The Catholic Church is an almost unique stutn — shunng homosexualy but havg so many gay men s ranks, wr Andrew Sullivan. The Vatin’s failure to reckon wh their sexualy has created a crisis for Catholicism.
Contents:
- WHAT SHOULD A GAY CATHOLIC DO?
- LIVG S? HOW GAY CATHOLICS MANAGE THEIR CONFLICTG SEXUAL AND RELIG INTI
- ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?
- ‘IT IS NOT A CLOSET. IT IS A CAGE.’ GAY CATHOLIC PRITS SPEAK OUT
- OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC PRIT DISCS POPE FRANCIS' APPEAL FOR LGBTQ PROTECTNS
- GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE
- THE GAY CHURCH
WHAT SHOULD A GAY CATHOLIC DO?
Many of New York Cy’s most outwardly gay-iendly parish are ncentrated Manhattan, a center of both gay culture and efforts to build a gay-iendly Catholicism. * gay catholic chat *
AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMany of New York Cy’s most outwardly gay-iendly parish are ncentrated Manhattan, a center of both gay culture and efforts to build a gay-iendly Watts for The New York TimThe pews fill up quickly each Sunday at the Church of St.
LIVG S? HOW GAY CATHOLICS MANAGE THEIR CONFLICTG SEXUAL AND RELIG INTI
Here s a real pastoral qutn to nsir What place nbsp is there for nbsp the gay person the Catholic church nbsp Wh the warng om the archdce of Washgton D C that would pull out of social servic the cy rather than acce to a bill that would afford benefs to same * gay catholic chat *
Mistri; anizg events like spirual retreats, hik and happy hours at lol gay bars; celebratg Mass and other events durg Pri Month; and by speakg up for the gay Watts for The New York TimWhen the Vatin issued a statement March that said prits uld not bls same-sex unns, which rid as a form of s, the parish and a handful of others Manhattan issued statements of dismay or ed hoi durg Mass as an opportuny to fort L. Lbian, gay and bisexual people are much ls likely than heterosexuals to attend relig servic, intify as a member of a relig group or believe that Scripture is the word of God, acrdg to Pew Rearch Center survey data om 80 percent of people surveyed that poll said they nsired the Catholic Church to be “uniendly” to the L. ”The efforts to create a gay-iendly Catholicism highlight the reful path the Catholic Church and s clergy mt walk liberal plac like New York, an important Amerin relig center where churchgoers often look askance at the Vatin’s stanc on admistered day-to-day by more liberal, self-erng relig orrs — cludg the Jus, the Plist Fathers and the Francisns — affords the parish and their prits the eedom to do thgs like preach hoi that extol the digny of gay people and the value of their relatnships a way that prits who work directly for the rdal tend to also giv the archdce some distance om activi that tradnalists might oppose, like the Pri march participatn of St.
233 CTL Friends | Trenton, USAMCCNJOrganized by MCCNJMCCNJOrganized by MCCNJ8Gay Sailors220 Sailors | Mara l Rey, USARobertOrganized by RobertRobertOrganized by Robert9NC Triangle LGBT Christian Meetup217 LGBT Christians | Raleigh, USAEricsonOrganized by EricsonEricsonOrganized by Ericson10SoCal Gay Christians192 Gay Christians | Los Angel, USARobertOrganized by RobertRobertOrganized by RobertShow all. C., that would pull out of social servic the cy rather than acce to a bill that would afford benefs to same-sex spo, a qutn, too long neglected, aris for the whole church: What is a gay Catholic supposed to do life? A gay layman I know who serv an important role a dce (and even wr some of his bishop's statements on social jtice) has a solid theologil tn and sir to serve the church, but fds impossible to be open the face of the bishop's repeated disparagg remarks about gays.
ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?
The Roman Catholic Church, the largt Christian nomatn the Uned Stat wh an timated 62 ln members, has weled celibate gay and lbian people to s church life but creasgly is beg more tolerant even of this populatn. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, a text which ntas dogmas and teachgs of the Church, nam “homosexual acts” as “trsilly immoral and ntrary to the natural law, ” and nam “homosexual tennci” as “objectively disorred.
‘IT IS NOT A CLOSET. IT IS A CAGE.’ GAY CATHOLIC PRITS SPEAK OUT
The 1986 Letter stat, “Although the particular clatn of the homosexual person is not a s, is a more or ls strong tenncy orred toward an trsic moral evil; and th the clatn self mt be seen as an objective disorr. A 2005 Vatin document, approved by then Pope Benedict XVI, stcted that the Church “nnot adm to the semary or to holy orrs those who practice homosexualy, prent ep-seated homosexual tennci or support the so-lled ‘gay culture.
In the wake of Pope Francis’ recent ment about same-sex civil unns, Pew Rearch Center nducted this analysis to better unrstand what Catholics around the world thk about legal regnn for same-sex upl and homosexualy general. The term “homosexualy, ” while sometim nsired anachronistic the current era, is the most applible and easily translatable term to e when askg this qutn across societi and languag and has been ed other cross-natnal studi, cludg the World Valu Survey. The Catholic Church teach that “homosexual acts are trsilly disorred” and lls on gay people to practice “chasty, ” though also lls on Catholics to treat gay men and women wh “rpect, passn and sensivy.
OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC PRIT DISCS POPE FRANCIS' APPEAL FOR LGBTQ PROTECTNS
Eight Polish gays wh a Catholic background, who intified themselv as strong believers, shared their experienc durg semi-stctured terviews that were subjected to terpretative phenomenologil analysis. They ed a number of strategi to rencile nflictg inti, cludg limg their relig volvement, qutng terpretatn of the doctre, unrmg prits’ thory, tryg to reject homosexual attractn, puttg tst God’s plan, g profsnal help, and seekg acceptance om clergy. Keywords: Gay, Catholic, Spirualy, Relign, Sexual orientatn, IntyIntroductnSexual inty often exists a dynamic teractn wh other self-imag such as cultural background (ethnic and/or relig), which requir that dividuals manage multiple inti (Stevens, 2004).
O’Brien (2004) ed the term “double stigma” to scribe the experience of gay Christians who felt addnally rejected by other gays for beg openly relig, bee the LGBT environment remas cril and dismissive of Christiany. Another study by Mark (2008) showed that some gay Orthodox Jews seek sexual nversn therapi bee they feel great prsure to nform to munal norms, and experience tense guilt and betrayal if they fail to fulfill them. Attempts to supprs nflictg, erotic impuls toward same-sex were also mentned reference to gay Mlims (Jaspal & Cnirella, 2010; Kugle, 2010) or Christians (Barton, 2010; Rodriguez & Ouellette, 2000).
Exampl of that n be found studi on lbian Christians (Mahaffy, 1996), Mlim gay Iranians the UK (Taylor & Snowdon, 2014), or Canadian gay Jews (Schnoor, 2006) is, however, ltle rmatn on how people perceive the sts of reprsg eher spirual or sexual parts of their inty, what psychologil mechanisms they e to rce rultg tra-psychic tensn, and how this affects their well-beg. It is possible that a siar strategy uld be ed by Christian gays, who are tght that is the sful act and not the sner who should be people rencile their sexual and relig inti on a social level different ways.
GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE
For stance, gay Jews the study of Coyle and Rafal (2001), preferred not to disclose their sexual inty wh their Jewish muny and, like muters discsed by Brekh (2003), often avoid discsg relatnships or sexualy-related issu, and kept a very low profile. Participants this rearch scribed their relig socializatn and s impact on how they experienced their homosexualy, experienced tra-psychic nflicts and attempts to rolve first thor (IP) is non-Christian and, spe livg Poland, did not have a Catholic upbrgg. Participants perceived the topic of the study extremely meangful and were very willg to share their to meetg dividual participants, an terview gui was created wh areas to be discsed wh every participant and sample open-end qutns and prompts to explore their experienc of growg up a relig fay, disverg their sexualy, and meang attributed to homosexualy wh reference to their fah.
Of participants wh themeTheme 1: Growg fah8Theme 2: Disverg one’s homosexualy8Theme 3: Experiencg a nflict Spirual dilemmas8 Fear of disappotg fay7 Anticipatg rejectn by the muny8Theme 4: Seekg peace Rcg relig volvement5 Qutng the terpretatn of the doctre4 Unrmg prits’ thory6 Tryg to reject homosexual attractn3 Puttg tst God’s plan6 Usg profsnal help5 Seekg acceptance om clergy6Theme 5: Comg-out a Catholic fay8Theme 6: Bearg the s5Theme 1: Growg FahAll participants scribed their relig socializatn at home, school, and the Church great tail. Rak and Arthur served as church mistrants and participated relig youth anizatns, tryg to embody their fah everyday life and follow Catholic prcipl distguishg what was right, moral, or sacred, and what was immoral or 2: Disverg One’s HomosexualyAll participants said that acknowledgg their attractn to same-sex was challengg and even challengg to their self-image. Borys relled startg to “disver somethg himself” but uld not unrstand why he was different om his classmat, and searched rmatn about homosexualy on the Inter to faiarize himself wh the topic and unrstand his own talked about boobs and ass all the time.
Matthew said a beiend prit suggted he might be gay, and Arthur regnized his gay sir when he fell love wh a 3: Experiencg a ConflictAll participants experienced at different moments of their liv tense nflicts between velopg sexual awarens and needs, and their relig beliefs and aspiratns.
THE GAY CHURCH
Anticipatg Rejectn by the Communy All participants referred to social stereotyp about gay people, strengthened by media reports which, they believed, often viewed gays as “effemate” or “mp” the way they drs, talk or move. He thought people ascribed to the LGBT muny all kds of sful quali they would not like to fd 4: Seekg PeaceAll participants tried to rolve ner nflicts between their relig valu or aspiratns, and growg gay inty. Rcg Relig Involvement Participants said they were trated and angry, and felt guilty and rejected by the Catholic Church, bee s doctre forbids homosexual love and relatnships, treatg the as sful actns.
– Konrad (age 27)Puttg Tst God’s Plan Tryg to accept one’s homosexualy often required rejectg the doctre prented by the Catholic Church, acrdg to which two men engagg sexual acts would be eternally nmned. – Rak (age 25)Intertgly, he refers to God as a person endowed wh certa quali; perhaps, the abily to five is somethg he would hope to receive om his parents if only he were able to disclose his sexual orientatn to Profsnal Help While four participants reported g some sort of unselg or psychotherapy bee they experienced a nflict associated wh their homosexualy and/or had problems wh g-out, only Borys said he expected support rather than tryg to change his sexual behavr. Konrad admted that gave him some sense of ntrol—no one uld hurt him more, bee he was his own most cril 5: Comg-out a Catholic FayFour participants reported disclosg the fact of beg gay to their fai.
However, the very fah that often helped fd meang, spirual strength and solace, at some pot triggered a nflict when participants began to experience same-sex attractn and realized they might be gay. Siar experienc were reported by homosexual Jews (Coyle & Rafal, 2001; Mark, 2008; Schnoor, 2006), Mlims (Kugle, 2010), or Christians studied by Barton (2010), Mahaffy (1996), Thumma (1991), or Rodriguez and Ouellette (2000). Our participants also shared siar ncerns to gay Asians (Chan, 1989; Wang, Bih, & Brennan, 2009) or Jews (Mark, 2008), who worried about disappotg or beg rejected by fai for failg to fulfill social expectatns to tablish a “normal” fay, and procreate.