We Are Church Ireland – Call to Pope Francis to Change Church LGBTQI Language
Change Church LGBTQI Language
Today, Thursday 7thJune We Are Church Ireland is launching a petition calling on Pope Francis to change Vatican theological language that is gravely insulting to LGBTQI people.
Words like ‘objectively disordered’ and ‘ intrinsically evil’ to describe any human being is wrong, but for an institution like the Catholic Church to teach that these words are an expression of the mind of God to describe her image in LGBTQI persons is not alone scandalous but blasphemous.
The petition is being launched by Ursula Halligan of WAC Ireland, Senator David Norris and Pádraig Ó Tuama of the Corrymeela Community.
The petition on Change.org:
“We Are Church Ireland encourages every Catholic who continues to be enraged by this Vatican un-Christian language to sign the petition demanding the withdrawal of this offensive language to describe our LGBTQI sisters and brothers” stated Brendan Butler.
Brendan Butler, We are Church spokesperson.
Dear Brendan and Friends,
I am afraid that cleaning up the foul language against gays and lesbians is just the first step. Here is my wish list:
#1 Stop all acts designed to shame and intimidate those who favor same-sex unions. [Even after the referendum, Catholic school teachers are still scared silly by the prospects of being ostracized or demoted as soon as they marry their same-sex partners.]
#2 Set up a Vatican Commission to listen to those in same-sex unions and to formulate a plan of action for toleration at all levels. Place a temporary or permanent HOLD on all four of Cardinal Ratzinger’s letters to the bishops regarding homosexuality. [Cardinal Ratzinger’s doctrine (“intrinsically evil”) of homosexuality is seriously flawed. It should be recommended to no one, and pastors who recommend it are setting up most of their LGBT parishioners for an unnatural celibate life which is filled with needless self-hatred, loneliness, shame, and false guilt. In a word, Ratzinger’s doctrine is a crime against the Beneficent Creator who knew precisely what s/he was doing when s/he assigned each person their particular sexual orientation.]
#3 Just as Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, pastors everywhere need to preach homilies on the good folks in same-sex marriages.
When it came to the Jews, it was not enough for Vatican II to outlaw vicious words, e.g., calling them “Christ killers.” Nostra Aetate had to develop a positive persona for Jews, e.g., that they continue to be “beloved by God” and that “God never broke his eternal covenant with Abraham and his people.” Until this happens for gays and lesbians, the Catholic Church will remain part of the problem rather than being part of the solution.
Fraternally,
Dr. Aaron Milavec
PS: I am a retired professor who taught in three different Catholic seminaries for 25 years. I kept silence regarding the deep flaws in the Ratzinger Doctrine out of fear. I am ashamed of this. My forthcoming book, WHAT JESUS WOULD SAY TO SAME-SEX COUPLES (https://payhip.com/b/QM9P) is a partial reparation for those years of silence.
Catholic Schools in the USA promote social justice education and then, they turn around and deny this heritage by firing faculty members that favor same-sex marriages. This is a lose-lose situation that has caused wide-spread and unnecessary suffering.
The problem, at its root, is the defective use of natural law theory in Cardinal Ratzinger’s 2003 letter to the bishops.
Accordingly, I have mounted a petition calling on Pope Francis to bring restorative justice to one faculty member that was dismissed for favoring civil marriages for gays as a way to restore their dignity and to uphold their civil rights.
Please sign this petition as a way to invite Pope Francis to bring restorative justice and peace back into the painfully divided Catholic community.
https://www.change.org/p/pope-francis-justice-for-catholic-high-school-teacher-fired-because-he-supported-same-sex-marriages