Gays, Lesbians, and the Roman Catholic Church

Dear CIOT Participants,

As the last topic for this year, our group voted to read and discuss the issues of gays and lesbians in the Church. As always, I have attempted to present first the facts of doctrine (doctrine = what the church teaches), followed by some historical/developmental materials and editorial items representing several sides of the issues.

Looking forward to seeing you all on December 3!

Yours in Christ,
John

What the Church Teaches: Homosexuality, Marriage, and Same-Sex Unions

Two readable and short pamphlets summarize the issues:

• What the Church teaches about Homosexuality (Catholic Update 1999)
• The U.S. Bishop’s Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Unions.” (Catholic Update, March 2004)

There are a number or short articles and commentaries on these issues at the website, “Catholic Educator’s Resource

http://www.catholiceducation.org/directory/Current_Issues/Homosexuality/

The Historical Question Then & Now: Homosexuality, the Church, and Religion

"Homosexuality” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (2003), vol. 7: 66-71

"Homosexuals, Pastoral Care of,” in New Catholic Enclyclopedia, 2nd ed. (2003), vol. 7: 71-73

“Homosexuality” in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed. (2005), vol. 6: 4111-4118

The historical perspective on the relations between homosexuality and the Church were brought to the fore by the Yale historian John Boswell in his Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980). Despite the book’s significant influence, it has not fared well in the world of historical, scholarly criticism. Although hardly a historian, Richard John Neuhaus summarizes much of the discussion in his “In the Case of John Boswell,” First Things (March 1994).

Homesexuals and the Clergy/Priesthood

The recent document released by the Congregation for Catholic Education on 4 November 2005 (and approved by Benedict XVI) regarding the ordination of homosexuals is relatively brief, and has proven controversial in its interpretation.

It has been summarized and discussed by Richard John Neuhaus in First Things (February 2006).

For more extensive coverage with numerous links, see the ReligionLink.Org website, a source for journalists who cover religious topics.

The same site contains a comparative presentation of the major world demoninations and their stance on this particular issue.

Some Critical Views of (none, some, or all, depending) Aspects of the Church’s Teachings on Homosexuality

“The True Purpose of Marriage,” an editorial in wake of Massachusett’s legalization of gay marriage from The Saint Anthony Messenger (March 2004).

Stephen J. Pope, “Same-Sex Marriage: Threat or Aspiration?” America 6 December 2005.

Father Richard Predergast, “Let’s Watch our Language about Gays and Lesbians.” U.S. Catholic 69, n. 11(November 2004).

After the American Catholic Bishops released a new document that treated sexuality, marriage, and homosexuality among other things, the National Catholic Reporter wondered about the inherent contradictions in the bishops’ positions on its editorial page (24 November 2006).

Earlier that year the same periodical editorialized on the issue of Catholic adoption services and homosexual couples (March 24, 2006).

Recently the church in Minnesota banned a talk in a Catholic parish by Catholic father and his lesbian daughter, and the National Catholic Reporter has a report of the incident and an editorial regarding it.