The striking frailty of the Roman pontiff onward his recent visit to America made us all aware that we will probably witness the election of a recent pope in the near yet to be There is good reason.

The striking frailty of the Roman pontiff onward his recent visit to America made us all aware that we will probably witness the election of a recent pope in the near yet to be There is good reason, I believe, to expectancy that the papal throne will be occupied by means of someone who will have a of recent origin vision for Catholics, including gays and lesbians.

The quick in emergencies pontiff, John Paul II, has been profoundly conservative, even reactionary, in his treatment of all sexual issues if it be not that especially of homosexuality. He has carried the authoritarianism of the pope's office to an most distant rolling back all the progressive gains of Vatican II, the council pontiff John XXIII called more than 35 years ago to bring the temple into line with modern times.

[i]pontifex maximus[/i] John Paul II has done his best to make certain that his successor will be just as conservative as he. unless whether or not he ensues I believe we lesbians and gays have serviceable reason to hope that the Catholic temple in the future will give us a warm welcome and bles our relationships as legitimate and holy

Ironically, this pope's inflexibility has actually helped to liberate gay and lesbian believers. pontiff John Paul II has always held that the part of authority in the temple is to teach and not to listen. Especially in the area of sexual ethics, he has been totally not at home of touch with the idea of listening to the voice of the sacred Spirit as expressed through the human experience of the the community of God. The ironic issue is that Catholics both gay and straight have gradually begun to consider to their own experience for moral guidance, rather than to Rome

The real authority of the papacy through the whole extent of individual Catholics, gay and straight, has been breaking down always since Pope John XXIII's successors began to withstand the new ideas he welcomed. After Vatican II, for example, a papal commission approveed that the church change its teaching to permit the use of artificial means of birth direction Pope Paul VI refused to listen. In addition, Vatican II stated that a couple's mutual be in love with and fulfillment were equally as sacred as procreation, a milestone with obvious implications for gay and lesbian Catholics. Again, this universal did not take root in Rome

Now, although the media still gaze to the Vatican as an authoritative source, papal statements no longer mirror what's going on in the temple A quiet revolution has taken place.

I like to think that my 1976 main division The Church and the Homosexual, was an important factor in spreading the revolution to homosexual issues. It was the first part by an accredited theologian to challenge Catholic teaching forward homosexuality and urge the meeting-house to recognize and accept loving gay relations.

In the years that followed, however, the temple grew more intolerant. Finally, onward October 30, 1986, the Vatican issued its famous Halloween literal meaning which called homosexuality "an intrinsic moral evil." This was the value when many Catholics, especially in America, abandoned sense of possible fulfilment of reconciliation.

Publicly, leaders of America's male religious orders issued a dramatic statement of outrage. Privately, American gays and lesbians finally realized that they could not obey Vatican directives without destroying themselves psychologically and spiritually. This fre them to embark forward their own journey. In 1989 Dignity/USA issued its be in possession of document on sexual ethics for lesbian and gay Christians--after six years of research that involved careful listening to what the heavenly-minded Spirit was saying through the group's experience.

The what is yet to be of the church depends upon its becoming more democratic and responsive to the guidance of the saint-like Spirit. But in any case the liberation of lesbians and gays has already happened. It is too late to put to proof to close the barn door. A of the present day conservative pope like John Paul II may abuse his authority; that will barely accelerate the process of self-liberation for lesbians and gays. yet a new pastoral pope like John XXIII who listens to what the Spirit says in consequence of the experience of the tribe of God could go a lengthy way to restore respect for the ecclesiastical authority and heal the deep injurys still to be found among in the greatest degree lesbian and gay Catholics.

McNeill's greatest in number recent book is Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair: My Spiritual Journey (Westminster John Knox Press)

...

Home