Gay Christians call on Pope to reconsider position on same-sex relationships

‘Pope must provide clear information to Christians on Bible passages being used to justify gay violence.’

10 June 2011, 12:00am

2 min read

The organisation for gay Christians Drachma has joined the European Forum of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual Christain groups in a letter to Pope Benedict calling on him to condemn acts of violence against gay people and call for the lifting the penalisation of homosexual acts worldwide.

In the letter signed by Diane Xuereb and Dr Michael Brinkschröder, the forum says that silence from the Pope would be interpreted by abusers as “consent to their actions.”

Xuereb and Brinkschröder also called on the Pope to reconsider the Church’s position on same-sex and transgender relationships and support these relationships being accepted and blessed in the Church.

“We appeal to Your Holiness to cease to urge Catholics’ to vote against the law authorising same-sex relationships. Same-sex and transgender relationships are not dangerous for traditional family existence but in fact support and enhance marriage and family values.”

In December 2008 the Holy See refused to support the United Nations declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity. This declaration included a paragraph calling upon States to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention.

The group said the Pope must provide clear information to Christians concerning the passages of the Bible that are used to justify these abhorrent actions. “As with the passages supporting slavery, the verses advocating the killing of persons engaged in same-sex sexual activity must not be interpreted literally,” the forum said.

It also called on the Pope to make sure “reparative thearpy” – where Catholic clergy reportedly tries to change people’s sexual orientation – is no longer preached.

The forum said an official Church demand for LGBT people to live in sexual abstinence leads to suicides and severe forms of depression as they try to be obedient to the church’s teachings. “As science has testified that homosexuality is a variant of sexuality, we appeal that this scientific knowledge is included in the teaching of the church.”

Drachma said the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that homosexual persons should be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity. “If this was truly the case then compassion would not be necessary. Homophobic behaviour and opinions are especially painful when perpetrated by Christians - both clergy and laity, and are not in keeping with showing respect.”

Jurgen Cachia •

I am a gay man and I am an atheist. As such I have no particular use for the Catholic Church. My own opinion is that the weaker the Church is the better - nothing illustrated this better than its campaign against divorce in Malta. Weaken it so it cannot keep doing the damage it is doing. . Trollface says who cares about the Church? Unfortunately a strong Church, one with a strong following, imposes itself on us whether we like it or not. Its hateful preaching affects people who hate us. That can make our lives less than safe - facing prejudice, discriminaton and violence. It also affects us when we push for, among other others, anti-discrimination legislation - their bigoted vote can harm us. . I respect those Catholics who remain Catholic and wish to remain within the Church. After all democracy should mean both freedom from religious impositions and freedom to believe. However I also think that Catholic gay men and lesbians can retain their self-respect if they struggle for recognition within their Church. Anything less, if I were them, would be worse than humiliating. . Having said that, it is of the utmost urgency that there be complete and absolute separation of Church and State, including changing the Constitution so that no religion is recognised as the State religion. This is a necessary guarantee that we gay men and lesbans, among others, can be assured that whatever the Church preaches, we retain our rights rather than be at the mercy of the whims of the Church.

•

I read your previous comments chriswinner, but I insist why bother with the 'church'? Why try to be a member of an organization which SO UNJUSTLY shuns you? The church (and by 'church' read Maltese Curia) is NOT God, in fact it's very far from God because God embraces everybody and shuns no one. One can still be a good catholic without wearing one's best Sunday clothes and listening to weekly pulpit preaches by another person adorned in gold and living in luxury. God isn't mean. He won't throw to hell all the peoples of the world who aren't Catholics! He doesn't have some 'points system' whereby the persons who attended those Sunday fashion parades called "Masses" the most and who took the Host the most times get a direct personal key to the Pearly Gates :) God, (if he really does pass a DEFINITIVE judgement on our souls without giving any other chances...), will take into account how we lived our ENTIRE LIVES: whether we did unto others as we would have them do unto us. It's useless living what we think is a "perfect catholic life" while scoffing at, discriminating and making fun of muslims, hindus, buddhists, jehovah's witnesses, new-age religions etc. It's useless pretending to be a Catholic if one tries to screw someone out of his or her money just because you know he or she is determined to buy the item on offer at all costs. It's useless attending Catholic functions if one sees a person dropping a wallet or a cellphone and one pockets it! It's useless trying to be a perfect Catholic if one gossips and tries to damage the neighbour's reputation on purpose through exaggerating untrue facts. Local society might see one as a 'saint' there. But God will always know the truth, he'll always know one's intolerance, one's hatred, one's failure to share or give charity... I don't intend to sound patronizing but your battle should be fought against out LOCAL SOCIETY and not against the church. The Catholic church as moulded by the Curia of Malta & Gozo has its own rules. It's made it clear that there will be no amends and no bending of those rules. I'd say OK, no problem if I was wearing your shoes. Because as I said before, I don't believe that God is really that unforgiving. Now here is the reason why I suggested you focus on the maturity or otherwise of our local maltese society and not of out local maltese church: I don't have children myself but I seen this happening -- who are the ones who start discrimination, who start 'labelling' people and crying out "x'gharukaza!" at people who don't baptize their babies, or children who are not doing their "precett" or "grizma" together with the rest of the herd? Who are the people who start gossiping and pontificating on why, how, and inventing all sorts of stories when a couple decide to hold a wedding party without a "church" invite? I'm sure everyone here guessed - It's only the Maltese society. Not even other Catholics in the rest of the world behave in such an intolerant manner. Hopefully one day our society will change and really enter the 21st century. And hopefully also learn to know God. And hopefully also realize that it's not only Catholics (and specifically Maltese ones at that!) who go to heaven....

•

I will not able to comment any further as I will not be online, however if anyone wish to dialogue with me feel free to do so by email: [email protected] Thank you

•

@Marisa, this is something personal, but you have to see it from the point of view of Christian spirituality, not religiosity. Someone might find the spirituality of a particular person in the church history which has given them an meaning to their life. The Sacraments is another examples but as I said this is subjective to the person. Believe me if it wasn't for this we wouldn't be taking all this effort, it is much more easy to simply leave the Church or become Atheists... However this is touching on deeper levels of our being which as I said is personal, subjective and cannot be really presented in such logical ways.

•

Chris - May I be the devil's advocate and ask you: what are the gifts of the church, exactly?

•

@Marisa. We are not seeking approval from the Catholic church about our sexuality. We have done that and we are happy of who we are. Our aim as Drachma, which is a Christian LGBT Organization, is to be a witness of love in a homophobic Church. The agenda of the Church was never planned it transform through time and prayer. Please be aware that Christian Gays come accross a dilemma: or leave the Church and end up rejecting anything, or conform with the Church teachings and repressing their sexual orientation (because LGBT do not get a choice like priest do) which is harmful for the psychic on the person. Our aim is simply to tell the Church that we are Catholics, we can leave the Church but we wont because we love her other gifts. What we wish (because this is our spirit who is calling) is that the Church recognizes that we have a place in the Church and should condemn violence when it happens on LGBT as she condemned violence when it happens on other minorities. Thanks

•

chriswinner ~ The way I see it is you are wasting your time and energy and wrongly assuming that the pope and his cardinals have any power to approve anything at all. You only need your own dear self to approve of your sexual orientation. There’s no need for external approval. Just call yourself blessed and be done with it. And you are not the only one who is blessed because human sexuality is beautifully diverse: heterosexual; homosexual; bisexual and asexual. With asexual persons, their sexual energies are turned off. They may get heart 'chakra' orgasms but not sexual ones. Indeed, many nuns and priests are this type. It’s not a sacrifice for them. They are naturally asexual. At the same time, priests and nuns also represent a cross section of the heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual types. These are the ones who enter the priesthood etc. and then either leave; or stay and sneak their sexual gratifications. . Paedophilia is NOT a sexual orientation. It is a very abusive practice in the same category as rape or any other violent intrusion. For children it’s a double whammy because it’s not only a violent intrusion, it is also places them in a defenceless position. . The church’s agenda was set a long time ago and it is not about to change because of the Maltese gay movement. The gay movement does NOT need the church’s approval. If you are capable of embracing Christian values, you are way more Christian than the pope’s church. . My two pence worth ... and God Bless All people with all their different orientations.

•

Il-Papa suppost li jnaqqas il-hdura mhux izida! Aqraw din: https://mazzun.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/chi-non-vota-con-me-gli-faccio-un-culo-cosi/

•

@chasbay1960 We keep trying because the signs of the world are showing that many are questioning the conservative theology of the Church. If we stop we feel we are not doing what we have been called to do: being a witness of love. Miracles or not the Pope doesn't ignore us, but maybe he is stubborn, but that is fine. We are here to remain in the Church.

•

It is good the the European Gays wrote to the Pope. What matters most is DOES THE POPE GIVE A TOSS ABOUT GAYS? I bet his Secretary will burn the letter as they wish us to burn in hell. The Pope pronounced us as INTRINSICALLY DISORDERED in one of his letters when he was a Cardinal. A gay rapresentative who wished to meet the Pople in Malta was not given permission. Do one expect a miracle to see the Pope accepting this letter? No way.

•

@trollface Because many gays still love their Church and wish to be part of her. Many gays have a dilemma, or leave the Church with all its gifts, or simply conform with their teachings which for gays is very homophobic and can be destructive for the psychic of the gay. So it is not easy to say. But still thanks for your comment many choose to adopt that attitude and I do not blame them. :)

•

Why care what the Pope says? lol Just be gay and have fun