{"id":48900,"date":"2014-10-20T13:36:34","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T12:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=48900"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:29:37","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:29:37","slug":"catholic-bishops-veto-gay-friendly-statements-leaving-pope-francis-the-loser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/10\/catholic-bishops-veto-gay-friendly-statements-leaving-pope-francis-the-loser\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Bishops Veto Gay-Friendly Statements Leaving Pope Francis the Loser"},"content":{"rendered":"

Final report of Roman Catholic extraordinary synod on the family removes talk of \u2018welcoming\u2019 gay people.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pope Francis appeared on Saturday [18 Oct 2014] night to have lost out to powerful conservatives in the Roman Catholic church after bishops scrapped language that had been hailed as a historic warming of attitudes towards gay people.<\/p>\n

In the final report of an extraordinary synod on the family which has exposed deep divides in the church hierarchy, there is no mention \u2013 as there had been in a draft version \u2013 of the \u201cgifts and qualities\u201d gay people can offer. Nor is there any recognition of the \u201cprecious support\u201d same-sex partners can give each other.<\/p>\n

A paragraph entitled \u201cpastoral attention to people of homosexual orientation\u201d \u2013 itself a distinctly cooler tone than \u201cwelcoming homosexual persons\u201d \u2013 refers to church teaching, saying there can be \u201cnot even a remote\u201d comparison between gay unions and heterosexual marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless,\u201d it adds, \u201cmen and women of homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and sensitivity.\u201d They should not suffer from discrimination, it adds. But the shift in tone is clear. And, in a potentially stark sign of the discomfort provoked among many bishop, even this watered-down passage failed to pass the two-thirds majority needed for it to be approved.<\/p>\n

One hundred and eighteen bishops voted for the text and 62 against. A Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said the voting numbers had been released at the behest of Francis, who wanted the process to be transparent.<\/p>\n

Because the names of the bishops were not released, however, it was unclear whether the paragraph\u2019s failure to pass was due to a protest vote by progressive bishops who had wanted to keep more of the original wording.<\/p>\n

At any rate, in a speech to the bishops which received a four-minute standing ovation, Francis showed no sign of disappointment, insisting that disagreement and debate was an intrinsic part of the synod process. \u201cPersonally I would have been very worried and saddened if there hadn\u2019t been these \u2026 animated discussions \u2026 if everyone had agreed with one another or had kept silent in a false and acquiescent peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It was the synod\u2019s other highly controversial subject \u2013 considering whether Catholics who have divorced and remarried should be allowed to take holy communion \u2013 that included the only other sections to fail to muster the necessary two-thirds majority. Walter Kasper, a German cardinal known in media circles as \u201cthe pope\u2019s theologian\u201d because of his closeness to Francis, has been the key backer of a move to allow more people access to the sacraments. But, in an indication of how far his proposal was from gaining a consensus among his global peers, the sections dealing with the thorny issue were guarded and merely noted that there was a clear clash of views. \u201cThe question will be further explored,\u201d said the report.<\/p>\n

Thomas Rosica, Lombardi\u2019s English language assistant, said the sections without two-thirds majorities had not been \u201ccompletely rejected\u201d. He stressed that it was \u201cnot a magisterial document\u201d but \u201ca work in progress\u201d that provided the basis for another synod next autumn.<\/p>\n

The final report will come as a blow to those in and outside the church who had hoped a corner might have been turned in the way Catholic leaders discussed and dealt with homosexuality \u2013 even if not even the most optimistic of followers had been expecting a change in doctrine, according to which \u201chomosexual acts\u201d are \u201cintrinsically disordered\u201d.<\/p>\n

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Catholic gay rights group in the United States, said it was \u201cvery disappointing that the synod\u2019s final report did not retain the gracious welcome to lesbian and gay people that the draft of the report included\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, the bishops have taken a narrow view of pastoral care by defining it simply as opposition to marriage for same-gender couples,\u201d he told Reuters.<\/p>\n

The draft released last Monday had been hailed by some church observers and gay rights groups as \u201ca stunning change\u201d in how the Catholic hierarchy talked about gay people. It had been written with a voice that seemed to echo closely Francis\u2019s own, pragmatically pastoral phrase: \u201cIf someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?\u201d<\/p>\n

Exploring the idea of extending mercy to people considered to be in \u201cirregular\u201d situations, it asked whether the church was capable of offering gay Catholics \u201ca welcoming home\u201d and \u201cfraternal space\u201d, admitting that despite \u201cmoral problems\u201d associated with them, \u201chomosexual unions\u201d provided \u201cprecious support\u201d to each other.<\/p>\n

No sooner had it been released, however, than leading conservatives began to speak out against the text. One, American cardinal Raymond Burke, criticised a lack of transparency, saying the mid-point report had not reflected the diverse views of the whole synod.<\/p>\n

\u201cA great number of the Synod Fathers found it objectionable,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Burke, a leading doctrinal rigorist in the church who had vocally opposed any move to ease the ban on remarried divorcees taking communion, is currently prefect of the supreme tribunal of the apostolic signatura, the Vatican\u2019s supreme court. But he said on Friday he was to be demoted to a lesser post. Asked by the National Catholic Reporter <\/em>who had made that decision, he reportedly responded: \u201cWho do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n

Vatican observers say that, by calling the first extraordinary synod in nearly three decades and encouraging the nearly 200 bishops taking part to speak their minds during the fortnight-long gathering, Francis, 77, has embraced a radically more collegiate style of church governance than has been seen for decades. But although the Argentinian wanted to listen to what the bishops had to say, he may not always have liked what he heard.<\/p>\n

Ever since his election last March, he has made clear his belief that the church needs to become more inclusive and understanding of real people\u2019s lives if it is to survive, let alone grow.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Final report of Roman Catholic extraordinary synod on the family removes talk of \u2018welcoming\u2019 gay people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sexualities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}