Quote (and Reality Check) of the Day

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Gestures that for other people would be considered basic to human decency have become, for Francis apologists, signs of the pope's revolution of mercy in the church toward LGBT Catholics and everyone else on the margins of faith. Yet, in spite of these gestures, very little has changed in the structures of Catholic teaching and practice to show any amount of mercy to LGBT Catholics. The Catholic Catechism still calls same-sex desire "disordered." The only church-endorsed national and international ministry towards LGBT people treats "same-sex attraction" as an unwanted sickness or addiction, akin to alcoholism. Archbishops such as Salvatore Cordileone and Charles Chaput continue to act out against LGBT equality without repercussions from the broader church. It still shocks the world and church when a German cardinal suggests that there may be something good in committed LGBT relationships. There were no LGBT allies invited to speak at the recent World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, and there is little hope that this month's Synod on the Family in Rome will be any better. LGBT people cannot get married in the Catholic Church, and the rhetoric of bishops leads many to believe that the church will not bless same-sex relationships anytime soon.

It's time for progressive Catholics to recognize that, in spite of the pope's gestures towards LGBT people, systematic sin and injustice runs much deeper that the pope's pastoral style. Why do we keep fooling ourselves into believing that one pope can fix the deep-rooted problem of homophobia in the church?

It's time for all Catholics to start listening to how LGBT people feel about their experience in the church. It's time to hear the cries of pain that come from those hurt by the church's long-standing and continued abuse. It's time we stop pretending that Pope Francis has fixed everything. He hasn't. He can't. The sooner we recognize how much work remains to be done addressing systematic sins of homophobia in the Catholic Church, the sooner we can begin the healing process.

– Jason Steidl
Excerpted from "Pope Francis and Kim Davis: Just Get Over It?"
HuffPost Religion
October 2, 2015

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Quote (and Reality Check) of the Day – September 1, 2015
• Jim Smith on the "Tears of Love and Faith" of LGBTI People and Their Families
• Quote of the Day – October 31, 2014
• Quote of the Day – October 20, 2014
• LGBT Catholics Respond to Synod 2014's Final Report
• "Trajectory is More Important Than the Current Status"

Related Off-site Links:
The Catholic Church Has Hurt a Lot of LGBT People. It's Time to Stop – Sr. Simone Campbell (HuffPost Religion, October 6, 2015).
The Pope's Encore: Reforming the Church – Mary E. Hunt (The Baltimore Sun, October 2, 2015).
Creating a Liberating Church (Part 1) – Rosemary Radford Ruether (The Progressive Catholic Voice, July 15, 2010).
Creating a Liberating Church (Part 2) – Rosemary Radford Ruether (The Progressive Catholic Voice, July 19, 2010).
Creating a Liberating Church (Part 3) – Rosemary Radford Ruether (The Progressive Catholic Voice, July 28, 2010).