Monday, July 29, 2013

Did Pope Francis' Remarks of "Not Judging gay Priests" Really Change Anything?


Many media outlets are reporting how during Pope Francis’ airplane press conference as he returned to Rome from Brazil, Francis remarks "Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" . . . "You can't marginalize these people." and acting as if these comments somehow marked a turning point in the Church's anti-gay jihad.  Among those wetting themselves for joy are Andrew Sullivan (whom I have meet and with whom I frequently agree although I think he is delusional in his refusal to walk away from Catholicism), who stated:
What’s so striking to me is not what he said, but how he said it: the gentleness, the humor, the transparency. I find myself with tears in my eyes as I watch him. I’ve lived a long time to hear a Pope speak like that – with gentleness and openness, reasserting established dogma with sudden, sweeping exceptions that aren’t quite exceptions – except they sure sound like them.

What Francis is telling us, it seems to me, is that we should stop squabbling about these esoteric doctrines – while he assents to orthodoxy almost reflexively – and simply do good to others, which is the only thing that really matters. Stop obsessing in your mind and act in the world: help someone, love someone, forgive someone, meet someone.

I'm sorry Andrew, but I think PeterTatchell got it right because wishful thinking and wanting something does not necessarily make it true.  Here is how Tatchell reacted:

“Pope Francis has offered a change of tone in Vatican pronouncements on gay people but not a change in substance. The church’s hardline stance against gay equality and relationships remains intact. It opposes same-sex marriage. The Catechism condemns homosexual love using strident, inflammatory and homophobic language,” said Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

“At best, his statement is a shift away from old-style vengeful condemnation and punishment towards a more conciliatory and merciful church. Although he preaches forgiveness, he still regards homosexuality as a sin for which people must repent. This is only marginal theological progress. 
Actions speak louder than words and until such times as (i) the Catechism is revised to stop referring to gays as disordered, (ii) the Church, the Knight of Columbus and other Catholic organizations cease opposing gay rights, including gay marriage,  (iii) gay priests and seminarians are not in theory being driven away because of their sexual orientation, and (iv) the Catholic Church's "ex-gay" ministry is shut down, I will not see Francis' remarks as meaning one damn thing.  Andrew Sullivan and others need to get a grip on themselves and stop deluding themselves.




No comments: