I believe that the church should not only say it's sorry to the person who is gay whom it has offended, but it must say sorry to the poor, also, to mistreated women, to children forced to work.
I will repeat the same thing I said [in 2013]. I will also repeat what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: that [gay people] should not be discriminated against, that they have to be respected, pastorally accompanied. The matter is a person that has that condition [and] that has good will because they search for God. Who are we to judge them?
– Pope Francis
Quoted in Joshua J. McElwee's article,
"Francis: Christians Must Apologize
to Gay People for Marginalizing Them"
The National Catholic Reporter
June 26, 2016
Quoted in Joshua J. McElwee's article,
"Francis: Christians Must Apologize
to Gay People for Marginalizing Them"
The National Catholic Reporter
June 26, 2016
Related Off-site Links:
Pope Says Christians and the Roman Catholic Church Should Seek Forgiveness from Homosexuals for Past Treatment – Philip Pullella (Reuters via Religion News Service, June 26, 2016).
LGBT Catholics Welcome Statement of Pope Francis That the Catholic Church Must Apologize to Gay People, But Say Apology Must Be Followed by Concrete Actions – DignityUSA (June 26, 2016).
Pope Calls for Church to Apologize to LGBT People and Others Who Have Been Marginalized – Francis DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, June 26, 2016).
A Catholic Obligation for a Gay Apology? – Terence Weldon (Queering the Church, June 27, 2016).
German Cardinal Says Catholic Church Should Apologise to Gay Community – John Patrick-Kierans (Dublin Live, June 24, 2016).
UPDATES: Keeping Pope Francis' Comments on the LGBT Community in Context – James Martin, SJ (Commonweal, June 27, 2016).
What Pope Francis Can Teach U.S. Bishops About Reaching Out to LGBT Community – John Gehring (Religion News Service, June 29, 2016).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• "Trajectory is More Important Than the Current Status"
• Why I Take Hope in Pope Francis' Statement on Gay Priests
• Catholic Church Can Overcome Fear of LGBT People
I love the timing of the Pope's statement, what with it being Gay Pride month and with Gay Pride festivals taking place this weekend in the Twin Cities and elsewhere. As you probably know, Bishop Lynch of St. Petersburg, FL had said the same thing earlier in the week. Then, on Friday, Archbishop Wenski of Miami said that the Church had nothing to apologize for. I wonder how Wenski is managing the Pope's statement!
ReplyDeleteI disagree with those saying this is huge. It is not huge, it is just more marketing. Why didn't the Pope just apologize then? He is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, just say the words, "WE ARE SORRY."
ReplyDeleteAnd why did he just issue a joint statement with his Eastern counterpart condemning marriage equality?
Why did he come down hard against gay couples and our relationships recently in Yugoslavia?
CATHOLIC CHURCH DOCTRINE CALLS US "INTRINSICALLY DISORDERED" and he has done nothing to change that, or anything else.
Don't tell me "baby steps" and "these things take time," because they don't. He could right now, today, issue a formal apology. He could right now, today, tell the world that he is going to establish a papal task force for the removal of the harmful words against the LGBT community found in the Catholic Catechism. Instead he will do nothing.
Of course an apology is welcome but on its own it is worthless unless it is accompanied by a complete change of attitude towards the LGBT community: an unequivocal acceptance that they are an equal creation in ALL respects to the heterosexual community.
ReplyDelete