Well,  knowing from first-hand experience that stranger things have definitely happened,  and that God truly does move in mysterious ways, Sister Jeannine has written to Pope Francis asking him if he had some time in his busy papal schedule to meet with these 50 people who are traveling to Italy to visit shrines, churches, and monuments in not only the Eternal City, but Florence, and Assisi, as well.

In her December 23, 2014, letter to the pontiff, Sr. Jeannine wrote, in part:

“I am one of your multi-billion+ fans! On my computer is a round decal with your picture and the words, ‘This Pope gives me hope!’  On my car is a bumper sticker that says, ‘I ♥ Pope Francis.’ . . .

“In February, I will be leading a pilgrimage to Rome, Assisi, and Florence for 50 Catholics, who are lesbian/gay or are parents, family members or friends of lesbian/gay Catholics. They are so very heartened by your words of mercy and welcome. They believe, as you say, that receiving the Body and Blood of Christ is spiritual nourishment that we need to grow in our love-relationship with God, not a prize to be awarded those who are worthy.

“We will be in Rome from February 17 to February 20 and plan to attend your general audience on Ash Wednesday. The pilgrims would like to meet personally with you for a few minutes, either after your general audience, or at another time at your convenience.

“Would it be possible for you to meet personally with these faith-filled Catholics who have felt too long excluded from their Church?”

Back in the 1990s, when on a flight from Rome to Munich to pray at the tomb of her religious congregation’s foundress, Sister Jeannine serendipitously ended up on the same flight as then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), who at the time was directing an investigation of Sister Jeannine’s ministry with lesbian and gay people. The two shared a delightful conversation, and Sister Jeannine has stated that it helped her see the human side of a man whom many considered to be her greatest adversary.  Indeed, on his part, Cardinal Ratzinger acknowledged several times during their talk that this chance meeting had to be the work of Providence.

So, who knows how Pope Francis will respond?  As everyone knows, he has already made several important statements and gestures in regard to greater Catholic openness towards LGBT people, including writing a personal note to Kairos, a Catholic LGBT group in Florence, Italy.

And just yesterday, a Spanish-language news report announced that it seems Pope Francis recently met with a transgender man and his fiancee from Spain in a private audience at the Vatican. The story reports that Diego Neria Lejárraga wrote to the pontiff a month ago describing the ill-treatment he received from fellow parishioners. Bondings 2.0 will provide more details as the story emerges.

The members of Sister Jeannine’s pilgrimage will be meeting with members of Kairos when they visit that beautiful Renaissance city.  Five years ago, she brought another group of pilgrims to Florence and established a friendly relationship with the Kairos leaders and members.

This year, the American group will also be meeting with members of Nuova Proposta, a Catholic LGBT group in Rome, and Sister Jeannine will be giving a talk to the Italian members.

The 10-day pilgrimage coincides with a similar journey being made by LGBT Catholics from Westminister in London, England, under the leadership of longtime pastoral advocate, Martin Pendergast.  The British pilgrims and American pilgrims will meet several times for liturgy and socializing.

Because Sister Jeannine’s pilgrimage group is visiting both Rome and Assisi, and since the present pope has often alluded to St. Francis of Assisi, the pilgrimage is entitled “Rebuild My Church:  St. Francis and Pope Francis.”  In addition to visiting and praying at holy sites and meeting with Catholic LGBT Italians, the pilgrims will also reflect on the ways that they can rebuild the church in their local communities.

Please keep Sister Jeannine and all the pilgrims in your prayers during February.  Bondings 2.0  will update you on any special events that happen during the trip.  And, if Pope Francis does grant the pilgrims a private audience, you will read it here first!  Stay tuned!

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

 

Amid Conflicting Statements, Catholic Healthcare System Considers Granting Benefits to Same-Sex Couples

Conflicting statements have led to a growing controversy about whether the nation’s sixth largest Catholic healthcare system in the U.S. will begin offering benefits to employees in same-sex marriages this spring.

Last week, Missouri’s Springfield News-Leader reported that Mercy Health System, which has 40,000 workers across seven states, would begin offering benefits to employees in same-sex marriages to comply with shifting employment and healthcare regulations. The newspaper quotes Mercy spokesperson Sonya Kullmann:

” ‘As a Catholic health ministry, Mercy has followed the Church’s position on this issue in the past…However, in line with recent changes in government regulations, we will extend benefits to all legally married spouses effective this spring.’ “

However, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch later cited a Mercy statement which says the system is only “exploring how best to expand health care benefits for our co-workers, their dependents and loved ones…to help address their varied family situations…” According to an update from the Springfield News-Leader, Mercy is not responding to inquiries about the differing statements.

However, this discrepancy has not stopped Catholic officials from condemning even the possibility that LGBT employees be granted equal benefits. Bishop James Johnston of Springfield-Cape Girardeau condemned the healthcare organization’s action, stating: “no believing Christian worthy of the name should violate God’s law because of ‘regulations.'” Crux reported that the bishop continued:

“Our ancestors refused to abandon the faith even when subjected to the cruelty and torture of the Roman Empire, but in our age unspecified ‘regulations,’ government funds, and fear of public ridicule is sufficient in order to secure the compliance of some,”

According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Archdiocese of St. Louis weighed in on Mercy’s potential move by criticizing the federal government for putting Catholic businesses in a tough spot.

“ ‘It is simply inconsistent to claim to be a Catholic institution while publicly acting against Church teaching…Today, however, Catholic institutions face sanctions from the American government for fidelity to their Catholic identity.’

“The statement added that failure to comply with federal regulations would result ‘in crippling penalties that would gravely impact Mercy’s employees and patient care.’ “

Bishop Johnston and the Archdiocese of St. Louis do not yet understand how valuing and protecting LGBT employees benefits the common good.  Was it their harsh rhetoric that caused Mercy administrators to pause on their decision to extend benefits?

The Springfield News-Leader pointed out that local competitor CoxHealth, a secular healthcare provider, began offering such benefits last fall as a means of “attracting and retaining the best talent.” Mercy would not be the first church-affiliated system to offer equal benefits. For instance, Catholic Health Initiatives began offering such benefits earlier this month to employees in the 19 states in which it operates, saying in a statement:

” ‘CHI believes that health care is part of the common good and is considered a basic human right…And so it was important to make health benefits accessible to employees, their dependents and loved ones within the employee’s family where possible. The goal of expanding coverage overall will continue to align more closely with the desired culture of supporting diversity and families. This change also serves the purpose of eliminating any perceived inequity of benefits by some employees and will help CHI to attract and retain talented employees, regardless of their sexual orientation or personal situation.’ “

The same article also offers other examples of Catholic institutions finding alternative ways to provide benefits to same-sex couples:

“St. Louis-based SSM Health — which has facilities in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri — opened employee health plans to ‘legally domiciled adults’ in 2003, according to spokesman Steve Van Dinter.

” ‘Through this innovative and compassionate program, we have been able to extend health care coverage to hundreds of adult spouses, parents, children, and friends who reside with an employee and are not otherwise insured,’ Van Dinter said in an email.

“To qualify as a legally domiciled adult under the plan, the individual must reside in the same home with the employee, be a member of the employee’s household and be 19 years old or older. The first page of a Google search for “legally domiciled adult” is predominantly Catholic institutions explaining their benefit policies, including Loyola University Maryland, Georgetown University, Denver-based SCL Health and the University of San Francisco.”

” ‘As a Catholic health ministry founded by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, SSM Health believes that access to health care coverage is a basic good,’ Van Dinter said.”

Additionally, according to a National Catholic Reporter article from October 2014,  22 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S. offer benefits to employees’ same-sex partners, as will the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.

Mercy administrators should make the just choice for their workers and patients by extending benefits to same-sex couples, a choice which both upholds Catholic identity and adheres to government regulations. In the American system where benefits, especially health insurance, are tied to employment, ensuring employees and their families are adequately cared for is an act of justice. Indeed, Pope John XXIII was one of the first voices to declare healthcare a human right in his 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris. Expanding access to quality care for all, especially marginalized groups like LGBT people, is the action of a “believing Christian worthy of the name.”

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

Top Advisor to Pope Francis Misses the Meaning of Mercy

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga

A top advisor to Pope Francis commented on the church’s pastoral response to homosexuality during a lecture on the theme of mercy, but Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga struck a notably less welcoming tone than fellow bishops who have spoken out in recent weeks.

Honduras’ Cardinal Rodriguez addressed a Santa Clara University, California, audience on Tuesday about “The Meaning of Mercy.” Rodriguez is archbishop of Tegucigalpa as well as head of both the pope’s Council of Cardinals and Caritas Internationalis (the Church’s international relief organization), placing him in close proximity to the pope. In his lecture, reported by America, the cardinal proposed an image of church as “a Samaritan Church” and continued:

“[The Church is] an institution which like the Good Samaritan chooses to ‘heal the wounds of those who are beaten, hurting and prostrated, those who have weakly fallen under the power of those who use violence.’…

” ‘The Church…is not here to judge, to condemn, to reproach or to reject anybody, but to embrace as in a home where love reigns for everyone who needs it. Following Jesus does not mean to participate in a triumphant entourage. It means to share his merciful love.’ “

Later, Cardinal Rodriguez was asked by an audience member how this church of mercy could pastorally respond to lesbian and gay people. Saying the same-gender marriage is “another thing” that will never be approved and changing doctrine is “crazy,”  Rodriguez responded:

“The approach is the approach of the Christ, but of course, you have to see that in the Gospel you see two attitudes of Christ.  Regarding that lady that was found in adultery, what did Christ say? ‘Did anyone else condemn you?’ ‘Nobody, Lord.’ ‘Okay, neither do I. Go and sin no more.’

“These are the attitudes of the Lord—understanding the situation, but always giving a little turn to the key—Yes, go and sin no more. It means that in the Church we are not making the Church a la carte, as some of the other denominations do…

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean that we are going to be excluding persons who live their faith and would like to be parts of the Church. One thing is defining marriage, another thing is pastoral care. This is what I believe will make road in the Synod…

“And so I say, this is complicated, but the purpose is to look, how to heal wounds, how to approach the sheep that went out and what can we do in the limits of the Gospel.”

On the Synod’s treatment of LGBT issues specifically, Rodriguez said the situation was “very complicated” because of the church’s geographical and cultural diversity. He cited Africa as an example:

“Because for instance the situation is very complicated in Africa. In some places, it’s the death penalty to be homosexual. I didn’t understand that until I was listening in the Synod to the interventions of many African bishops. They would say, Okay, we have been teaching something and now you want us to go against what we have been teaching.”

It is apparent that Cardinal Rodriguez’s pastoral approach to LGBT issues misses the meaning of mercy. At a basic level, the situation in Africa and elsewhere is clearer than the cardinal realizes. It is core to Catholic teaching that no discrimination or violence should harm anyone, including those in sexual and gender diverse minorities. Laws criminalizing homosexuality and imposing strict penalties, sometimes even the death penalty, are inconsistent with the Gospel because they promote hate and harm. Furthermore, if bishops are support such policies or misrepresent Catholic teaching, situations which Bondings 2.0 reported on previously here and here, then the interests of justice and truth should compel them to go against what they were teaching.

More deeply, Rodriguez’s image of a “Samaritan Church” is problematic. For instance, religious leaders’ demands for greater purity before they will unconditionally love is one of the critiques lodged by the Good Samaritan parable. It is worth noting it is the Samaritan, deemed by Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries as enemies and apostates, who is most capable of love. Today’s Samaritans are LGBT people, among other marginalized groups, who give life and love to our churches and communities while religious officials acts as those who ignore the wounded outsider. The image of a “Samaritan Church” is beautiful, but Rodriguez misrepresents how such a church would actually operate.

In seeking to be merciful as Pope Francis exhorts, Cardinal Rodriguez misses the mark. Before next fall’s synod, he should listen more closely to the words of his fellow prelates, such as Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich who desires a new approach to same-sex relationships, and Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna who wants the Synod to deal in the realities of family life, and Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp who has called for the church to formally recognize and bless gay couples.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

SYNOD 2015: Cardinal Marx’s New Approach to Lesbian & Gay Relationships

Cardinal Reinhard Marx

One of the strongest pro-gay voices to emerge at the synod in October 2014 was Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and a member of Pope Francis’ council of cardinal advisers.  Time and again during the meeting in Rome last year, Marx made several statements which indicated that he is eager for a more welcoming and open approach to lesbian and gay people in the Church.

America magazine’s website has just published an interview with Cardinal Marx, conducted by Luke Hansen, S.J., a former associate editor of America, and a student at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, California.  The interview was done following Marx’s delivery of the Roger W. Heyns Lecture  at Stanford University, California, on January 15th.  It’s an amazing document, and I strongly recommend reading it in the entirety to get a fuller sense of Cardinal Marx’s mind. You can access it by clicking here.

I’ve excerpted the sections from the interview which deal with lesbian and gay issues, and have offered some commentary, too.

Marx was asked to comment on his statement during the synod that he had to admit that there was value in “the case of two homosexuals who have been living together for 35 years and taking care of each other, even in the last phases of their lives.”  Hansen asked him “What have you learned from these relationships and does it have any bearing on sexual ethics today?”

Marx’s answer echoed some of the pastoral and theological principles advocated by theologian Sister Margaret Farley and  Australia’s Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, both of whom, along with many theologians, call for the Church to base its sexual ethics on a theory of right relationship, rather than on the morality of particular sexual acts:

“When speaking about sexual ethics, perhaps we must not begin with sleeping together, but with love, fidelity and the search for a life-long relationship. I am astonished that most of our young people, and also Catholic homosexuals who are practicing, want a relationship that lasts forever.  The doctrine of the church is not so strange for people. It is true.”

Though he acknowledges that the Church officially does not equate heterosexual and homosexual relationships, Marx affirms lesbian and gay committed couples:

“The church says that a gay relationship is not on the same level as a relationship between a man and a woman. That is clear. But when they are faithful, when they are engaged for the poor, when they are working, it is not possible to say, ‘Everything you do, because you are a homosexual, is negative.’ That must be said, and I have heard no critic. It is not possible to see a person from only one point of view, without seeing the whole situation of a person. That is very important for sexual ethics.”

His answer brings to mind the terrible scourge of firings of LGBT people from Catholic institutions over the past few years.  Marx’s way of

Colleen Simon

thinking points to an approach which examines a person’s entire life, not just their sexuality, when determining a moral evaluation of them.  In particular, his comments remind me of Colleen Simon, who by all accounts was an effective and compassionate social justice minister who ran a food pantry at a parish, yet was fired when it became inadvertently public that she had married her female partner.

Marx’s answer to another question touches on another tragic trend here in the U.S. church:  the denial of communion to lesbian and gay people. In answering a question about both divorced/remarried and lesbian/gay people, Marx sees sacramental withholding as a terribly wrong pastoral strategy:

“The Eucharist and reconciliation are necessary for people. We say to some people, ‘You will never be reconciled until your death.’ That is impossible to believe when you see the situations. I could give examples. In the spirit of ‘Evangelii Gaudium,’ we have to see how the Eucharist is medicine for the people, to help the people. We must look for ways for people to receive the Eucharist. It is not about finding ways to keep them out! We must find ways to welcome them. We have to use our imagination in asking, ‘Can we do something?’ Perhaps it is not possible in some situations. That is not the question. The focus must be on how to welcome people.”

Bishop Johan Bonny

While clearly advocating for greater openness to lesbian and gay people and relationships, it is important to note that Marx, while progressive, is not ready to challenge the teachings of the Church regarding marriage and sexual relationships.  In answer to a question about Belgium Bishop Johan Bonny’s call for the Church to bless committed lesbian and gay relationships, Marx answered:

“I said in the synod that Paul VI had a great vision in ‘Humanae Vitae.’ The relationship between a man and a woman is very important. The sexual relationship in a faithful relationship is founded on the connection of procreation, giving love, sexuality and openness to life. Paul VI believed that this connection would be destroyed. He was right; see all the questions of reproductive medicine and so on. We cannot exclude this great model of sexuality, and say, ‘We have diversity,’ or ‘Everybody has the right to….’ The great meaning of sexuality is the relationship between a man and a woman and the openness to give life. I have also previously mentioned the question of accompanying people, to see what people are doing in their lives and in their personal situation.”

This answer gives us an insight not only into the mind of Cardinal Marx, but, I think, into the mind of Pope Francis.  Neither, it seems, are willing to call for a change to the church’s doctrine on sexuality, but both seem eager to allow for two dynamics which may, eventually, have an impact on changing doctrine:  pastoral outreach in the form of welcome and accompaniment; greater discussion and dialogue on these matters.  At one point in the interview, Marx says the following about theological discussion:

“I have the impression that we have a lot of work to do in the theological field, not only related to the question of divorce, but also the theology of marriage. I am astonished that some can say, “Everything is clear” on this topic. Things are not clear. It is not about church doctrine being determined by modern times. It is a question of aggiornamento, to say it in a way that the people can understand, and to always adapt our doctrine to the Gospel, to theology, in order to find in a new way the sense of what Jesus said, the meaning of the tradition of the church and of theology and so on. There is a lot to do.”

And in another spot, he discusses pastoral outreach:

“It is best to read ‘Evangelii Gaudium.’ Some people say, ‘We don’t know what the pope is really wanting.’ I say, ‘Read the text.’ It does not give magical answers to complex questions, but rather it conveys the path of the Spirit, the way of evangelization, being close to the people, close to the poor, close to those who have failed, close to the sinners, not a narcissistic church, not a church of fear. There is a new, free impulse to go out. Some worry about what will happen.”

Marx seems to agree with Pope Francis in one other way:  both are cautionary that the 2015 will not bring about change in the church’s doctrine.  Marx declares that the synod is more of a deliberative exercise than a decision-making body:

“It is very important that the synod does not have the spirit of ‘all or nothing.’ It is not a good way. The synod cannot have winners and losers. That is not the spirit of the synod. The spirit of the synod is to find a way together, not to say, ‘How can I find a way to bring my position through?’ Rather: ‘How can I understand the other position, and how can we together find a new position?’ That is the spirit of the synod.

“Therefore it is very important that we are working on these questions. I hope that the pope will inspire this synod. The synod cannot decide; only a council or pope can decide. These questions must also be understood in a broader context. The task is to help the people to live. It is not, according to ‘Evangelii Gaudium,’ about how we can defend the truth. It is about helping people to find the truth. That is important.”

While Marx may be technically correct about the synod, let’s not downplay the tremendous public relations effect that a synod can have. Last October’s extraordinary synod may not have made any decisions, but it did reveal that there are several voices in the hierarchy who did not agree with John Paul II’s and Benedict XVI’s approach to lesbian/gay people, and other questions about marriage and family.

Cardinal Marx and Pope Francis are not where we might like them to be on lesbian and gay issues, but there openness to pastoral care and greater discussion could pave the way for greater changes down the road.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

 

 

 

SYNOD 2015: Differing Expectations from High-Ranking Dominican Prelates

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn

As preparations begin for the 2015 Synod on the Family, two high-ranking Dominican church leaders are offering divergent thoughts about what may happen next October. Which view ultimately holds sway will be determinative for how the church addresses LGBT issues moving forward.

First, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna gave an interview in which he calls on the church to deal with the realities of family life rather than idealized forms.

Speaking to the German theological journal Herder Korrespondenz, Schönborn affirmed the 2014 Synod’s work while expressing hopes for a more realistic discussion. The National Catholic Reporter quotes the cardinal as saying:

” ‘At the Extraordinary Synod marriage and the family were often discussed as though they were something that took place in interstellar space and not in a particular period of history, in a particular society under particular conditions…I would like to see us work off the deficits in our theology, above all on questions of fundamental morals. This homework needs doing as it plays a great role in the background of the Synod debates.’ “

Schönborn defended gradualism, the idea that people gradually arrive at agreement with and practice of church teaching, even though it sparked outcry when introduced at the Synod last year:

” ‘When discussing marriage and the family, we must first of all ask ourselves why couples all over the world often cohabit nowadays without marrying. Before I evaluate this morally, I have to learn to understand why even committed Catholic couples nowadays often only gradually discover the way to the Sacrament of Marriage….’

” ‘As a Dominican I would very much like to invite everyone concerned to orientate themselves on a morality which sees people ‘in via’ — that is on their way — a morality which is inherent in Christian hope.’ “

Overall, the Austrian cardinal said the Synod was a “good process” that left him “highly motivated and energized” due to the honesty and indeed conflicts which arise during the bishops’ discussions.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher

This view contrasts with recent comments by Sydney, Australia’s Archbishop Anthony Fisher who called the Synod a “dangerous strategy” and said there would be no changes. Crux reports:

” ‘The pastoral goal is to see how we’re going to help people who are hurting. In this way things will change, and hopefully we’ll find some ways to help them.’

” ‘But in the end, we’re not going to say “No, God got it wrong”…After a year of discussion, we’re still going to say what Christ said.’ “

Fisher previously stated that marriage equality would lead to polygamy and incest being legalized. At that time, Bondings 2.0 said the archbishop need to replace his logic with a dose of reality.

If bishops remain in the realm of reason and logic alone, as Archbishop Fisher does, then the Synod will do little more than affirm already outdated and ineffective teachings. Damaging language and exclusionary pastoral practices will remain in place, driving LGBT Catholics and their allies away from the church more and more.

However, if the bishops take up Cardinal Schönborn’s suggestion and deal with realities of family life today amid all its particularities then the 2015 Synod on the Family could be a positive step. The bishops could discover, and hopefully admit, the gifts and goodness of LGBT people that many Catholics already have after their loved ones have come out. They would see the flourishing of families led by same-gender couples who are raising children and positively contributing to their communities — and their churches. They would understand that Catholics support LGBT rights because of their faith, not in spite of it, and understand equality for all as a constitutive element of the Reign of God.

There are still nine months until the bishops reconvene in Rome. Let us, as Catholic advocates for LGBT justice, pray for and work towards the vision of Cardinal Schönborn that will open the eyes of the bishops that they may see!

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry