Quote of the Day

Mercy, it seems to me, is not the door that LGBTQ people need opened to them. Mercy is an act of love, compassion or service given to those who sin or are afflicted in some way. LGBTQ people, same-sex relationships, and transgender persons are not sins or afflictions.

. . . The truth is, gays and lesbians do not need mercy for falling in love with someone of the same sex. My transgender friends do not need the church's mercy for striving to become the persons they believe God made them to be. LGBTQ couples do not need forgiveness for being in loving relationships. These are not sins. There is nothing to forgive.

If LGBTQ persons need mercy and forgiveness, it is for reasons that are no different from the reasons heterosexuals need mercy, like when we fail to be generous, patient, supportive, respectful, kind, compassionate, or faithful.

The irony here is that if anyone should be asking for mercy, it is the Catholic hierarchy. The institutional church should seek forgiveness from the LGBTQ community for failing to speak out when we are killed, beaten or imprisoned, for taking our jobs and our livelihoods, for denying us access to Jesus' Eucharistic table, for attempting to thwart our movements for equal protection under the law, and for promoting teachings that have estranged us from our faith, our communities, our families and, in some cases, even our own beloved partners.

LGBTQ persons do not need mercy from the church. We need justice. We need an institutional church that has the courage to admit that all people, regardless of sexual orientation, relationship status, or gender identity, have the same potential for goodness, wholeness and a sacramental life. Until that day comes, we will not achieve true dignity and full equality in our church.

– Jamie Manson
Excerpted from "LGBTQ People Need Justice,
Not Mercy, from Pope Francis"
National Catholic Reporter
January 20, 2016

For more of Jamie Manson's insights at The Wild Reed, see:
• Quote of the Day – July 29, 2015
• More Progressive Catholic Perspectives on Ireland's Historic Gay Marriage Vote
• LGBT Catholics Respond to Synod 2014's Final Report
• Quote of the Day – August 1, 2013

See also:
• How the Pope's Recent Remarks on Evolution Highlight a Major Discrepancy in Church Teaching on Sexuality
• James Alison on the Likely "Really Big Deal" of Synod 2015
• Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality
• The Many Manifestations of God’s Loving Embrace
• Same-Sex Desires: "Immanent and Essential Traits Transcending Time and Culture"
• Getting It Right
• Remembering and Reclaiming a Wise, Spacious, and Holy Understanding of Homosexuality
• Sister Teresa Forcades on Queer Theology
• Quote of the Day – August 22, 2013
• Beyond Respectful Tolerance to Celebratory Acceptance