Catholics welcome once-persecuted community back

Tuesday, February 3, 1998

Catholics welcome once-persecuted community back

RELIGION Church has begun to welcome, accept gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgendered people

By Pauline Vu

Daily Bruin Contributor

The Catholic Church, one of the largest Christian communities in
the United States, contends that it is also one of the most
misunderstood.

The church has long had a reputation for being harsh and
conservative on the issue of homosexuality.

"In general, people think just because we’re Catholic, we hate
all gay people and think that they’re going to go to hell and all
that," said Father Peter Liuzzi, director of the Pastoral Ministry
with Gay and Lesbian Catholics. "That’s not true."

Last Tuesday, the University Catholic Center presentation on
homosexuals and the Catholic Church discussed the publication of
"Always Our Children," a pamphlet printed by the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, which asks that parents accept and
continue to love their homosexual children.

Published in October 1997, "Always Our Children" stunned the
religious right and won loud approval from gay Catholics.

Liuzzi began the night’s talk with a heartfelt apology.

"I know Catholics don’t have a wonderful track record concerning
homosexuality," Liuzzi began. "Our church has certainly done its
part in persecuting, hurting and shaming gay people. As a Catholic,
I would like to apologize for what has happened and, to some
extent, continues to happen."

In 1986, the Vatican stated that although being homosexual was
not a sin, homosexuality was still a tendency toward an "intrinsic
moral evil." The Vatican also instructed bishops to withdraw
support from any group vague on the immorality of homosexual
acts.

In another statement, made in 1992, the Vatican required
American bishops to oppose all gay rights legislation and compared
homosexuality to contagious diseases.

But the Catholic Church is beginning to take on a different,
more lenient view, as supported by the recent publishing of "Always
Our Children."

Richard Miailovich, president-elect of Dignity, USA, called the
recent letter "marvelous." Dignity is an international lay movement
of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Catholics.

"We welcome the letter as a long overdue, positive statement,"
he told the Greenbelt Interfaith News. "It says the kind of things
we in Dignity have been urging needed to be said for many, many
years."

There are several reasons for the change in the way the Catholic
Church thinks.

When the scientific world announced that homosexuality was not a
choice, the Catholic Church accepted this belief. And, in Liuzzi’s
words, "that changes everything."

Historically, the church had believed homosexuality to be a
choice and "thought it was just two straight people misbehaving and
not acting according to their nature," Liuzzi said. Today the
church realizes that homosexuality is an "innate quality of some
people, and we are beyond changing them."

And this is how the Catholic Church differs from other
denominations – other groups say homosexuality is a choice, and
base condemnations on that.

The Catholic Church also believes itself more accepting of
homosexuals than other denominations because of the very nature of
the faith.

"The big difference between Protestants and Catholics is that
Catholics would never say the scripture is the last word. That’s
where we part company with fundamentalists and the religious
right," Liuzzi said.

Other denominations refer to quotes in the Bible which appear to
denounce homosexuality. Leviticus 18:22, for example, forbids
male-male sex as an "abomination."

Liuzzi also attributes the church’s changed stance to the
growing number of gay people staying with the church.

"Gay people are starting to lay claim to the rights of their
baptism. They’re saying, I have the same right that anyone else
does, and I dare anyone to argue that."

A personal story was shared at last week’s conference by Marge
Mayer, the administrative assistant for the Ministry of Lesbian and
Gay Catholics. Her son, Tim, revealed seven years ago to her family
that he was gay.

"It took him 10 years to get comfortable enough to tell us. He’d
heard so many horror stories of kids being thrown out on the street
by families who can’t accept them," Meyer said.

"Sometimes the kid comes out of the closet and the parents go
right in," she laughed.

Mayer attributed her son’s anxieties partly to religion.

"Lots of times you’ll see televangelists talking about what they
call ‘traditional family values,’ and that usually means
anti-gay."

Mayer revealed the trouble she went through in the process of
accepting her son. She was able to come to an understanding of her
son largely with the help of her priest and P-FLAG (Parents and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays).

Despite the great strides the Catholic Church has made in
becoming more accepting to homosexuals, there is still a large
separation between the two. The church’s teachings, for example, do
not condone homosexual activity.

Liuzzi stresses that the issue is not homosexuality but human
sexuality. One important Catholic belief is that sexual activity
should be only for the purpose of procreation, which is why it also
condemns contraception.

"If a Catholic gay person were to remain in church, they would
be expected to be celibate. When a gay person hears that statement,
and sometimes when straight people hear that statement, they call
it crazy. It’s like saying you can be a puppy, but you can’t go
‘woof!’" Liuzzi said.

This is also the key reason for the split between Dignity and
the Vatican.

In its 1987 national convention, Dignity, USA, declared that it
believed lesbian and gay people could indeed engage in loving,
life-giving and life-affirming sex.

"They said, in effect, if I’m in a committed relationship that
is monogamous and faithful, there is as much love and life as in a
marriage and the church should recognize this," Liuzzi said.

The bishops responded by evicting local chapters of Dignity from
Catholic facilities for challenging ecclesiastical authority.

Dignity’s position today still demands that the teaching of the
church change to recognize and bless homosexual unions.

Despite this split, the Church knows it has changed a lot from
its former views, and this has evidently shocked many.

"My image of the Catholic Church, in relationship with lesbians
and gays and bisexuals is this picture of strictness and
disapproval," said Frank Wulf, director of the Wesley Foundation of
the United Methodist Campus Ministry.

"It’s wonderful to know this is happening. I didn’t even know
there was a Ministry for Lesbian and Gay Catholics."

Liuzzi recalled an incident when he was in a booth for the
ministry at a gay parade one day. A man who obviously disapproved
of this came up to him and asked brusquely, "What are you doing at
a gay parade?"

"Bringing the good news of Jesus," he replied.

"Well, I think you’re advocating a lifestyle," the man said.

Liuzzi replied, "I’m advocating Jesus and I don’t know a better
place I can do that then somewhere where people think Jesus
shouldn’t be found."

Liuzzi chuckles. "My favorite one is when they ask, ‘Are you
really Catholic?’"