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Are Marginalized
Lesbian and Gay Catholics
Welcome in the Church?by
John Montague
May 2002
For the complete article
on one webpage click here.For the first of three sections stay here
For the second of three sections click here.
For the third of three sections click here.
For the bibliography click here.
Where We Came From - The Church As Institution
The Revelation of God Through Human Experience
Ecclesiology: The Dialectics of History
Ecclesiology - Lumen Gentium
A Fellowship of Believers - The People of GodI would like to consider the marginalization of gays and lesbians in our Church. I will divide my remarks into three sections. First, I will discuss the need for ministry to this community in the context of two areas of systematic theology: Ecclesiology, and Sin and Grace. I am especially interested in how individuals and institutional structures including the Church, respond to God's merciful intervention. Secondly, I will discuss the ethical and ecumenical implications of working with gay and lesbian people. Third, I will make recommendations for a theology of ecclesiology and ministry with lesbian/gay persons that includes dialogue. As Higgins and Letson recently wrote: "If the Church's message is going to get the hearing it deserves, the Church will have to learn to speak with the faithful rather than opting to speak at them." (1)
I will now review how this paper will proceed. Since the prevailing 'institutional' model of Church was a major reason for calling Vatican II, I will offer a brief explanation of that model. This is necessary in my opinion to explain post Vatican II reactionary movements, and why gay and lesbian ministry is still uncommon forty years after the Council began. I will then discuss revelation from the viewpoint of our human experience. I will also discuss my vision of church as portrayed by Anne Clifford as outlined in her book Introducing Feminist Theology which is an amalgam of five elements: a) A fellowship of believers, the People of God; b) A sacramental mystery that both transcends and is visibly present in the world; c) A Prophetic Voice in a Sinful World; d) An institution visibly structured with clear lines of authority; and, e) The Presence of the reign of God within the heart of the individual believer. To achieve the second objective of this paper I will present material on the theology of grace, sexual ethics, and ecumenical perspectives. Finally, I will present recommendations for ministry to the gay and lesbian Catholic community.
My focus will be on the need for compassionate ministry to transform oppressed people, and bring them into full participation. Receptive hospitality is essential to permit their giftedness to be shared with the Christian community. Christology from above teaches us to believe in an incarnate Son, whose soteriological significance transforms human suffering, into our participation in the redemption of the world. Lesbians and gay persons participate in that redemption in various ways. The recent AIDS crisis has brought a powerful witness of love and generosity to the awareness of heterosexual society. In speaking about his experience of pastoral care in New York City in the early 1980's moral theologian Enda McDonagh writes about meeting gay
"….couples where the attention and self-sacrifice of the healthy partner and the responses, loving and spiritual, of the partner who was seriously ill, was extraordinarily impressive. And I couldn't believe but that this was some manifestation of truly Christian love. I had to accept that there was true Christian love going on in this relationship, and in a number of relationships I saw." (2)Further in speaking about the misunderstanding of the pastoral needs that gays and lesbians experience, Robert Doran writes:"Now I ask you simply to imagine what the infamous Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...might have been like if it had begun with… 'Many homosexual relationships exhibit a fidelity and tenderness whose holiness is evident.' In fact, the Letter never mentions fidelity and tenderness, to say nothing of exhorting the bishops to encourage the development and exercise of such virtues....Nor does it ask the forgiveness of gay and lesbian people for the violence perpetrated upon them because of centuries of homophobic church teaching." (3)The tension between the institution and sacramental models of Church suggests that we examine the historical context from which these models arise.Where We Came From - The Church As Institution
No rational person can doubt that organizational structure is essential for the delivery of the ministry and ongoing development of the Church's mandate to preach the good news of the Kingdom. From apostolic times there have been ministers, the exercise of authority, and prescribed forms of worship. There is a distinction however between 'institutionalism' and the institutional element in the Church. Insistence on the institutional visibility of the Church has been a priority from the late Middle Ages until Vatican II. Emphasizing church government tends to highlight visible structures, especially the rights and powers of officers. However having a structure does not necessarily imply institutionalism, anymore than law implies legalism. According to Avery Dulles: "By institutionalism we mean a system in which the institutional element is treated as primary. ..A Christian believer may energetically oppose institutionalism and still be very much committed to the Church as institution." (4) This concept of institutionalism is a deformation of the true nature of the Church, and is always a danger to it. The institutionalist development occurred primarily in the late Middle Ages and Counter Reformation when theologians and canonists were responding to attacks on the papacy and hierarchy. Mary Hines writes:
"Although there is more to the church than its institutional dimension, this came to dominate the church's self-reflection in the second millennium of its history and gave rise to assertions of power and authority not only internally but in the state as well. The institutional ecclesiology climaxed with Vatican I's definition of papal infallibility." (5)She points out how the Church had largely identified with its centralized leadership in Rome, which asserted increasing control over the local churches through the various documents emanating from the papacy and its curial offices Dulles suggests that: "…we shall have to leave open the question how far the claims of institutionalization would have to be moderated in a balanced ecclesiology that draws on various models, giving the institution no more - and no less - than its due." (6) The relationship between the Church as institution and the human experience of gay/lesbian people presents an opportunity to examine how sexual orientation is a channel for God's revelation.The Revelation of God Through Human Experience
A theology that begins with personal human experience can counteract institutionalization. With John Fortunato I can say: "Gay and Christian are the cornerstones of who I am." (7) I have come to learn that both are good. Paradoxically I have discerned that being of gay sexual orientation is a gift from God. It helps me appreciate what it feels like to be an outsider and to be discriminated against. Being gay teaches me the meaning of poverty of spirit, identifying with those in need of equality. In short, it brings me closer to Christ. However, this is not true for all gay Catholics, and less so for lesbians, due to the patriarchal exercise of ecclesiastical power. I know many who reject the Church because it's homophobic praxis is too painful. An example of inadequate pastoral ministry is when the Chairman of the Ontario Bishops in 1985 went on television strongly resisting the inclusion of sexual orientation as grounds for non-discrimination in the Ontario Human Rights Code. He gave me pause to reconsider if I could, in conscience, remain a Catholic. This bill now prohibits an employee from being fired or denied renting accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation. Although religious organizations are given an exemption from the Human Rights Code concerning hiring employees, the bishops attempted to deny all gays and lesbians their basic legal rights as citizens. When bishops exercise power out of an 'institutional' model of church without consultation with gay Catholics, they illustrate that the two greatest enemies of gay persons are ignorance and fear.
The ecclesial ambiguity I experience has required me to discern my purpose in life and ask: Why does God's creation include some people who are gay? What is their vocation in the world? Like Augustine I am dissatisfied with what I can merely taste, feel, hear, see, and touch. This is the grace of self-transcendence. There has to be something more, and that Mystery is God. Revelation informs me that a loving God views each person as precious, and to be treated with compassion. Revelation through scripture and tradition teaches me that every gift is from God. As James 1:17 states: "Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father…" Mathew 10: 8 teaches that we ought to share our gifts: "You received without payment, give without payment."
This revelation presents a clearer vision of the inadequacy of current theology on ministry with gay persons. My own revelation leads me to embrace my vocation, and discern God's call. I am doing this as a pastoral counselor, spiritual director, and retreat facilitator. I also pray for education to enlighten ignorance, and in showing compassion, hope to relieve fear on both sides. God's revelation is offered through human experience, and the need to interpret that revelation suggests that we examine how the Church is involved in the dialectics of history.
Ecclesiology: The Dialectics of History
Neil Ormerod perceives the lack of a systematic theology of ministry in theological literature. He writes: "Often our ecclesiologies have produced little more than descriptive and historical accounts of the Church, whereas what is needed is a theology which is empirical, critical, normative, and dialectical." (8) It will be empirical insofar as it examines data about the Church from the past and present. In order to be critical it will address questions to that data. The Church will be normative in the way it gives an account both of what it is empirically and of what it should be. It will be dialectical inasmuch as it gives an account of what it fails to be and develops changes to return to its authentic identity.
My exposition of ecclesiology will begin with reference to Lonergan's method of doing theology. I will also present models of Church to explain historical developments witnessed in ecclesiology at Vatican II. I recognize that Avery Dulles is only presenting a typology in his discussion of models of the church, however, it is necessary to briefly review these models in order to situate how each of them is inadequate to completely represent the work of establishing God's kingdom in this world.
Our horizon changes as we employ a critical historical method of doing theology, and use new information from both the physical and social sciences. Bernard Lonergan proposes that we know through a process that involves reflection on experience, understanding, judgment, and decision or commitment. He developed a scale of values, which are: vital, social, cultural, personal, and religious. Lonergan says the aim of systematics is not to increase certitude but to promote understanding. Lonergan places his ecclesiology under the discussion of the special category 'Communications'. He does this because he says that the responsibility of practical theology is to effectively communicate Christ's message. His definition states "The Christian church is the community that results from the outer communication of Christ's message and from the inner gift of God's love." (9)
Robert Doran distinguishes between the reality being mediated, which is grace, and the structures that mediate, many of which pertain to the structures of human living. For example since the Church exists in the world:
"The Church cannot effectively restore the integrity of the scale of values if the Church's cultural forms and social organization are themselves distorted. The Church must strive to exemplify the integrity the world lacks because of sin, and its regular failure to do so makes the Church a countersign of the Kingdom. There are no grounds here for pride or triumphalism." (10)Joseph Komonchak writes about the change in cultural values which was envisioned before Vatican II:"…Pope JohnXXIII to have called the Council under the banner of aggiornamento was to admit that the Church had not yet adapted itself to the specific challenges of contemporary culture and history. It was still too dependent on decisions made in other historical circumstances and with the resources of a culture long past. The previous notion of culture had failed to perceive its own particularity and relativity. …the Church found itself bound to a cultural form and to historical decisions and policies which might have been appropriate in one set of cultural circumstances and in one historical moment but which were quite inadequate to different circumstances and moments." (11)When a major paradigm shift occurs in the life of the Church the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are the continuity in the tradition that make the good news meaningful.Ormerod suggests that, for Doran, participation in the Paschal Mystery is the defining characteristic of the Church. Without this feature the Church misses the reason for its existence. Ormerod states: "Doran's image of Church isembedded in a profoundand systematic account of the nature of evil, the process of redemption and a positive vision of human flourishing." (12)
Doran points out that:"…no human organization would be worthy of the name Church if it were not concerned with the mediation of grace to restore personal integrity." (13) But in order to restore personal integrity, church authorities need to hear the lived experience of her members. This is particularly important for groups who have not been permitted any dialogue. Unfortunately, the institutional ecclesiastical structure presently lacks internal mechanisms for ongoing healthy self-critique. Even feedback is sometimes viewed with suspicion, anger, and recriminations. The reason for this dynamic is suggested by Ormerod: "Because it is not in touch with the reality of actual cultural self-transcendence, it may conceive of transcendence in some purely 'spiritual' sense, as in an extrinsicist account of grace, or some 'other-worldly' understanding of religion." (14)
Theological extrinsicism refers to a theology of grace that is unconnected to personal, psychological, cultural and social reality. An example on the cultural level is a tradition that is often not open to gay/lesbian sexuality on 'biblical grounds'. Ormerod proposes:
"One cannot separate out the concrete social organisation and life of a community from the meanings and values, which inform that living. The two levels interact dynamically, creating tensions, or mutually reinforcing one another…As Doran presents it, the work of restoration is part of the healing vector operative in human history. Grace is mediated to bring about personal authenticity, cultural progress and social harmony. " (15)One major response we witness to Vatican II has been a reactionary movement against change. To understand this phenomenon we need to consider how the Church has always adapted to historical and cultural circumstances. Writing about the non-historical sense of interpreting church tradition Michael Fahey describes contemporary reactive behavior of the neoconservative movements."At the same time neoconservatism is another social factor developing worldwide among lay Catholics and Catholic hierarchs. The term neoconservatism is used to describe an international, interconfessional mind-set found variously in different continents or churches. In general, Catholic neoconservatives are believers who judge that doctrinal integrity and ecclesiastical structures are being threatened by some in the church who are lessening the solid base of authentic tradition because of misguided enthusiasm and selective emphases or ignorance. Neoconservatives possess an acute, self-confident, but rather nonhistorical sense of tradition. Typically they stress the value of established institutions and possess a wary, cautious outlook on theological pluralism." (16)In the past half-century ecclesiology has been affected by the introduction of the historical critical method, especially for interpreting scripture, historical documents, Councils, and the development of doctrine. Neo-conservatives view such new methods of doing theology as a threat to the purity of the tradition. The dialectic between elements in the tradition that are unchanging, with new methods of doing theology, offers an examination of the theology of Vatican II contained in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church 'Lumen Gentium'. In doing so I begin with a definition of Ecclesiology.Gerald O'Collins defines Ecclesiology as:
"That branch of theology which systematically reflects on the origin, nature, distinguishing characteristics, and mission of the church. Although no articulated ecclesiology can be found in the Bible, the New Testament offers various images for the church, including the spouse of Christ (Eph 5: 25-32; Rv 21:2; 22:17), the body of Christ (Rom 12: 4-5; 1 Cor 12: 12-27; Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:18, 24), the people of God (1 Pt 2:10; Rom 9: 25), the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19), the family and the household of God (Eph 2: 19-22)." (17)Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church is considered to be the most important document of Vatican II; although it does not define any new dogmas, it presents the Church's understanding of her nature. It shifts the emphasis from the Church as 'institution' to the pastoral nature of the Church including all the people of God, both cleric and lay. Christian communities consist of disciples following the Christ of faith. They are not abstract entities.The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church underwent the most extensive revisions from the initial conception to final editing. Although debate and controversy surrounded the drafting, Lumen Gentium was approved almost unanimously, with only five bishops voting against. The formal structures of ecclesiastical government are not discussed in Lumen Gentium until the third chapter. The first two chapters focus on the primary notions of the Church: mystery, sacrament, people of God, and Body of Christ. The analogy to the hypostatic union is used here to emphasize that the Church is undivided:
"But the society furnished with hierarchical agencies and the Mystical Body of Christ are not to be considered as two realities, nor are the visible assembly and the spiritual community, nor the earthly Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things. Rather they form one interlocked reality which is comprised of a divine and a human element." (18)A Fellowship of Believers - The People of GodLumen Gentium made ample use of the models of Body of Christ and Sacrament, but emphasized the concept of the People of God. This paradigm focused on participation in the life of the church by all the faithful. The concept of the 'People of God' more clearly points to the concrete reality of the Church as a human community rooted in history. To this day progressives invoke the 'People of God' model, as their authority for advocating change.
The People of God is not identified with any given societal organization, even the Roman Church. In the second chapter of Lumen Gentium, the new People of God is described as a Spirit filled community, "a fellowship of life, charity, and truth."
When John XXIII was asked why at his age he convoked an ecumenical Council he replied: 'To make the human sojourn on earth less sad.'(19) This remark implied that the Church had become stuck in a medieval mentality of governance and praxis that was less relevant to the modern world. Referring to the covenant God made with the people of Israel as a people unto Himself, the document states:
"All these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant which was to be ratified in Christ, and of that more luminous revelation which was to be given through God's very Word made flesh." (20)Eugene Kennedy explains a contemporary pastoral problem that illustrates the difference between the models of Church as 'institution', and as 'People of God'. The recent front page shocking "sexual slaughter" of the innocents in the United States, with its associated cover-up, is a contemporary example of what he called:"the unhealthy dry rot within the institutional structure, which is being brought down like the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Acting as an institution rather than the People of God the Church is following the advice of lawyers rather than its pastoral heart. Its bureaucrats have turned into Samson, shaking the pillars until the temple comes down around them. These twin catastrophes mark the real ending of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first." (21)Chapter II of Lumen Gentium with the actual title, 'The Church as the People of God' reflects the triple office of Christ: priest, prophet, and king. These roles are compared to worship (ministry), witness, and communal life. Calling the faithful to exercise responsibility for leadership, the Council refers to the inter-relatedness of the priesthood of the faithful with the ordained."Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated. Each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ." (22)It is important to note the importance placed in the 'sensus fidelium' in section 12."The holy People of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office. It spreads abroad a living witness to Him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the tribute of lips which give honor to His name (cf. Heb. 13:15). The body of the faithful as a whole, anointed as they are by the Holy One (cf. Jn.2:20,27), cannot err in matters of belief." (23)The People of God form a fellowship of believers in Anne Clifford's conceptual framework when they are joined in common worship of the Trinitarian God revealed in Jesus Christ. She states that: "…church is an event that happens when people gather to celebrate their faith by hearing the biblical Word preached to them and, in many cases, sharing in the sacrament of Eucharist…" (24)1 Michael Higgins and Douglas Letson, Power and Peril - The Catholic Church at the Crossroads. Toronto: Harper Collins Publishers, 2002, Page 246-247.
3 Robert Doran, "AIDS Ministry as a Praxis of Hope." In: Jesus Crucified and Risen - Essays in Spirituality and Theology, edited by William Lowe and Vernon Gregson. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. 1998. Pages 182-183.
4 AveryDulles, Models of the Church, Garden City, New York: Doubleday. 1974. Page 32.
5 Mary Hines, "Community for Liberation." In: Catharine Mowry LaCugna (editor), Freeing Theology: The Essentials for Theology in Feminist Perspective. New York: Harper Collins. 1993. Page 162.
7 John Fortunato, Embracing the Exile - Healing Journeys of Gay Christians, New York: Seabury Press. 1982. Page 2.
8 Neil Ormerod, "Church, Anti-Types and Ordained Ministry: Systematic Perspectives." Pacifica. 10. (October 1997). Page 332.
9 Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 1971. Page 361.
10 Ibid. Neil Ormerod. Page 335.
11 Joseph Komonchak, "The Church." In: Desires of the Human Heart: An Introduction to the Theology of Bernard Lonergan. Ed. By Vernon Gregson, Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1988. Page 234-235.
12 Neil Ormerod, "Church, Anti-Types and Ordained Ministry: Systematic Perspectives." Pacifica. 10. (October 1997). Page 333.
13 Ibid.Neil Ormerod. Page 337.
16 Michael Fahey, "Church: The Contemporary Context of Ecclesiology." In: Francis Fiorenza and John Galvin (eds.), Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives, Volume 2. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991; Dublin, Ireland: Gill and Macmillan. 1992. Page 337.
17 Gerald O'Collins and Edward Farrugia, A Concise Dictionary of Theology. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press. 2000. Page 71.
18 Walter Abbott (editor), The Documents of Vatican II, Lumen Gentium,New York: America Press. 1966. Page 22.
19 Eugene Kennedy delivered the keynote address to the Fifth New Ways Ministry Symposium, in Louisville Kentucky, on March 8-2002.
20 Walter Abbott (editor), The Documents of Vatican II,Lumen Gentium, New York: America Press. 1966. Page 25.
21 Eugene Kennedy delivered the keynote address to the Fifth New Ways Ministry Symposium, in Louisville Kentucky, on March 8 2002.
22 Ibid. Lumen Gentium, Chapter II, Articles 10-13,Page 27.
24 Anne Clifford, Introducing Feminist Theology, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2001. Page 136.
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