Posted on 04/07/2005 6:20:40 AM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Peter Novak has practiced Catholicism his whole life, starting as an altar boy and then studying for seven years toward becoming a priest.
Yet in recent months, the 39-year-old gay man, who did not complete his seminary studies, has been thinking about leaving the church because of the legacy of Pope John Paul's stance on homosexuality.
"It's not an easy life to do that, to want to maintain your identity as Catholic and gay," said Novak, who married his partner in San Francisco last year.
"The church came out very much opposed to gay marriage and I would say that was part of it," he said, explaining why he stopped going to Mass regularly more than a year ago. "It has challenged my ability to feel comfortable in the church."
Under Pope John Paul, the Vatican preached that gays should be treated with compassion but made clear it absolutely opposed gay sex and called homosexuality a disorder. The Pope referred to gay marriage as an "ideology of evil."
The Pope "would be very compassionate to the gay person," said Fr. Donald Cozzens, former president-rector of Saint Mary Catholic Seminary in Cleveland. Yet he would "require of them what he feels the Gospel requires of all of God's people, which is if you are not married, you do not have an active sexual life, whether within a committed relationship or not."
Many gay American Catholics ignore such teachings, as do heterosexuals who skirt church rules against birth control.
In areas such as San Francisco's Castro Street, a center of gay life, Catholic churches perform a delicate balancing act.
In front of the Most Holy Redeemer Church two blocks away, a billboard shows well-built male models urging gay men to telephone.
"We provide the teachings of the church with the understanding that people will make their own choices," said Michael Greenwell, a priest from the Carmelite Order.
GAY CATHOLICS AT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
DignityUSA, a group of gay Catholics, conducts its own services, often with former priests. After a 1986 Vatican letter denounced homosexuality as "an objective disorder," U.S. Catholic churches barred group meetings on their property.
So in San Francisco, Dignity meets weekly at a Presbyterian church.
Catholic teachings on homosexuality may not have changed much under John Paul, but his papacy coincided with the gay rights movements, AIDS and priest sex scandals highlighting issues related to homosexual clergymen.
The Pope also strongly opposed gay marriage, discussing it in his last annual address in January and calling it in his last book published in February "a new ideology of evil," which incensed many gays.
"The clock has been turned back during this papacy for gay people," said Jeff Stone, a DignityUSA member in New York.
In San Francisco, Catholics played key roles during last year's marriage of more than 4,000 same sex couples.
Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Catholic, ignited the issue by allowing the weddings until they were barred by the California Supreme Court. Then, just last month, a Catholic judge ruled California's ban on homosexual marriage unconstitutional.
Both traditionalists and reformers seem to agree the Vatican is unlikely to make changes toward gays under the next Pope.
"I don't think the teaching can or will change," said Mark Brumley, president of St. Ignatius Press, the largest U.S. Catholic publisher.
"Thanks to the legacy of John Paul II, we are going to see a much more energetic and persuasive presentation of the truth of that teaching about human sexuality," he said. "I think the next Pope will build on what John Paul II has done."
God Bless
NO, that would be wrong as well. the rule to be a Catholic priest is you have to be selebet. NO SEX of any kind.
That rule is being broken in a few instances, there are a couple married Catholic priests in the USA, One in Ireland, and now, one in Canada. There may be a few others in Europe as well.
Bob,
Well put. Amazing how many churchgoers are not willing to submit their lifestyle to the teachings of the church. Clintonian departmentalization at its best. They submit their religious gene but not their sex gene.
"I take my spirit to church every Sunday but I will not allow my religion to interfere with my politics." or, "The church has no business interfering with my work as Senator." - guess who
Ummm, no he hasn't.
Figures Reuters would get the very first words of the article absolutely wrong.
Yep, it's all Pope John Paul's fault for driving the gays from the Church.....
Ah, you guys are using the newfangled version. I never took to that one.
-"The church came out very much opposed to gay marriage and I would say that was part of it," he said, explaining why he stopped going to Mass regularly more than a year ago. "It has challenged my ability to feel comfortable in the church."-
It's not up to the church to make you feel comfortable; it's up to you to live up to your religion. Cripes!
The rule about promising or vowing celibacy is irrelevant, the guy left the seminary. My statement is accurate.
Simply insert your favorite paraphilic disorder and it all works the same.
There's no difference.
I believe the Catholic Church does not condemn being gay as sinful -- it is acting upon one's homosexual tendencies by engaging in sexual relations that is considered sinful.
I've come across a few men in my time that I thought had to be gay, but they never had partners. They were fine in my eyes as well as in good standing with their churches.
That was the implication (I was trying to be subtle). To be extreme, the Bible doesn't address heroin or crystal meth either. It's problematic when folks have a thoughtless approach to understanding the book of faith.
Don't rely on the quote alone, you ought to expect and look for some contextual exegesis. Romans 1:26-27 is in the middle of a passage discussing the activities of those who have fallen away from God. Paul talks explicitly about homosexuality as an example of those who might know God, but instead have rejected God and given themselves over to their own lusts. It's not a punishment, but an inevitable result of "I God".
Not being catholic will not change God's Law.
Female homosexuality is, in Deuteronomy.
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