A gathering of bishops intended to reshape Catholic teaching on the family began yesterday against a backdrop of controversy over the thorny and divisive issue of homosexuality.
With Pope Francis having been dragged into the US’ debate over gay marriage and a high-ranking priest on Saturday accusing the Vatican of “institutionalized homophobia” in his ‘coming out’ speech, the synod appears as if it has been called solely to address the question of the church’s approach to gay and lesbian believers.
In fact, such issues are set to take up only a small part of discussions over the next three weeks. However, there is little doubt that they will dominate headlines emanating from the Vatican theological meetings.
Photo: AP
The reasons for that are three-fold: Sexuality is a lightning rod for a broader debate about reform of church teaching; Pope Francis has given a clear steer that the church should be more open to gays; and for the first time, a high-ranking Vatican official has declared his homosexuality to the world saying the church has been paranoid and hypocritical about the issue for decades.
The Vatican reacted furiously to Polish priest Krzystof Charamsa’s “very serious and irresponsible” declaration of his sexuality, saying he would be kicked out of his post as a theologian.
Flanked by his boyfriend, Charamsa on Saturday told a news conference in Rome that he had felt compelled to speak out.
“I’m out of the closet and I’m very happy about that,” the 43-year-old said. “I want to be an advocate for all sexual minorities and their families who have suffered in silence.”
According to Charamsa, most Catholic priests have a homosexual orientation, but are so consumed by self-hatred that they support the repression of their basic instincts and desire for love.
Even before the Polish priest’s initiative, Catholic attitudes to sexuality were dominating headlines.
The Vatican on Friday confirmed that Francis had hugged an old gay friend and met his partner during his recent visit to the US.
The highly symbolic gesture, indicative of Francis’s personally tolerant attitude toward gays, came a day before he met prominent gay marriage opponent Kim Davis — another private encounter in the US that the Vatican said did not indicate support for her stance.
Official Catholic doctrine holds that homosexuality is an “intrinsic disorder,” but progressive theologians have recently come to accept that sexuality is innate, a premise that makes it harder to maintain a stance of outright condemnation.
At the heart of the synod’s agenda is Francis’ belief that the church must demonstrate mercy in its attempt to address the gulf between what it currently says about marriage, love and sex and what tens of millions of its followers actually do every day.
In practical terms, that is most clearly articulated in a demand for Catholics who have divorced and remarried to be allowed to take communion and confess their sins, rather than being de facto excluded from the church as they currently are.
Francis appears favorable to change on this issue, saying the church must tend the “wounds” caused by family breakdown rather than judging followers in “irregular” situations.
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