This happened earlier in the week, but I haven’t had time to address it before now. If you know me, you know I grew up Catholic and have had somethings to say in the past about the Catholic Church and their behavior towards gay people.
Catholic Bishops have officially approved new guidelines concerning ministry to gay people that basically say gays are sort of okay within the church, just as long as their sexual orientation is in no way sexual.
The guidelines state that while the Church teaches that homosexual acts are immoral, there is a distinction between engaging in homosexual acts and having a homosexual orientation. “While the former is always sinful, the latter is not.”
“It is crucially important to understand that saying a person has a particular inclination that is disordered is not to say that the person as a whole is disordered. Nor does it mean that one has been rejected by God or the Church.”
In other words, it’s okay if I’m gay, but I have to be celibate. And there are some other conditions, too:
- Persons who experience same-sex attraction and yet are living in accord with Church teaching should be encouraged to take an active role in the life of the faith community. However, the Church has a right to deny roles of service to those whose behavior violates her teaching.
- The Christian life is a progressive journey toward a deepening of one’s discipleship of Christ…Those who stumble along the way should be encouraged to remain in the community and to continue to strive for holiness. In this regard, frequent reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is of great importance.
- The Church does not support so-called same-sex “marriages” or any semblance thereof, including civil unions that give the appearance of a marriage. Church ministers may not bless such unions or promote them in any way, directly or indirectly.
- Similarly, the Church does not support the adoption of children by homosexual couples since homosexual unions are contrary to the divine plan. For this reason, Baptism of children adopted by such couples presents a pastoral concern. Nevertheless, the Church does not refuse the Sacrament of Baptism to these children, but there must be a well founded hope that the children will be brought up in the Catholic religion.
So I get to be a part of the church, but I have to be a sexless second class citizen within it. Oh lucky fucking me.
Yay! Here’s what I think about that:
Hello, my name is Emily, i am a lesbian mother of 3, i have been “out” for about 6 years now, i live in Fort Wayne, indiana. i am raising my children catholic, all 3 baptized into the religon. I was hetero for a while, just covering i guess, my ex husband is catholic and wanted the children to be as well, i myself am not, my kids are now 9, 10 , 12, and still attending a catholic school, i have no intention of ever hiding , i am out to my chilren and i sport my lil rainbow sticker on my car,and i proudly drive my kids to and from school every day, i could care less where the catholic church thinks i belong or dont belong. I am a proud parent, and as long as my kids are not treated rudely, we dont have a problem. LMAO!! i live my lfe the way i want, and i am raising my kids to not pass judgment.. i hope they learn well. atleast from me, i believe it important to raise kids with some form of god in there life. I am a good mother, and my kids love me and my partner, , me being a lesbian has nothing to do with my ability to parent.