Posted on 11/14/2006 2:43:13 PM PST by Jaded
BALTIMORE - The nation's Roman Catholic bishops adopted new guidelines for gay outreach Tuesday that are meant to be welcoming, while also telling gays to be celibate since the church considers their sexuality "disordered."
Gay Catholic activists said the approach was so contorted and flawed that it would alienate the very people it was trying to reach.
The statement, "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination," was adopted by a 194-37 vote, with one abstention, at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The bishops also overwhelmingly adopted separate statements encouraging Catholics to obey the church's widely ignored ban on artificial contraception, and directing parishioners to examine their consciences to decide if they are worthy of receiving Holy Communion.
Anyone who knowingly persists in sinful behavior, such as gay sex or using artificial birth control, should refrain from taking Communion, the bishops said.
"To be a Catholic is a challenge," said Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the bishops' doctrine committee. "To be a Catholic requires a certain choice."
Presenting the gay ministry document at the meeting, Serratelli acknowledged that gay and lesbian Catholics "have a difficult task in this world, but this task is necessary and good."
"The tone of the document is positive, pastoral and welcoming," Serratelli said. "Its starting point is the intrinsic human dignity of every person and God's love for every person."
But gay Catholic groups thought the bishops' approach was flat-out wrong.
Francisco DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, an independent outreach to Catholic gays that has run afoul of some church leaders, said the guidelines "do not reflect good science, good theology or human reality."
"This document proposes that lesbian and gay people be viewed not in the entirety of their lives, but in one dimension only — the sexual dimension," DeBernardo said. "No other group in the church is singled out in this way."
The guidelines condemn discrimination against gays and say it's not a sin to be attracted to someone of the same sex — only to act on those feelings.
The bishops also underscore Catholic opposition to gay marriage and adoption by gay and lesbian couples, but also say children of gay Catholics can be baptized if they are being raised in the faith.
Under the guidelines, parishes are instructed to help Catholics avoid "the lifestyle and values of a 'gay subculture.'" Gays also are discouraged from telling anyone about their sexual orientation outside a close circle of friends and supporters in the church.
On the subject of therapy to change same-sex attraction, the bishops said there is no scientific consensus on whether it can succeed. But church leaders say gays are free to seek counseling to help them live a chaste life.
Sam Sinnett, president of DignityUSA, an advocacy group for gay Catholics, said the document is damaging because it recommends that gays "stay emotionally and spiritually in the closet."
Separately, the bishops voted to restructure the conference's Washington headquarters, so American dioceses would send less money to the conference, which would in turn cut jobs and committees.
Bishops have complained for years that the funds they turn over for conference work are badly needed in their home dioceses. The bishops are trying to streamline their agenda, focusing on support for married couples, an increase in the number of candidates for the priesthood and better educating Catholics on church teaching.
The bishops ended their public sessions Tuesday, meeting behind closed doors through Thursday. On Monday, the bishops urged national policymakers to leave behind the campaign season's "shrill and shallow debate" over Iraq and help end sectarian violence, so that citizens of the war-torn nation can find peace.
Pingy
The nation's Roman Catholic bishops adopted new guidelines for gay outreach...
Uh, I don't like the sound of that...
Dancing around language that is not what the Bible does.
If gays think the church's approach is wrong, they obviously don't understand the church. But their goal is to change everyone to their ways, so what else is new?
I wonder if this was the document that was supposed to address the issue of politicians claiming to be Catholic while trampling on Catholic moral teachings. Sounds like maybe it is.
At least it's outreach and not reacharound.
Yeah, but that's what it suggested!! (laugh)
Skating close to the edge, as usual. The task of pastors is to SAVE SOULS. The task of bishops is to SAVE SOULS. St. Augustine very reluctantly accepted his friends' plea for him to become a bishop, because he was worried about the burden it would put on him: the responsibility to SAVE SOULS, or be possibly be damned if he didn't do the job as well as he could.
That doesn't mean to use confusing language and issue confusing documents. Gay/lesbians will predictably refuse to accept it, but a certain number of young people will probably be confused by it, and wonder if what they are doing is sinful or not. The bishop's job is to tell them, not to brush over the issue or make nicey nice.
What better could you possibly do for human beings under your spiritual charge than to give them proper advice that will help them to save their souls?
It is so sickening how the media uses words that the Bishops did not use, such as the word gay.
Where in the article is the spokesman for "Courage", the Catholic Church's leading ministry to gays?
http://couragerc.net/
Or how about NARTH, the leading ministry for recovery & transformation of homosexuals, founded by a Catholic?
http://www.narth.com/
Must have been an oversight by the AP writer.
WEll hell that can't be a big suprise, I mean how many priests are fags buggering little boys?
"This document proposes that lesbian and gay people be viewed not in the entirety of their lives, but in one dimension only — the sexual dimension," DeBernardo said. "No other group in the church is singled out in this way."Only if you don't count adulterers, fornicators, and those who ignore the Church's teachings about contraception, but hey, let's not let facts get in the way of a good emotive declaration that challenges Christian teachings.
Note to Pope Benedict: you might want to do a little audit on 37 of your American Bishops!
By the Catholic counting of the Ten Commandments, the prohibition of adultery is the 6th commandment, not the 7th, and "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" is the 9th commandment (covering "impure thoughts" and the like).
Never Mind!
"I mean how many priests are fags buggering little boys?"
You mean those 400,000 priests worldwide or that less than .02 percent that caused the disgrace.
You might want to be clear before you slander some very good men.
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