DAVID CRARY and LUIS ANDRES HENAO
Mon, March 15, 2021
The Vatican’s declaration that same-sex unions are a sin the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless was no surprise for LGBTQ Catholics in the United States — yet it stung deeply nonetheless.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, said her organization’s membership includes same-sex couples who have been together for decades, persevering in their love for one another in the face of bias and family rejection.
“The fact that our church at its highest levels cannot recognize the grace in that and cannot extend any sort of blessing to these couples is just tragic,” she said.
She was responding to a formal statement Monday from the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, saying Roman Catholic clergy may not bless such unions since God "cannot bless sin.” It was approved by Pope Francis.
"Having sin be explicitly included in this statement kind of brings us back to zero,” said Ross Murray, who oversees religious issues for the LGBTQ rights group GLAAD.
He expressed dismay that “the ability for us to live out our lives fully and freely is still seen as an affront to the church or, worse yet, an affront to God, who created us and knows us and loves us.”
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church, said that if those priests who have already been blessing same-sex unions now stop doing so, lay Catholics could be moved take their place.
“If priests and pastoral ministers no longer feel they can perform such a blessing, the Catholic laity will step in and perform their own rituals,” DeBernardo said. “The toothpaste is out of the tube, and it can’t be put back inside.”
The Rev. Bryan Massingale, an openly gay Catholic priest and professor of theology and social ethics at Fordham University, said priests who want to engage in pastoral outreach to the gay and lesbian community “will continue to do so, except that it will be even more under the table ... than it was before.”
For Catholics in same-sex relationships, he said, the Vatican’s new message will hurt.
“Every human being is born with this innate desire to love,” he said. “For those who are oriented toward members of the same sex ... to have it being described as inherently or innately sinful without any qualification, that is crushing.”
The Rev. James Martin, another priest who advocates for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic church, said in a post on Twitter that he received dozens of messages from LGBTQ people on Monday saying they were discouraged by the Vatican’s pronouncement. He urged them not to despair.
“Besides, what is the alternative?” he asked. “To live in fear of the future that God has in store for us?... To doubt that Jesus is on the side of those who feel in any way marginalized?”
Vatican doctrine holds that gays and lesbians should be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered” and that same-sex unions are sinful.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, said those teachings, put together, are problematic.
“It boggles the mind that the hierarchy can affirm that LGBTQ+ persons are made in the image of God but that their unions are a sin,” she said via email. “Are they made in God’s image with the exception of their hearts? With the exception of their abilities and inclinations to love?"
Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the U.S.-based NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, said she was relieved the Vatican statement wasn’t harsher.
She interpreted it as saying, “You can bless the individuals (in a same-sex union), you just can’t bless the contract.”
“So it’s possible you could have a ritual where the individuals get blessed to be their committed selves.”
The Vatican's pronouncement was welcomed by some church conservatives, however, such as Bill Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League.
“There will be no recognition of homosexual unions or marriage by the Catholic Church. It is non-negotiable. End of story,” he said.
“Pope Francis has been under considerable pressure by gay activists, in and out of the church, to give the green light to gay marriage,” Donohue added, calling Monday’s statement “the most decisive rejection of those efforts ever written.”
Francis has endorsed providing legal protections for same-sex couples, but that is in the civil sphere and not the church.
Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean advocate for sex-abuse victims who is gay, reported in 2018 that when he met with Francis, the pope had told him, “God made you like this, and he loves you."
On Monday, Cruz said the Vatican officials who issued the new statement “are completely in a world of their own, away from people and trying to defend the indefensible.”
He called for a change in the leadership of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, saying it was undermining efforts by Francis to create a more inclusive church.
“If the church and the CDF do not advance with the world ... Catholics will continue to flee.” he said.
In Francis’ homeland of Argentina, LGBTQ activist Esteban Paulon said earlier statements by the pontiff conveying empathy and understanding for gays and lesbians were mere gestures, lacking any official weight.
“They were not institutional pronouncements,” said Paulon, executive director of the Institute of Public Policies LGBT+. “Saying that homosexual practice is a sin takes us back 200 years and promotes hate speech that unfortunately in Latin America and Europe is on the rise.”
Chile’s largest LGBTQ rights group, the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, condemned the decree as a “homophobic and anti-Christian action” from the Catholic hierarchy.
Spokesman Oscar RementerÃa contrasted the Vatican’s stern rhetoric against same-sex marriage with the many documented cases of Catholic leaders covering up child sex abuse committed by clergy.
___
Associated Press writers Eva Vergara in Santiago, Chile; Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Nicole Winfield in Rome and Mariam Fam in Cairo contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Group of priests vows to bless same-sex couples
Caitlin O'Kane
Wed, March 17, 2021
A group of priests who have distanced themselves from the Catholic Church are criticizing the Vatican's recent decree that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex marriages. The Austrian Priests' Initiative, a group of priests leading a campaign of disobedience against the Vatican, said this week they will continue to bless same-sex couples.
The initiative (also as Pfarrer-Initiative) said in a statement that its members "are deeply appalled by the new Roman decree that wants to prohibit the blessing of same-sex loving couples."
"This is a relapse into times that we had hoped to be overcome with Pope Francis," the group's statement continues. "In solidarity with so many, we will not reject any loving couple in the future who wants to celebrate God's blessing, which they experience every day, in a church-service."
"Reality has long since shown that same-sex couples connected in love can very well celebrate God's blessing in church. A state-of-the-art theology establishes this responsible practice," the statement reads.
The Austrian Priests' Initiative was founded in 2006 by nine priests and now has around 350 members from the ranks of the Roman Catholic church. The majority of its members are from Austria, but the initiative has expanded to other countries. More than 3,000 people support the reform movement, led by Father Helmut Schüller.
The group's call to disobedience aims to reform the Catholic church. In part, they would like to create a new image of a priest, so that a man or woman, married or unmarried, can serve as a priest.
"The Austrian Priest's Initiative is an Austria-wide movement of Roman Catholic priests and deacons who follow their conscience and campaign for new paths in the church," the group said in its statement. "Its goals are: lively congregations, contemporary synodal church structures and, above all, a credible and open-minded world church that focuses on sincere service to people."
The group also said it "vehemently" protests against the assumption that same-sex couples are not part of God's divine plan. "We deeply regret that this decree, which seeks to revive the spirit of bygone times, widens the gap between Roman bureaucracy and the local Church," the group said. "This decree offends many Christians and obscures and discredits the liberating message of Jesus."
The Vatican's decree states the Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God "cannot bless sin," the Associated Press reports.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the Vatican's orthodoxy office, issued a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis.
The Vatican upholds that gay people must be treated with respect and dignity, however, gay sex is considered "intrinsically disordered." In Catholicism, marriage is a lifelong union between a man and woman, is intended for the sake of creating new life, and is part of God's plan, the AP reports.
Elton John slams Vatican for blessing its 'Rocketman' investment but not gay marriage
Christie D'Zurilla
Tue, March 16, 2021
Elton John, left, in 2019 with husband David Furnish, is criticizing
The Vatican’s declaration that same-sex unions are a sin the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless was no surprise for LGBTQ Catholics in the United States — yet it stung deeply nonetheless.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, said her organization’s membership includes same-sex couples who have been together for decades, persevering in their love for one another in the face of bias and family rejection.
“The fact that our church at its highest levels cannot recognize the grace in that and cannot extend any sort of blessing to these couples is just tragic,” she said.
She was responding to a formal statement Monday from the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, saying Roman Catholic clergy may not bless such unions since God "cannot bless sin.” It was approved by Pope Francis.
"Having sin be explicitly included in this statement kind of brings us back to zero,” said Ross Murray, who oversees religious issues for the LGBTQ rights group GLAAD.
He expressed dismay that “the ability for us to live out our lives fully and freely is still seen as an affront to the church or, worse yet, an affront to God, who created us and knows us and loves us.”
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church, said that if those priests who have already been blessing same-sex unions now stop doing so, lay Catholics could be moved take their place.
“If priests and pastoral ministers no longer feel they can perform such a blessing, the Catholic laity will step in and perform their own rituals,” DeBernardo said. “The toothpaste is out of the tube, and it can’t be put back inside.”
The Rev. Bryan Massingale, an openly gay Catholic priest and professor of theology and social ethics at Fordham University, said priests who want to engage in pastoral outreach to the gay and lesbian community “will continue to do so, except that it will be even more under the table ... than it was before.”
For Catholics in same-sex relationships, he said, the Vatican’s new message will hurt.
“Every human being is born with this innate desire to love,” he said. “For those who are oriented toward members of the same sex ... to have it being described as inherently or innately sinful without any qualification, that is crushing.”
The Rev. James Martin, another priest who advocates for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the Catholic church, said in a post on Twitter that he received dozens of messages from LGBTQ people on Monday saying they were discouraged by the Vatican’s pronouncement. He urged them not to despair.
“Besides, what is the alternative?” he asked. “To live in fear of the future that God has in store for us?... To doubt that Jesus is on the side of those who feel in any way marginalized?”
Vatican doctrine holds that gays and lesbians should be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered” and that same-sex unions are sinful.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, said those teachings, put together, are problematic.
“It boggles the mind that the hierarchy can affirm that LGBTQ+ persons are made in the image of God but that their unions are a sin,” she said via email. “Are they made in God’s image with the exception of their hearts? With the exception of their abilities and inclinations to love?"
Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the U.S.-based NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, said she was relieved the Vatican statement wasn’t harsher.
She interpreted it as saying, “You can bless the individuals (in a same-sex union), you just can’t bless the contract.”
“So it’s possible you could have a ritual where the individuals get blessed to be their committed selves.”
The Vatican's pronouncement was welcomed by some church conservatives, however, such as Bill Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League.
“There will be no recognition of homosexual unions or marriage by the Catholic Church. It is non-negotiable. End of story,” he said.
“Pope Francis has been under considerable pressure by gay activists, in and out of the church, to give the green light to gay marriage,” Donohue added, calling Monday’s statement “the most decisive rejection of those efforts ever written.”
Francis has endorsed providing legal protections for same-sex couples, but that is in the civil sphere and not the church.
Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean advocate for sex-abuse victims who is gay, reported in 2018 that when he met with Francis, the pope had told him, “God made you like this, and he loves you."
On Monday, Cruz said the Vatican officials who issued the new statement “are completely in a world of their own, away from people and trying to defend the indefensible.”
He called for a change in the leadership of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, saying it was undermining efforts by Francis to create a more inclusive church.
“If the church and the CDF do not advance with the world ... Catholics will continue to flee.” he said.
In Francis’ homeland of Argentina, LGBTQ activist Esteban Paulon said earlier statements by the pontiff conveying empathy and understanding for gays and lesbians were mere gestures, lacking any official weight.
“They were not institutional pronouncements,” said Paulon, executive director of the Institute of Public Policies LGBT+. “Saying that homosexual practice is a sin takes us back 200 years and promotes hate speech that unfortunately in Latin America and Europe is on the rise.”
Chile’s largest LGBTQ rights group, the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, condemned the decree as a “homophobic and anti-Christian action” from the Catholic hierarchy.
Spokesman Oscar RementerÃa contrasted the Vatican’s stern rhetoric against same-sex marriage with the many documented cases of Catholic leaders covering up child sex abuse committed by clergy.
___
Associated Press writers Eva Vergara in Santiago, Chile; Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Nicole Winfield in Rome and Mariam Fam in Cairo contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Group of priests vows to bless same-sex couples
Caitlin O'Kane
Wed, March 17, 2021
A group of priests who have distanced themselves from the Catholic Church are criticizing the Vatican's recent decree that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex marriages. The Austrian Priests' Initiative, a group of priests leading a campaign of disobedience against the Vatican, said this week they will continue to bless same-sex couples.
The initiative (also as Pfarrer-Initiative) said in a statement that its members "are deeply appalled by the new Roman decree that wants to prohibit the blessing of same-sex loving couples."
"This is a relapse into times that we had hoped to be overcome with Pope Francis," the group's statement continues. "In solidarity with so many, we will not reject any loving couple in the future who wants to celebrate God's blessing, which they experience every day, in a church-service."
"Reality has long since shown that same-sex couples connected in love can very well celebrate God's blessing in church. A state-of-the-art theology establishes this responsible practice," the statement reads.
The Austrian Priests' Initiative was founded in 2006 by nine priests and now has around 350 members from the ranks of the Roman Catholic church. The majority of its members are from Austria, but the initiative has expanded to other countries. More than 3,000 people support the reform movement, led by Father Helmut Schüller.
The group's call to disobedience aims to reform the Catholic church. In part, they would like to create a new image of a priest, so that a man or woman, married or unmarried, can serve as a priest.
"The Austrian Priest's Initiative is an Austria-wide movement of Roman Catholic priests and deacons who follow their conscience and campaign for new paths in the church," the group said in its statement. "Its goals are: lively congregations, contemporary synodal church structures and, above all, a credible and open-minded world church that focuses on sincere service to people."
The group also said it "vehemently" protests against the assumption that same-sex couples are not part of God's divine plan. "We deeply regret that this decree, which seeks to revive the spirit of bygone times, widens the gap between Roman bureaucracy and the local Church," the group said. "This decree offends many Christians and obscures and discredits the liberating message of Jesus."
The Vatican's decree states the Church cannot bless same-sex unions since God "cannot bless sin," the Associated Press reports.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the Vatican's orthodoxy office, issued a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis.
The Vatican upholds that gay people must be treated with respect and dignity, however, gay sex is considered "intrinsically disordered." In Catholicism, marriage is a lifelong union between a man and woman, is intended for the sake of creating new life, and is part of God's plan, the AP reports.
Elton John slams Vatican for blessing its 'Rocketman' investment but not gay marriage
Christie D'Zurilla
Tue, March 16, 2021
Elton John, left, in 2019 with husband David Furnish, is criticizing
the Catholic Church for its refusal to bless same-sex marriages.
(Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images)
Elton John is blasting the Catholic Church as hypocritical after the Vatican decreed Monday that priests could not bless same-sex unions, because God "cannot bless sin.”
Apparently, the church isn't as averse to earning money from a movie, "Rocketman," that closes with scenes of the singer, his husband, David Furnish, and their two young children.
"How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they 'are sin', yet happily make a profit from investing millions in 'Rocketman' — a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David?? #hypocrisy," John posted Monday on social media, including screen shots of articles about the decree and the film investment.
The Daily Beast discussed the investment in a 2019 story about a review of church finances that was ordered by Pope Francis. The probe focused in part on the Malta-based Centurion Global Fund, which reportedly draws two-thirds of its investments from the Vatican Secretariat of State. It's about $78 million, the Beast said.
"[T]he most curious item on the report to come out so far," the story said about documents that were reviewed by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, "is a $4.5 million expenditure recorded in February of this year related to finance for the 2019 films Men in Black: International and Elton John’s rather steamy biopic Rocketman, which portrays the entertainer’s drug problems and is the first studio movie to portray gay sex between men in an authentic way.
"While investing in mainstream entertainment is hardly sinful, the great contradiction is that the Catholic Church preaches to the devout that homosexuality is a sin."
The Vatican maintains that LGBTQ people must be treated with dignity and respect but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered.” Catholic teaching holds that marriage between a man and woman is part of God’s plan and is intended for procreation.
In its new document, the Vatican said questions had been raised in recent years about whether the church should bless same-sex unions in a sacramental way, particularly after the pope had insisted on the need to better welcome and accompany gay people in the church.
The Vatican stressed the “fundamental and decisive distinction” between gay individuals and same-sex unions, noting that “the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply a judgment on persons.”
John and Furnish, now 73 and 58, respectively, met in 1993, had a civil union in 2005 and welcomed sons Zachary and Elijah via surrogacy in 2010 and 2013. The couple married in 2014 after it became legal in the U.K.
In the fantasy-musical biopic "Rocketman," the timeline of John's life is not beholden to reality, allowing the story to end with the 1983 release of the song "I'm Still Standing" despite showing John's failed 1984 marriage to recording engineer Renate Blauel and using the singer's 1990 rehab stint as a storytelling device.
And though Furnish was a producer, the 2019 feature contains no mention of the men's lasting relationship until its final two images before the credits roll.
This is hardly the "Crocodile Rock" singer's first criticism of organized religion.
"[T]here are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion," John, a self-declared atheist, told a London newspaper in 2006. "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. ... Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."
The Associated Press con
Elton John is blasting the Catholic Church as hypocritical after the Vatican decreed Monday that priests could not bless same-sex unions, because God "cannot bless sin.”
Apparently, the church isn't as averse to earning money from a movie, "Rocketman," that closes with scenes of the singer, his husband, David Furnish, and their two young children.
"How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they 'are sin', yet happily make a profit from investing millions in 'Rocketman' — a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David?? #hypocrisy," John posted Monday on social media, including screen shots of articles about the decree and the film investment.
The Daily Beast discussed the investment in a 2019 story about a review of church finances that was ordered by Pope Francis. The probe focused in part on the Malta-based Centurion Global Fund, which reportedly draws two-thirds of its investments from the Vatican Secretariat of State. It's about $78 million, the Beast said.
"[T]he most curious item on the report to come out so far," the story said about documents that were reviewed by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, "is a $4.5 million expenditure recorded in February of this year related to finance for the 2019 films Men in Black: International and Elton John’s rather steamy biopic Rocketman, which portrays the entertainer’s drug problems and is the first studio movie to portray gay sex between men in an authentic way.
"While investing in mainstream entertainment is hardly sinful, the great contradiction is that the Catholic Church preaches to the devout that homosexuality is a sin."
The Vatican maintains that LGBTQ people must be treated with dignity and respect but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered.” Catholic teaching holds that marriage between a man and woman is part of God’s plan and is intended for procreation.
In its new document, the Vatican said questions had been raised in recent years about whether the church should bless same-sex unions in a sacramental way, particularly after the pope had insisted on the need to better welcome and accompany gay people in the church.
The Vatican stressed the “fundamental and decisive distinction” between gay individuals and same-sex unions, noting that “the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply a judgment on persons.”
John and Furnish, now 73 and 58, respectively, met in 1993, had a civil union in 2005 and welcomed sons Zachary and Elijah via surrogacy in 2010 and 2013. The couple married in 2014 after it became legal in the U.K.
In the fantasy-musical biopic "Rocketman," the timeline of John's life is not beholden to reality, allowing the story to end with the 1983 release of the song "I'm Still Standing" despite showing John's failed 1984 marriage to recording engineer Renate Blauel and using the singer's 1990 rehab stint as a storytelling device.
And though Furnish was a producer, the 2019 feature contains no mention of the men's lasting relationship until its final two images before the credits roll.
This is hardly the "Crocodile Rock" singer's first criticism of organized religion.
"[T]here are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion," John, a self-declared atheist, told a London newspaper in 2006. "From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. ... Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."
The Associated Press con
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