Was Cardal John Henry Newman Gay? : NPR

Contents:

• ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?
• WHY JOHN HENRY NEWMAN IS NO ‘GAY’ SAT
• DID THE CATHOLICS NONIZE A GAY MAN?THE BATE OVER JOHN HENRY NEWMAN’S SEXUALY GO ONJONATHAN POLETTI·FOLLOWPUBLISHED I’M JONATHAN. I BLOG GOD.·5 M READ·OCT 20, 2019--4SHAREON OCTOBER 13, 2019, POPE FRANCIS CLARED THE ENGLISH CLERIC JOHN HENRY NEWMAN WAS A ‘SAT’, NEWMAN HAVG EVINTLY PERFORMED THE REQUIRED TWO POSTHUMO HEALGS.AND AN OLD BATE WAS RAISED ONCE AGA ABOUT THE TEACHER WHO IS RPECTED ACROSS ALL CHRISTIANY FOR HIS HUMANE, ECUMENIL TEACHGS. WAS JOHN HENRY NEWMAN ‘GAY’?TO MANY CATHOLICS, THE IA ULD ONLY BE HORROR AT ANYONE MAKG SUCH A VILE SUGGTN ABOUT SO FAVORED A DIVE SERVANT.JOHN NEWMAN BY ROBERT WHE THPP (1866)PRITS HAVE OFTEN BEEN THOUGHT SEXUALLY DIFFERENT.
• GAY SAT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN AND HIS “EARTHLY LIGHT” AMBROSE ST. JOHN SHARED ROMANTIC IENDSHIP
• THE QUTN IS NOT “WAS CARDAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN GAY?” BUT “WAS HE STRAIGHT?”
• IT’S WRONG FOR PRO-LGBT FR. JAM MART TO MAKE GAY REFERENCE TO JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
• WAS NEWMAN GAY? DO MATTER?
• WAS CARDAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN GAY?
• PRO-LGBT PRIT FR. MART SUGGTS JOHN HENRY NEWMAN ‘MAY HAVE BEEN GAY’
• GAY SAT AND HIS “EARTHLY LIGHT”: JOHN NEWMAN AND AMBROSE ST. JOHN SHARE ROMANTIC IENDSHIP

ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?

For Universy College Dubl’s LGBTI History Month Event: “Cardal John Henry Newman: Sat; Cardal; Egalarian; Gay?

WHY JOHN HENRY NEWMAN IS NO ‘GAY’ SAT

I want to give a shout out to my iends the Catholic Church reform movement there, those We Are Church Ireland and the Associatn of Catholic Prits Ireland, and those who belonged to the group Gay Catholic Voice Ireland, as well as to my iends who anized and participated the Archdce of Dubl’s “All Are Wele” mass for LGBTI people and alli. But, she also has one thg more: as a mother of a gay man, she approach the topic wh the ferocy and passn of a mother bear protectg her cub.

DID THE CATHOLICS NONIZE A GAY MAN?THE BATE OVER JOHN HENRY NEWMAN’S SEXUALY GO ONJONATHAN POLETTI·FOLLOWPUBLISHED I’M JONATHAN. I BLOG GOD.·5 M READ·OCT 20, 2019--4SHAREON OCTOBER 13, 2019, POPE FRANCIS CLARED THE ENGLISH CLERIC JOHN HENRY NEWMAN WAS A ‘SAT’, NEWMAN HAVG EVINTLY PERFORMED THE REQUIRED TWO POSTHUMO HEALGS.AND AN OLD BATE WAS RAISED ONCE AGA ABOUT THE TEACHER WHO IS RPECTED ACROSS ALL CHRISTIANY FOR HIS HUMANE, ECUMENIL TEACHGS. WAS JOHN HENRY NEWMAN ‘GAY’?TO MANY CATHOLICS, THE IA ULD ONLY BE HORROR AT ANYONE MAKG SUCH A VILE SUGGTN ABOUT SO FAVORED A DIVE SERVANT.JOHN NEWMAN BY ROBERT WHE THPP (1866)PRITS HAVE OFTEN BEEN THOUGHT SEXUALLY DIFFERENT.

Today, I hope to give you some rmatn about gay men and the Catholic prithood, look a b at Newman’s language of love, and exame a b what is that we mean by the word “gay” self.

To fd an answer to the qutn “Was Cardal Newman gay?

I don’t mean to say this a flippant way, but simply to pot out that the way the qutn has been amed impli that a gay inty is the exceptn to the cleril le.

GAY SAT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN AND HIS “EARTHLY LIGHT” AMBROSE ST. JOHN SHARED ROMANTIC IENDSHIP

Although there are no statistics available, my experience—and that of many Catholics–tells me that the large majory of Catholic prits are gay, and that a heterosexual orientatn is the exceptn to the le. This should not be a surprise as the Catholic prithood is a very attractive life for gay men, and has been for centuri. Many who would agree wh this claim do so bee they thk that gay men “hi” the prithood.

Sce marriage is not an optn for Roman Catholic clergy, the prithood offers a place where gay men n live peaceably whout nstant societal and fay prsur to marry a woman.

But this view on the ll to prithood om a negative perspective, lookg at as an pe, rather than as somethg which has s own particular appeals to gay sensibily. A mon pattern among many gay Catholic prits today is that many entered the cleril system hontly not knowg how to name their feelgs. Most had no rmatn on homosexualy or gay men available to them eher om the church or the public realm.

THE QUTN IS NOT “WAS CARDAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN GAY?” BUT “WAS HE STRAIGHT?”

And so, when I meet a Catholic prit, my flt prumptn (not assumptn) is that he is gay. But of urse, there is also more posive evince for thkg of Newman as gay, and that is material om his wrgs that scribe the tense emotnal relatnship that he had wh another prit, Ambrose St.

IT’S WRONG FOR PRO-LGBT FR. JAM MART TO MAKE GAY REFERENCE TO JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

Ian Ker, one of the foremost Newman scholars, claims that Newman was not gay bee he was exprsively affectnate relatnships wh both men and women. The l of Newman’s brg to another important qutn about whether or not Newman was gay, and that’s the fn of the word “gay” self.

Ian Ker and many tradnalists who have balked at the ia of a gay Cardal Newman assert that sce there is good evince that Newman was celibate he uldn’t be gay. That assertn is based on the erroneo unrstandg that if someone is known as gay, impli that the person is sexually active—and oftentim thought of as promiscuoly so. So, acrdg to the crics, to say that Cardal Newman was gay would mean that he was a sexually active man, and perhaps was wanton his behavr.

This assumptn an sult to gay people.

WAS NEWMAN GAY? DO MATTER?

The assumptn ignor the fact that not all gay people engage sexual activy. It is amazgly ordary that two gay men n have a strong affectnate and timate relatnship each other whout beg sexually active. Such is the se of many, many gay men the prithood today who mata ep and lovg relatnships wh other men while matag their promis and vows of celibacy.

It is also te of many gay lay men who experience love wh other people, or perhaps one special person, while by choice or circumstance are not sexually timate wh the other.

WAS CARDAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN GAY?

That don’t make them ls gay. We mt also remember that Newman’s time, the ncept of a gay sexual orientatn had not yet been intified by science.

It wasn’t until very late the 19th century (Newman died 1890) that scientists even began discsg the ia that some people were nstutnally homosexual (and not until the mid-20th century did scientists regnize that homosexualy was not a psychologil disorr). Before the advanc, the assumptn was that everyone was nstuted heterosexually and that some people chose to behave homosexually—agast their prumed natural state.

So Newman would not even have unrstood the term gay or homosexual. And most likely, sce he was probably very dited to celibacy, he would not have thought of himself as gay or as St. John as a gay loved one.

PRO-LGBT PRIT FR. MART SUGGTS JOHN HENRY NEWMAN ‘MAY HAVE BEEN GAY’

Unrlyg all the negative arguments about Newman’s inty is a fear of homosexualy and of love between men.

GAY SAT AND HIS “EARTHLY LIGHT”: JOHN NEWMAN AND AMBROSE ST. JOHN SHARE ROMANTIC IENDSHIP

While some people thk that homophobia agast gay men om a revulsn about male sex acts, I thk that for many people the more horrifyg and sndalo phenomenon is men beg emotnally sensive, tenr, and affectnate wh one another.

Why do people—pecially people the Catholic Church–oppose this prumptn of Newman as a gay man wh such vehemence? Is he the Catholic Church’s first openly gay sat?

The answer to that qutn pends on your fns of “openly, ” “gay, ” and “first.