Grech says ‘creative, patient Church’ must accept broad array of faithful

Gozo Bishop Mario Grech has told a Synod of bishops discussing the pastoral care of the family that the clergy must adapt a new language to address the gay community, but without twisting Catholic doctrine.

Grech, attending the seminal Synod convened by Pope Francis, said that priests should not change the Gospel of the family on divorce or homosexuality, but expressed an understanding of families of homosexuals “who feel wounded by the language directed towards them in certain texts, for instance in the Catechism of the Catholic Church… these persons consequently struggle both with maintaining their faith alive as well as cultivating their sense of filial belonging to the Church.”

“It is necessary to learn to speak that language which is known to contemporary human beings and who acknowledge it as a way of conveying the truth and the charity of the Gospel,” Grech said.

He also called on bishops to embrace new pastoral realities through a “creative deepening” in attitude towards persons in difficult pastoral situations.

“It demands the sustained pursuit of new answers alongside new pastoral approaches some of which can be extracted from the teachings of the Church fathers. It is desirable that such situations be closely examined with theological erudition together with a pastoral mindset, in order for suitable pastoral solutions that are built upon deepened doctrinal considerations to be obtained.”

Grech added that clerics must not resign themselves to defeatist attitudes towards the situations of people at odds with Church doctrine, by branding them as irregular or irreversible.

“Without complacently ‘giving in to frustrations or fears’ or being dragged into a ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude to the Gospel, we must develop forms of accompaniment for each person, suggesting a path forward that is conducive to real growth in faith and communion with the internal life of the Church,” Grech said, calling on clerics resist passing judgement and instead keep in mind that “organic mixture” of the Church in the present age.

“Augustine insists that such mixture is a token of authenticity in the Catholic Church: the bishop of Hippo reminds us that a Church in which there are no sinners and saints, strong and weak and, allow me to add, healthy families and families in crisis, would not truly be the Catholic Church…

“The Church is patient when it displays solidarity towards those brothers who are less gifted and who need to be instructed with love and patience rather than cause a disruption of the spirit because of their protracted learning process. The Church is rich in patientia when it willingly undertakes to carry the burdens of others.”