Bishops May Alter Language On Gays

While continuing to stress that same-sex relationships are immoral, America's Roman Catholic bishops may approve new guidelines this week that absolve gay Catholics of any obligation to try to alter their sexual orientation.
The guidelines for ministering to homosexuals, to be reviewed when bishops convene Monday in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting, also will urge clergy to baptize the adopted children of gay couples who agree to raise them Catholic.
"We are trying to find a language that does not betray the teaching of the church, but will perhaps express it in ways that are not so offensive," Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in an interview last week.
"The conclusions are the same," George said. "The language will be less painful than sometimes the language has been in the past."
The bishops also plan to remind parishioners how to prepare themselves for Communion, laying a foundation that would make it easier for clergy to deny the sacrament to Catholics at odds with the church, including politicians.
The issue surfaced during the 2004 presidential campaign when some bishops threatened to deny Communion to Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.
"That started a conversation that wasn't resolved, but brought up this other thing--worthiness to receive Communion on everybody's part," George said. "It shouldn't be automatic. There's personal scrutiny and examination of conscience that should take place."
Missing from the meeting's agenda is any mention of the war in Iraq, an absence that irks parishioners who believe the bishops should focus on that issue rather than homosexuality.
"We hate to see our moral teachers squandering their moral teaching authority when there are important issues they should be dealing with--poverty and social justice and the war," said Sam Sinnett, president of Dignity USA, the nation's largest gay Catholic organization.
"They're much more concerned with whether two homosexuals are going to get married or not," he said. "They've lost focus on the needs of the human race."
Opposition expected
The documents on ministering to gay people, drafted by conference committees, could encounter opposition from some conservative bishops. Recent Vatican directives bar most gay men from pursuing ordination and prohibit priests with "homosexual tendencies" from teaching or running seminaries.
Since issuing those injunctions, Pope Benedict XVI has implied a connection between homosexuality and the clergy sex abuse scandal, declaring a need to "purify" the church.
This won't be the first time bishops have addressed the issue of gay Catholics. A pastoral letter drafted in 1997 counseled parents to love their gay sons and daughters and encourage them to live a chaste life.
Though the letter did not stray from church teaching, its advice stirred too much controversy and did not pass. The current guidelines try to balance doctrinal language that condemns homosexual relationships with inclusive pastoral language.
"You can't have pastoral care without it being founded on theological moral principles," said Rev. Thomas Weinandy, executive director for the conference's doctrinal committee. "You have to have principles on which you base pastoral care."
Sinnett said the document certainly does not sit well with gay Catholics who find its tone unwelcoming. He also said he was dismayed to learn that bishops had been working on it for four years without consulting the nation's largest gay Catholic group.
On Sunday, Dignity USA issued its own update of pastoral guidelines the group had issued in 1987 in response to a condemnation of homosexual relationships issued by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now pope.
Weinandy said bishops steered clear of input from advocacy groups to "avoid the appearance of taking sides."
Guidelines praised
Rev. Tom Reese, a Jesuit scholar who wrote a book on America's bishops, praised the new document for carefully distinguishing between homosexual activity and orientation, leaving the debates about origins to science and not insisting that gay Catholics take part in therapy.
"No scientific consensus has been reached regarding the effectiveness of various therapies," the document says. "Thus, the church does not endorse one particular theory of the genesis of homosexuality or one particular therapy over another. ... Some have found therapy helpful. There is, however, no moral obligation to attempt it."
The document on Communion does not directly address Catholic politicians or instruct bishops, but it does define what makes a person unworthy for communion. "Inevitably," George said, "that will be translated into a political framework."
If someone "publicly known to have committed serious sin or to have rejected definitive Church teaching" takes Communion without reconciling, the document says, it would encourage others to follow their lead and engage in sinful behavior. That means a politician who violates church teaching by voting in support of abortion rights would lead to further violations, Weinandy said.
Stephen Colecchi, director of the conference's office of international justice and peace, said bishops might take up the issue of withdrawal from Iraq even if it is not on the schedule. In January, bishops called for a responsible transition in Iraq and last month implored Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to protect Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities.
"Although the bishops had raised grave moral questions about the decision to go to war, the U.S. has a new set of responsibilities ... to help Iraqis stabilize their country," Colecchi said. "The human and moral consequences of what is happening certainly mean the bishops will take that into account."
Other business at the meeting includes the creation of a uniform hymnal for the American church. The bishops also are expected to channel funds toward a landmark study on the causes and context of the clergy sex-abuse crisis. The first phase of the study will explore whether clergy sex abuse corresponds with overall social patterns of deviant behavior during the last half-century. If the patterns differ, investigators will look into "ministry-specific factors."
George said bishops expect to generate the most comprehensive data in the nation on the issue and hope to garner additional financial support from outside sources for the multimillion-dollar study.
from The Chicago Tribune