I have been a Roman Catholic all my life. For 18 years, I went to church almost every Sunday without fail. While attending Mass, I realized that Catholics are especially resistant to one thing: change. I have experienced the same liturgy, the same teachings and the same traditions year after year with little hope of something different. The various popes have always looked the same and represented the same values. That is, until the selection of the current pope.
During Pope Francis’ tenure, he has developed a reputation as the people’s pope. His teachings have generally reflected Jesus’ mercy toward people who have been marginalized and brutalized. His Holiness has even had a gentler tone toward gays and lesbians, saying, “Who am I to judge?” when asked about gay men joining the priesthood. On Monday, an interim report was released documenting a closed-door meeting between Catholic clergy, leaders and Pope Francis himself. In this report, the members surprisingly praised gays and lesbians for their “gifts” to the church. To many liberal Catholics, this marked the beginning of the road to reversing the church’s position on gay marriage.
Naturally, this friendly nod to the gay community made many conservative Catholics furious. The conservatives present at the meeting felt as though the report was a misinterpretation of what was discussed. For this and other reasons, the Vatican on Tuesday said the report was a “working document” and did not necessarily create the “impression of a positive evaluation” of same sex marriage.
The church needs to make up its mind about same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues. The Vatican has so far taken a middle-ground position, where gay-friendly language is used to appear modern and in touch with these issues. However, it is difficult to take this “progressive” shift seriously when Catholic Catechism classifies homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered” and calls on gays and lesbians to live in chastity.
As a body of about 1.2 billion people, the church has two realistic options. The church can include gays and lesbians as full members and embrace their relationships, or it can go back to its traditional condemnation and judgment. Straddling the fence on this issue can send a damaging message to LGBT children and young adults who look to the church for moral guidance.
The church also has tremendous influence in countries that marginalize, jail and murder gays and lesbians. The church’s evolving attitude toward the LGBT community can serve as a teaching opportunity for clergy around the world who can help ensure the safety and acceptance of LGBT individuals within oppressive societies.
Approving of same-sex relationships will undoubtedly infuriate a lot of Catholics. However, Hillary Clinton got it right when she urged people to pay attention to the trend lines, not headlines. The fact is that the trend is moving toward acceptance and tolerance of LGBT individuals and relationships. Although 40 percent of American Catholics still oppose same-sex marriage, a growing number of Catholics express support for marriage equality.
The Roman Catholic Church has a long way to go in eliminating outdated practices. Hopefully the pope and the rest of the clergy act on issues such as withholding Communion from divorced and remarried people, cohabitation outside of marriage, women joining the priesthood and the use of contraception.
Many people who go to Mass are religious people seeking moral and spiritual guidance. The church should take a stand on same-sex relationships and get back to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself spent time with those who were outcast and marginalized and spoke to them about God’s mercy and forgiveness. That’s what we as Catholics are called to do: love one another as God has loved us.
Harold Joseph is a UF political science junior. His columns appear on Fridays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 10/17/2014]
