Pastoral Ministry to Young People: Two
Perspectives
prepared by Frank Testin,
President, Dignity Canada Dignité © 2012 Dignity Canada Dignité
Backgrounder
Canadian Catholic Bishops issue letter on ministry to young people with
same-sex attraction
Independent Catholic News
June 27, 2011
The Commission
for Doctrine of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)
released today a letter on pastoral ministry to young people with same-sex
attraction.
“As Bishops, we wish to address the pastoral needs of adolescents and
young adults who question their sexual identity or experience feelings of
same-sex attraction. We are concerned for the spiritual good of all
persons, and want to help them live out their call ‘to the fullness of
Christian life and to the perfection of charity’. Convinced that ‛only
what is true can ultimately be pastoral,’ we offer this guidance, by way
of general principles and pastoral guidelines, to all Catholics, pastors,
parents and educators, as well as to young adults themselves,” the
Commission states in its introduction to the pastoral letter.
While stressing the fact that the Church in her teaching never condemns
persons with same-sex attraction, the Bishops note that “while homosexual
acts are always objectively wrong, same-sex inclinations are not in
themselves sinful or a moral failing”. (…) “For many people, same-sex
attraction constitutes a trial. They therefore deserve to be approached by
pastors with charity and prudence.”
In its letter, the Commission offers various pastoral guidelines, in
addition to expressing its “profound gratitude to all those who wisely and
lovingly guide young people with a same-sex attraction: priests and
pastoral associates, parents and educators”.
The letter can
be downloaded
here.
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In June 2011, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)
published the document entitled 'Pastoral Ministry to Young People with Same-sex
Attraction.’ It is addressed to parish priests and pastoral workers, educators,
parents, young persons and the Catholic community at large. It can be viewed
here on
the Dignity Canada Dignité (DCD) website and also on the
CCCB website.
Here we present DCD's views on how to minister to young persons, as well as adults of
any age. It has two parts. In the first, we present those ideas in the CCCB document with which we agree and believe are worthy of repetition.
In the second, we present our own views on how lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) persons can express their sexuality in an ethically
responsible fashion.
CCCB Document
We are encouraged that the CCCB document clearly states
that "every human being is created in the image and likeness of God, and is a
unique and irreplaceable gift of God. Every person possesses an intrinsic
dignity which must always be respected." In addition, that ",,,persons with a homosexual
orientation shall be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity, and that
every sign of unjust discrimination shall be avoided." We agree that "those
exercising a ministry in the Church or working in the pastoral care of young
persons shall be especially careful not to perpetuate injustice, hatred or
malice in speech or action against [ LGBT ] persons." It is evident to us that
"sexuality ... is not solely biological, but concerns the innermost being of each
person." Finally, we concur that "the entire Christian community has a call to
guide its young [ LGBT ] members in their journey toward human maturity."
DCD's Alternate Perspective on
Sexual Ethics
In the late 1980's Dignity USA, with input from DCD and
others, established a task force on sexual ethics to develop a document which
would be a pastoral reflection for lesbian and gay Catholics on how to express
our sexuality in a manner consistent with Christ’s teachings. The task force
conducted a consultation and discernment process that spanned some five years.
This included inviting persons associated with Dignity chapters to complete a
questionnaire and conducting in-depth interviews with members and experts. Over
800 completed questionnaires were returned and analyzed. The draft document was
also circulated for comments before being finalized. Further information on the
methodology can be found at:
http://dignitycanada.org/dcdethic.html
The document prepared by the Dignity task force was
intended to be a communication from the people of God to the people of God. As
such, the document was seen as filling a pastoral role, and was intended to be a
source of "conscience formation and spiritual growth." The entire
document entitled “Sexual Ethics: Experience, Growth, and Challenge” can
be found on the DCD website. We bring the following points taken
verbatim from the pastoral reflection to the attention of those who provide
pastoral ministry to LGBT young persons, as well as adults of any age:
-
We are not alone in
regarding official teachings on issues of sexuality as not in touch with human
experience. At the core of official teaching on sexuality is the prohibition
of any genital expression of sexuality outside marriage and of any genital
sexual expression within marriage not open to procreation. This ethic
increasingly is regarded as irrelevant and unacceptable by heterosexuals, both
those who are married in the Church and those, like the divorced, the widowed,
the handicapped, and the single, who are sexually disenfranchised. Scholars
have shown the inadequacy of an ethic that regards sexual intimacy essentially
as an agreement to procreate. Vatican Council II implicitly acknowledged this
inadequacy when, in speaking of the purpose of marriage, it refused to
subordinate mutual love and companionship to procreation and the education of
children (Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 50).
-
We see sexuality as
an intrinsic, integral, and essential aspect of our human personhood, not a
separate one. We reclaim our sexuality and its genital expression as
intrinsically good.
-
We have a
responsibility as members of the Christian community to seek common
understanding and communion in that which makes us Christian. We therefore
reaffirm the primacy of the individual conscience and accept the
responsibility for its continuing formation in community.
-
Since humans were
not made to be alone (see Genesis 2:18), as we seek and express intimacy and
love we show God's image in action. We strive to make that image clearer by
together acting justly, loving tenderly, and walking humbly with our God
(Micah 6:8).
-
Like our
heterosexual sisters and brothers, we have had to transcend centuries of
teachings that not only separated spirituality and sexuality but also
considered sexual expression, if not less than human, then at least a
concession to human weakness. We have learned that the living Christian
tradition has more to offer than prohibition and condemnation, that through
the values and ideals of our faith communities we can create a positive and
human sexual ethic. We want our faith to enter more directly into our sexual
decisions and activity, so that there will be a closer integration of
sexuality and spirituality.
-
We see our
sexuality and its expression as the holy gift of God. The overwhelming
majority of us are able to say that we are both sexually active and
comfortable in our relationship with Christ. Being sexually active enables us
to be more at ease with ourselves, more fulfilled in our relationships, more
productive in our work and service. The Spirit is evident in a warmer and
more peaceful prayer-life.
-
We acknowledge as
well that sexual abstinence freely and positively chosen is good. Many of us,
for various reasons, have attempted a lifestyle of sexual abstinence. Some
have chosen sexual abstinence as a lifelong way of being sexual in the world,
either as part of a formal religious commitment or as a way to pursue
nonsexual interests more freely. Others have chosen to be sexually abstinent
temporarily in order to pursue certain goals or to reassess or re-establish
priorities.
-
However, when
sexual abstinence has been imposed by an outside force life circumstances,
institutional mandate, social pressures — the effect on our lives has
generally been unhealthy, destructive, and alienating. The energy expended in
maintaining an abstinent lifestyle left us too drained personally to enter
into relationships with others or to grow spiritually. Abstinence attempted
out of fear — fear of intimacy, fear of disease, fear of divine retribution —
diminished our humanness, made us preoccupied with sex, left us hungering for
the intimate love of another human being.
-
What resources have
we been using to make decisions that will be responsible and Christian? Our
primary resource, because of our isolation, has been our individual experience
and reflection. Health concerns influence our sexual decisions because of
possible consequences to ourselves and others. Reading and prayer,
traditional resources for making decisions, are next in importance. Most of
us regard other traditional resources - scripture study, advice from confessor
or spiritual mentor, formal religious education - as less helpful. Most of us
have not found official teaching on sexuality at all helpful in making
decisions.
-
Our particular
concern has been the integration of sexuality and spirituality. We share with
all Christians the life-long struggle to unify all aspects of our lives,
including our genital expression, under the reality of the Christian Gospel
and the values to which that Gospel urges us — love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). The
development and growth of these values is a life-long endeavour; there is no
point at which we stop and say that we have all the answers or that we have
done all that we can.
Additional Thoughts
While the CCCB document asserts that the origins of
homosexuality are largely unexplained, studies have in fact concluded that
sexual orientation is inborn and relationships with the opposite sex do not
significantly impact it.
It is the experience of many heterosexual couples that
living together, whether in marriage or not, provides the opportunity to learn
how to love another. In the midst of human frailties and idiosyncrasies, one
learns respect, patience, tenderness, courage, assertiveness, good humour and
other such qualities. These qualities are also learned in taking on the roles
of parents in raising a family. By insisting that all LGBT persons not form
intimate relationships with a soul mate – not fulfilling the longing for
partnership and love with another person of the same gender - we wonder what
opportunities to become more fully human are being denied LGBT persons.
Our experience has taught us that whom you love is not as
important as how you love.
John J. McNeill, in his book “Taking a Chance on God”
(1988), wrote the following:
Only a sadistic God would
create millions of humans as gay with no choice in the matter and no hope of
changing and then deny them the right to express their gayness in a loving
relationship for the rest of their lives under the threat of eternal damnation.
(p. 38)
For further information, please see other parts of the DCD
website. In addition, two theologians who have attended many Dignity
conventions and provided valuable advice are:
John J. McNeill, PhD, whose writings include:
- Sex as God Intended, Lethe Press, 2008.
- Freedom, Glorious Freedom: The Spiritual Journey
to the Fullness of Life for Gays, Lesbians and Everybody Else, Beacon
Press, 1995.
- Taking a Chance on God: Liberating Theology for
Gays, Lesbians, and Their Lovers, Families, and Friends, Beacon Press,
1988.
Daniel A. Helminiak, PhD, whose writings include:
- The Transcended Christian: Spiritual Lessons for
the Twenty-first Century, Alyson Books, 2007.
- Sex and the Sacred: Gay Identity and Spiritual
Growth, The Haworth Press, 2006.
- What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality,
Alamo Square Press, millennium edition, 2000.
Dignity Canada Dignité is
Canada's organization of Roman Catholics who are concerned about our
church's sexual theology, particularly as it pertains to gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered persons. We work in collaboration with other
Catholic organizations seeking reform in our church's leadership and
teachings.
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