Posted on 04/08/2005 7:20:08 AM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
World mourns pope who worked for peace but opposed gay rights.
Many gay Catholics are reflecting on the life and legacy of Pope John Paul II with mixed emotions this week, uplifted by his dedication to world peace yet disappointed by his staunch opposition to gay rights and same-sex marriage.
John Paul II, who died April 2, led the Catholic Church for 26 years and was the longest reigning pope in recent history. He presided over a church that grew to a billion members and became well known for his opposition to communism and high profile visits to 127 countries.
Many remember the pope as a great communicator who reached out to the poor. Even communist leader Fidel Castro expressed condolences, writing earlier this week, “Rest in peace, tireless fighter for friendship among peoples, enemy of war and friend of the poor,” according to the Associated Press.
Some observers said the pope’s strict traditionalist views had to do with his experience leading a church within a communist state — he was a cardinal in communist Poland. As such, he was isolated from the liberalizing forces that were impacting the Catholic Church in other countries. While the pope spoke out for peace in the Middle East and apologized for some past mistakes of the Catholic Church, he rigidly upheld the church position that sex was for procreation only.
John Paul II called homosexuality “evil,” and used his position as head of the Catholic Church to oppose the use of birth control. The pope also opposed the use of condoms to help in curtailing the spread of AIDS and exerted political pressure to work against gay rights and same-sex marriage.
“He has set us back to the early ‘60s,” said Daniel Helminiak, a former Catholic priest and author of “What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality.”
Helminiak, who is gay, is now a psychology professor at the State University of West Georgia. He left the priesthood after 28 years in part because of the church’s teachings on sexuality.
John Paul II “institutionalized all of the restrictions very solidly. They can be changed but it’ll take some doing,” Helminiak said. “And eventually they will be changed, I’m absolutely convinced, because they’re totally foolish, totally off base. But he’s set the process back decades.”
Different time for gay Catholics During the 1970s, ministries were developed for gay men and lesbians within the Catholic Church.
“When polls have been done among various religious groups Catholics come out among the highest in supporting gay and lesbian rights,” said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, a 28-year-old ministry that seeks to build bridges between gay Catholics and the broader Catholic community.
“This could be because Catholic teaching is more complicated than some think. It does not condemn homosexual orientation,” he added. “Another reason for Catholic support may be the emphasis on family — people are less likely to hate gay and lesbian people if they have a gay or lesbian family member.”
Despite a broadening sense of acceptance of gay men and lesbians within the Catholic Church, in 1986 Pope John Paul II issued a “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.” The letter, which was written in English and aimed at American Catholics, called same-sex attraction an “objective disorder” and “intrinsically evil”.
“I think it was obviously on his watch and his approval that we got the 1986 letter on homosexuality as a problem,” said Mark Jordan, a religion professor at Atlanta’s Emory University whose books include “The Silence of Sodom: Homosexuality in Modern Catholicism.”
“The view of that letter is now part of the official catechism of the Catholic Church and also been written into a number of other official documents, so it would be very hard to reverse,” said Jordan, a gay Catholic.
Dignity USA, a group for gay Catholics founded in 1969, had been holding meetings in Catholic churches at that time. But in response to the pope’s 1986 letter, Dignity chapters across the country voted unanimously to leave the Catholic Church.
“This was quite traumatic,” said Sam Sinnett, president of Dignity USA. “People are hurt by the church’s language. We exist to support people who are integrating spirituality and sexuality.”
Dignity now has between 3,500 and 4,000 members in nearly 50 chapters, Sinnett said.
“There is an ultra-orthodox belief that the church is the people of God,” Sinnett said. “The bishops may have shut out gays and lesbians but gay and lesbian Catholics are still able to practice.”
Sinnett said that he attends a Roman Catholic Mass with his Dignity chapter in St. Louis and the service is held in an Episcopal church.
Why did some gay men and lesbians go to such lengths to stay close to a religion that had rejected them?
“During the Vietnam era conservatives used to say to protesters ‘Love it or leave it’ — they didn’t understand the concept of loyal protest,” Sinnett said. “Faith is a lot more [than the church’s statements on homosexuality] we can dissent faithfully.”
Grassroots change In 1987, moral theologian Charles Curran was fired from his position at Catholic University because he refused to follow the Vatican line on homosexuality and birth control.
Sister Jeannine Gramick began pastoral work with gay men and lesbians in 1971 as a nun with the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore. Gramick said she was encouraged and supported in this work by her church leaders at the time.
“Gays and lesbians felt so abandoned, some hadn’t been to church in 10 or 20 years and felt there was no place for them,” Gramick said. “I told them every baptized person has a place in the church, it belongs to you as much as it belongs to straight people.
“We began having weekly services in homes and gradually they realized that people cared … gradually the feelings of rejection were replaced with feelings of being welcome,” Gramick said.
The Vatican conducted an 11-year investigation into what she was doing and in 1999 issued an order forbidding her to speak about homosexuality or about the church investigation of her ministry.
“During [John Paul II’s] papacy the movement for gay and lesbian rights at the higher level of the church deteriorated,” Gramick said this week. “But the movement of middle management in the church in the U.S. progressed due to advocacy by gays and lesbians and their families.”
Gramick said that the movement toward acceptance of gay men and lesbians within the Catholic Church will continue no matter what negative pronouncements come from the Vatican.
Pope and politics The Catholic Church, under John Paul II, argued not only that homosexuality is against natural law, but that it should be against civil law as well. In 1992 the Vatican issued a letter to bishops urging them to oppose gay rights initiatives.
The pope pressured the Italian government to withdraw support for the World Pride Celebration in Rome in 2000.
The pope also supported the Federal Marriage Amendment to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples and asked bishops to get involved in campaigns against same-sex marriage.
The pope drew criticism from some when he promoted Cardinal Bernard Law, accused of covering up sex abuse allegations made against priests. Sinnett, of Dignity USA, said John Paul II attempted to scapegoat gay priests during the scandal.
In November 2002 the church released a letter entitled, “Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life,” which stated that Catholic politicians should advance Catholic teachings in their work.
AIDS activists say that by traveling to Africa and speaking against the use of birth control and condoms, the pope set back efforts to curb spread of the disease and that many have died because of the pope’s theological rigidity and opposition to condom use.
“One of the greatest successes of this pope was in globalizing the church and listening to the voices in the Third World,” said DeBernardo, of New Ways Ministry. “My hope is that the next pope will similarly listen to the voices of gay and lesbian people.”
“I do believe that that the Holy Spirit guides the choice of the next pope,” DeBernardo said, “Catholic people have worked for justice for gay and lesbian people. If the spirit can work under a papacy opposed to lesbian and gay issues … it can work under whoever comes next.”
While many gay and lesbian advocates expressed hope that the next pope will develop more progressive positions on sexuality, 114 of the 117 Cardinals who will decide on a replacement were appointed by John Paul II, and many doubt that any major doctrinal changes are on the horizon.
“As far as we can predict, I think that the next pope will be as conservative or slightly more conservative than John Paul II on sexuality issues, just given the kinds of people who’ve been appointed cardinals under him,” Emory’s Jordan said.
I never have been able to see how a gay person can reconcile their lifestyle with the Catholic religion.
"Also in the news: Men who have been cheating on their wives also have mixed feelings about the Pope's unfair demands of faithfulness to their spouse..."
wow --- so many oxymorons in the same article.
so many liberal morons represented in the same article.
so many moronic liberal positions represented in the same article.
Now, at least, Pope John Paul the Great is in a position where he can pray, literally unceasingly, for these fools.
And how can Catholics legitimize the causes of the gay community by voting into office politicians who align themselves with gay causes? Equally mystifying.
Ha! Good for JPII, political correctness and the religion of moral relativism creep hasn't infected the Catholics...maybe Frank Griswald should take some lessons. Or maybe I should convert.
Hehehe...
If you're homosexual first, and religious second, I can see how this confusion and disappointment might come about, but to blame the church for their beliefs is just ridiculous.
Since homosexuality is an emotional issue, it's up to supposedly faithful individuals to control those emotions; the church simply backs you up.
Expect the real venom to appear about this time next week. I caught an interview with a guy on FOX this morning (Not sure of his name) who said there are bloggers lining up to attack the pope. The guy said that theres a website called Hillarynow.com that plans to run a story that claims John Paul was an anti semite and that he carried blood with him to Israel to avoid getting jewish blood if he needed a transfusion.
or pro-abortion candidates for that matter
(I hope he doesn't forget to pray for me, too...)
One cannot be at peace internally while in active rebellion to God.
Oxymoron alert! GAY Catholics? How Catholic can one be if one is gay? And they are disappointed the Pope didn't embrace gay rights and gay marriage? I for one am damn glad the Church stands up to this nonsense.
I firmly resolve with the help of Thy Grace to confess my sins, to do Penance and to amend my life Amen.
These closing words of a Catholic confession are telling to Homosexuals as they have no intention to amend their lives.
I hear you dude. It makes my head spin. I had a long conversation last night with a local candidate who aligns his views with ours. He lost by a more than 2-1 margin to a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage incumbent in an overwhelmingly Catholic area. Many people that I see in Church every Sunday are the same people that displayed the signs of the incumbent in their yards last fall.
Those with same sex attraction are called to chastity -- that is their particular challenge and path to virtue and holiness.
That's the liberal dogma we all know and love...let'em and watch the mentally disordered democratic party become even more irrelevant day by day.
I hope they do.
Hey, the Episcopal church is calling you. Join already!
Personally, I hope the next pope begins the house cleaning process by affirming the Church's positions on theological issues regarding matters such as homosexual marriage and female priests.
We are so afraid that the actions of the Church will alienate Catholics, pushing them out of the Church, that our leaders don't act. This is said to be in emulation of Christ, yet it is far from it.
Christ was not afraid to alienate people who put the concerns of men before the concerns of God. He was not afraid to take stands that pushed people away from his message and made people dislike him. Not all people love the Truth. The Church has every bit as much an obligation to proclaim the Truth as Christ proclaimed the Truth during His time here on earth. The weakening of the Church throughout the world can be attributed in part to the Church's hesitancy to carry out this vital part of its mission.
As Catholics, we are not called to be friends of the world. Christ said that the world will hate us just as it hated Him. The Early Christians were not afraid to alienate the pagan world by refusing to bow before the emperor or his gods, or to even make excuses for the false worship of pagans. Our mission is to proclaim the Truth, no matter how unpopular it may be, and face persecution if necessary.
I hope that the next pope is willing to be unpopular to the world through an unfearing proclamation of the Truth. That is what the Church needs in this new century, not a pope that will make the Church more palpable to the ways of the world.
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