Note: this op-ed was originally published in the Wisconsin Gazette.
Earlier this month I visited Milwaukee to attend the Call to Action National Conference, a gathering of progressive Catholics from around the country, and introduce pro-LGBT attendees to the organization I work for, Truth Wins Out.
Many readers will understandably balk at the words “progressive,” “pro-LGBT,” and “Catholic” appearing in the same sentence. However, these words and concepts are far more compatible than many people realize.
Not that equality-minded people could be blamed for thinking otherwise. After all, the Catholic Church and its affiliates vociferously push an insidious anti-gay agenda. New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan was the most outspoken opponent of the state’s marriage equality law. Minnesota’s Catholic bishops are leading the charge to add an anti-gay amendment to that state’s constitution, calling the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples a “top priority” in 2012 and using tax-exempt church resources for political purposes.
The Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic group, bankrolls the National Organization for Marriage, which fights against the civil rights of LGBT people across the country. In fact, in 2009 the Knights spent more money fighting marriage equality than they did on all other social programs, such as food banks and food drives, combined.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops formed a Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage in order to organize and galvanize opposition to same-sex marriage nationwide. (Dan Avila, the bishops’ Policy Advisor for Marriage, was forced to resign this month after publishing a column in which he stated that homosexuality was caused by the devil.)
And the Catholic Church even has its own “apostolate” for gay people, called Courage, which counsels members to abandon their natural sexuality for a lifetime of celibacy and endorses the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, a leading proponent of “ex-gay” conversion therapy.
But the bigotry of the Catholic hierarchy is only part of the story. In fact, the beliefs of the rank-and-file Catholic faithful couldn’t be more different. Recent polls have repeatedly shown that a majority support granting same-gender couples the freedom to marry.
A survey released in March by the Public Religion Research Institute, billed as “the most comprehensive portrait of Catholic attitudes on gay and lesbian issues assembled to date,” found that a large majority of American Catholics – a whopping 71 percent –support civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. It further states that “Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and Americans overall” and that “Catholic support for rights for gays and lesbian people is strong and slightly higher than the general public.”
Perhaps most revealing, though, is the PRRI’s finding that “less than 4-in-10 Catholics (39 percent) give their own church top marks … on its handling of the issue of homosexuality.”
Social justice has long been an important component of the Catholic faith tradition. The Church is outspoken in its support of labor unions (Pope John Paul II even asserted the fundamental principle of “the priority of labor over capital” in a 1981 encyclical.), immigrants and financial reform, as well as its opposition to capital punishment. American Catholics appear to view the issue of LGBT equality as one of social justice as well, consciously rejecting the bigotry of their religious leaders in much the same way they reject the official prohibition on contraception (98 percent of Catholics use forms of contraception banned by the Church).
So let’s resist the impulse to stereotype all Catholics as anti-gay extremists. After all, our community knows the sting of prejudice all too well. Instead, work together with pro-equality Catholics, as Truth Wins Out and many other organizations are doing already.
Let’s speak out together against the Catholic Church’s institutionalized bigotry and work towards a society that’s truly just for all people.
“a large majority of American Catholics – a whopping 71 percent –support civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. It further states that “Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and Americans overall” and that “Catholic support for rights for gays and lesbian people is strong and slightly higher than the general public.”
That is stunning. I am very pleased.
I can well remember when the pope (Paul VI) disregarded the recommendations of committees of lay people, scientists and bishops, and continued his condemnation of what was called “artificial” birth control. His condemnation was subsequently disregarded by more and more Roman Catholics. He thought that to make an exception to a standing tradition would undermine the teaching authority of the “church.” What he didn’t realize was that by refusing to change the teaching, he was doing more to undermine his perceived authority. People came to realized how out of touch he was. It became clear that he didn’t have the authority to make such a condemnation about a topic about which he didn’t have first hand experience.
The teaching about homosexuality and gay relationships has been similar. When John Paul II published a document against homosexuality written by then Cardinal Ratzinger, I was struck by how riddled with myths and falsehoods the document was. As a gay man who knew lots of gay people and who had read much more extensively than either pope or cardinal had obviously read, I realized that I knew much more than either did about the subject. I think in the years since, as more and more Catholic people have become aware of their lesbian and gay family members, friends and church members, they have also come to the awareness of how riddled with falsehood and bigotry the teachings and actions of the bishops are.
Vatican Council II declared that the people are the church. When the few hundred bishops in this country and the few thousand bishops in the world Catholic Church make declarations of morality that are at odds with the experience of the many more Catholics in the pews, a large percentage of those Catholics reject the teachings of the willfully uninformed and ignorant bishops. The bishops speak for themselves and their fraternity. They do not speak for the Roman Catholic Church. When they declare that their teaching is the teaching of the Church, they are mistaken. It would be well for those who say the Church teaches this and that, to say instead that the bishops teach this and that. On some matters, the teaching of the Church and the teaching of the bishops are very much at odds.
It’s nice to know that the *real* teachings of Christ someone how filtered through to the Catholic laity despite all the ignorance and hateful propaganda of the hierarchy. Now fundamentalist Christians need to start catching up.
somehow
What I don’t understand is why this large majority of supposedly progressively minded roman catholics keep funding their church hierarchy? Turn off the damn spigot. Those bishoprics will figure out pretty fast what causes to abandon. In general, protestants would never keep pouring money down a rathole if the money was going to things they didn’t believe in. (I’m not defending protestants, just making a sociological observation). Why are the roman masses (no pun intended) such sheeple?
@Paul – They don’t “shut off the spigot” because funds can’t be directed the way they can in many Protestant churches — everything goes into the same pool, whether that’s flowers for the altar at Christmas, ingredients for the soup kitchen, rent on the building, or pay for the bishops. Individual Catholics can’t starve the bishop without starving their own parishes, too — but they can lobby them, fight them, and shame them.
A more democratic way of distributing money would no doubt help the church, but it’s also true that a system where you have to vote with your money grants the most power to those with the most money. People committed to social justice need other ways of bringing about change, especially if they’re members of a religion that’s supposed to put the poor first.
As long as they remain members of the Catholic Church, they support bigotry and hatred. It’s part of what Catholicism is about.
[...] Complete Article HERE! [...]
What WMDKitty said. And I also say shut off the spigot, leave the the church, whatever it takes. The time for lobbying and shaming is long past and where is that at? When is the last time you saw a progressive Catholic protesting or blocking or occupying to make their point. Get up, get out, get active and get involved.
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