The Roman Catholic Church Hierarchy is Not a Friend to LGBTQIA+ People.

 Elton John beat me to the punch with his Twitter comment this morning: "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??"

Nicole Winfield of religiionnews.com wrote today in an article, "Vatican excludes gay union blessing as God 'can't bless sin,'" that "The Vatican decreed Monday (March 15, 2021) that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since 'God cannot bless sin.' The Vatican's orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (which used to be run by Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict), issued a formal response Monday to a question about whether Catholic clergy can bless gay unions. The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was 'negative.' The decreed distinguished between the church's welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions since any such sacramental recognition could be confused with marriage." 

While, yes, we just celebrated a few months ago Pope Francis' kind, pastoral remarks of LGBTQIA+ people, and applaud his reaching out to people of the transgender community, both in Argentina and Italy, and the world, Roman Catholic Church doctrine has not changed. Not one iota. Being LGBTQIA+ is a sin. Our unions and marriages are a sin. 

And remember: Pope Francis acknowledged this as well. If he didn't, he wouldn't be Pope for much longer. Two Popes in retirement would be something else. 

What Pope Francis has blessed or acknowledged is our right to have a civil union within the civil sphere, with legal protections. Again: Pope Francis has not endorsed civil unions within the Roman Catholic Church.

Gay/LGBTQIA+ sex is still considered "intrinsically disordered." 

My relationship with Christian, my partner, is a sin in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as The United Methodist Church if we were married, the Southern Baptist Church, the collection of eastern orthodox churches, and, of course the Church of Latter Day Saints/Mormons.

I'm thankful not to be part of any of these anti-LGBTQIA+ institutions, and grateful to be part of a denomination that permits out LGBTQIA+ clergy and our marriages. 

Bigotry, hatred, and hypocrisy abounds in religious institutions. Remember: more than 40% of Roman Catholic clergy/priests are gay. As a gay priest told PBS's "Frontline" program in February 2014, "I cannot understand this schizophrenic attitude of the hierarch against gay when a lot of priests are gay." 

What this report reminds me and us is, first there is a lot of work to still be done in these institutions that gladly promote and want to welcome "all" people to be part of the body of Christ, sitting in pews or showing up on Zoom these days. 

The United Methodist Church always drove me crazy with their Madison Ave. slick bumper sticker: "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors," when what I kept on running into for three years in working with them were many more closed hearts, closed minds, and still more closed doors than open doors throughout even one of their most progressive Conferences. 

The work of change starts with embracing and naming the hypocrisy, and seeing it for what it is. Second, name the hypocrisy when you see it, and, if called, work to change the hypocrisy through one-to-one personal relationships, one person at a time, one clergy person at a time, one church group at a time, one church at a time, one denomination at a time. 

It means working in the trenches, and not in some administrative branch of the Church.

Meanwhile, if anyone wonders why the Church is shrinking away and losing any relevance in the world, my friends, consider the Vatican as a living case study.

As for me and my family, my partner Christian Halstead and I will be getting married in the summer of 2022. There will be a lot of LGBTQIA+ clergy and non-LGBTQIA+ clergy there because of our friendships and colleagueship. It will be a very Christian wedding. And it will be a celebration of life and love, thankful for "what God in Christ has brought together...let no one tear asunder." 



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