In recent weeks, the Vatican issued a series of questions and points for reflection called the Lineamenta. The Vatican and the local Episcopal Conferences invited Catholic people and organisations to reflect on these Lineamenta and send feedback on the Family and related themes.
In response to this invitation, Drachma reflected on the Lineamenta and issued the following feedback, which we are now posting on our blog.
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21
January, 2015
Mgr. M. Grech,
President, Maltese Episcopal Conference, Bishop of Gozo
Mgr. C. Scicluna,
Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Malta, sede vacante
Feedback on the Lineamenta
We wish to contribute our humble
part towards widening the reflection leading up to the October 2015 assembly of
the Synod on the Family. In this context we would like to communicate our
thoughts that are the fruit of our experience as a group that is already
immersed in the LGBTI pastoral field.
We have opted to limit our reactions
to Question 40 of the Lineamenta and
the corresponding paragraphs 54-55 of the Relatio
Synodi (which the Lineamenta
erroneously numbers 55-56).
The attached feedback includes a
number of proposals that can be brought to the attention of the General
Secretariat of the Synod. Some of these proposals can be implemented also
locally.
We thank you for your kind attention
and support.
With a promise of our prayers,
Chris Vella and Joseanne Peregin
DrachmaFeedback on the Lineamenta from Drachma LGBTI and the Drachma Parents’ Group
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Title: Pastoral
Attention towards Persons with Homosexual Tendencies
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The wording
used in the sub-title and in the question itself immediately poses great
difficulty since it refers to ‘homosexual tendencies’.
This makes homosexuality sound like something pathological or ‘curable’,
while it is scientifically proven that homosexuality is neither of the two.
Suggested alternative wording: Pastoral
attention towards homosexual persons.
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The pastoral care of persons with
homosexual tendencies poses new challenges today, due to the manner in which
their rights are proposed in society.
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Again, this
wording is fundamentally flawed. The real problem is not ‘the way in which
gay people’s rights are proposed in
society’. The real problem is the way in which such people’s fundamental
rights are being denied by society
(sometimes even by the Church).
As Christians we believe that everybody, including
gay persons, has the right to live his life in a dignified way, free from all
types of persecution and discrimination. In many situations and in many
countries it is such a fundamental human right that is being denied. Certainly
the efforts being made to have such rights respected are not to be perceived by
the Church as causing a challenge or a problem to its pastoral mission!
We think that
this sentence should be worded differently: The pastoral care of homosexual persons poses new challenges today,
due to the manner in which such persons have been and are being marginalized
by society, including by some members of the Church.
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40. How can the Christian
community give pastoral attention to families with persons with homosexual
tendencies?
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A homosexual
person is a person. He or she is not a person ‘with homosexual tendencies’ –
just as much as a heterosexual is a person and not just a person ‘with
heterosexual tendencies’. This text should be recast as follows: How can the Christian community give
pastoral attention to families with homosexual persons?
Church members
must be made aware of the trauma that homosexual persons pass through before,
during and after their ‘coming out’. We know from our experience, that many
parents find it extremely difficult to accept their children’s homosexuality,
often owing to their religious upbringing.
Therefore in her
pastoral ministry with families the Church should encourage parents to accept
their children’s sexuality – whatever it is. Always our children! In this way, LGBTI persons would find
acceptance and love in the place where they most expect to find it – at home
and within the Church. Indeed, according to Christian anthropology every
human person is a son or daughter of God, made in His image and likeness.
Hence before being ‘always our children’ such persons are, first and
foremost, always daughters and sons of God. The wording of the previous
paragraph 50 is very pertinent here: “Oftentimes, they (homosexual
persons) want to encounter a Church which offers them a welcoming home. Are
our communities capable of this, accepting and valuing their sexual
orientation?”
It is a known
fact that a significant proportion of suicides is committed by LGBTI persons
– often as a result of not feeling or not being accepted by their families.
This alone brings out the need for much greater tact on the part of bishops, priests
and pastoral workers when speaking of and dealing with these persons.
The Church
should take every opportunity (including this Synod) to be perceived, and in
fact be, shoulder-to-shoulder with homosexual persons and genuinely concerned
by the unjust way in which such persons are treated by society. The Church
should stand,
and be seen to stand, in their defence in the midst of a society that is all
too often hypocritical and hostile towards them.
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What are the responses
that, in light of cultural sensitivities, are considered to be most
appropriate?
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We submit the following
proposals:
1.
The Church needs to review
paragraphs 2357-2359 and 2396 of the Catechism because:
(a) The only place homosexual persons find something written about their
reality in the whole Catechism is under the section entitled: Sins against Chastity.
(b) The present text that reads “This
inclination is in itself intrinsically disordered” (paragraph 2358) must
be removed, especially the words ‘intrinsically disordered’. Nobody has the
right to call ‘disordered’ what God himself has created! In this context the 1997 amendment to
the CCC was a step backwards.
(c) The passages from Scripture and Tradition that are quoted in the
footnotes to sustain Church teaching on this reality need to be reviewed as many
advances in human sciences and biblical studies can shed new light upon this
reality.
2.
The Church should
introduce a Ministry for Lesbian and Gay Catholics (including gay priests and
nuns).
3.
The Church should acknowledge the positive elements
in civil partnerships. In this context the wording of (previous paragraph 52
of) the Relatio post disceptationem
were particularly significant: “there are instances where
mutual assistance to the point of sacrifice is a valuable support in the life
of these persons”. Such unions, rather than undermining the institution
of marriage, actually provide a structure in which people of the same sex who
want a life-long relationship can find their place and protection and the
relevant legal provisions. Such unions can enhance the values of equality and commitment in relationships,
to which the Church already is very committed, because it is equality and the reliability of commitments between people that constitute the
very basis for stability in society.
If the Church starts using a new language towards homosexual believers living in a stable relationship that
is based
on the principles of fidelity, care and love, it
will open up a new pastoral avenue not only with Catholic gay
persons but also with gay persons of other faiths or none.
4. Catholic LGBTIs should be protagonists in the formulation of the
Church’s pastoral care of gays. Such pastoral care should not be about them and for them, but with them
and from them. Through their direct and positive contribution,
gay persons can be an enrichment to the Church
and its vision. “Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian
community” (previous paragraph 50 of the Relatio
post disceptationem). The Church can listen to homosexual persons
by: (a) inviting LGBTI persons themselves (b) people involved in pastoral
work with LGBTIs (c) theologians who have studied this subject, to be part of
its commissions and study groups, to address the assembly in October 2015, and
to participate in the redaction of Church documents on the subject (see 1 above and 5 below).
5.
We suggest that the Pope
opens up a theological-anthropological discussion on fundamental questions
such as gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexuality and the
Scriptures. Such discussion would be expected to continue even after the
October Synod is concluded.
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While avoiding any unjust
discrimination, how can such persons receive pastoral care in these
situations in light of the Gospel? How can God’s will be proposed to them in
their situation?
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What we understand by the words ‘in light of the
gospel’ is: unconditional love, forgiveness, tolerance, openness, acceptance,
being non-judgmental. These are Christ’s own attitudes, and we should derive
our light from Him alone. Such attitudes should be reflected in the Church’s
language, its documents and its ministers’ dealings with gay persons.
A Church that expels its own employees only because they are in a same-sex
relationship or because they have entered into a civil union is not a loving, tolerant, non-judgmental,
non-discriminating mother and/or sister.
All those in pastoral work,
or who are somehow in contact with gay persons and work in this particular
field, should be adequately
trained.
Particularly, seminarians’
formation should include training in this specific area. Such training is to
be given by competent persons with
an adequate background in psychology, since unfortunately there still exist
many myths, misconceptions, ignorance and prejudices about this reality.
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We would also like to comment briefly on paragraphs
54-55 of the Relatio Synodi.
As a general comment we would like to register our
disappointment at the fact that most of the wording, vision and pastoral approach
found in the first version of the Relatio
post disceptationem (General
Rapporteur, Card. Péter Erdő, 13 October, 2014) are absent from the present
paragraphs.
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54. Some families have members who
have a homosexual tendency. In this regard, the synod fathers asked
themselves what pastoral attention might be appropriate for them in
accordance with Church teaching: “There are absolutely no grounds for
considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely
analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.”
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Is it
possible that when the synod fathers asked themselves what pastoral attention is appropriate, the
only thing that came to mind was that ‘there are absolutely no grounds for
considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely
analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family’?
Is a prohibition
the only answer the synod fathers
can offer to millions of gay persons? Is this an appropriate pastoral
initiative?
We
acknowledge that this issue is new to the Church. We also appreciate that the
Church has started to debate and study this reality, and for this we are grateful
to God.
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Nevertheless, men and women with a
homosexual tendency ought to be received with respect and sensitivity. “Every
sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions
Between Homosexual Persons, 4).
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Although the Relatio states that ‘Every sign of
unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided’ it omits any comment
with regard to the unacceptable state of affairs in many countries where
homosexuals are discriminated against, persecuted and even killed. It is
unfortunate that the Church remains silent and fails to condemn the
criminalization of homosexuality and the persecution and harassment of
homosexuals. Such lack of solidarity puts into question the credibility of
the Church regarding its commitment to receive homosexual persons ‘with
respect and sensitivity’.
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55. Exerting pressure in this
regard on the Pastors of the Church is totally unacceptable: it is equally unacceptable
for international organizations to link their financial assistance to poorer
countries with the introduction of laws that establish “marriage” between
persons of the same sex.
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The Church appears
to be more concerned that its pastors are being pressured – rather than
preoccupied by the enormous physical and psychological pressure that is
exerted on gays everyday throughout the world. Therefore, this part of
paragraph 55 should be replaced by a new paragraph that categorically condemns
all countries that criminalize homosexuality at various levels.
As regards the
question of funding: Funding to poor countries by certain organizations is
sometimes linked to certain conditions. But such conditions are not
exclusively gay-related (e.g. those that exert pressure to accept
‘pro-choice’ laws easily come to mind). Therefore this last sentence of para
55 should be removed from here completely and put in a separate paragraph under
a different item and which would condemn all funding to developing countries
that carry ties or conditions.
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Drachma LGBTI and Drachma Parents
21 January 2015
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