Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - Homosexual Catholics in Australia vowed
Friday to continue what they regard as a mission to transform the Roman
Catholic Church from within, given the Vatican's strong rejection of their
lifestyle.
It was the duty of dissenters in the church to call it to account over its
"hypocrisy and abuse of power," a campaigner said.
A document released by the Vatican Thursday condemned same-sex unions, and said
homosexual acts were "deviant and "go against the natural moral
law."
It came out firmly against adoption by homosexual couples, and said Catholic
politicians had a particular duty to publicly oppose and vote against any
measure aimed at recognizing same-sex unions or "marriages."
"Men and women with homosexual tendencies" should be chaste, and
should be treated by others with respect and compassion, said the document,
which was written by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
and approved by the Pope.
\lang3081"Harsh and unchristian" was the verdict of Australia's
Rainbow Sash Movement, an organization campaigning for the Catholic Church to
give full recognition to homosexual congregants.
The group's spokesman, Michael Kelly, said in a phone interview the document
was remarkable for its "authoritarian tone" and that in instructing
democratically elected politicians how they should vote, the Vatican had
"overstepped its role."
Kelly called the document a "major step backwards" for a church which
he claimed had in the past allowed some space for bishops conferences to work
out for themselves the best way to respond to proposals to give civil rights to
same-sex unions.
"Many bishops have quietly allowed legislation to give rights to gay
couples to go through without much opposition, in fact in some cases they have
quietly supported it," he said.
"Now what the Vatican is doing is saying: There is only one response, and
that is complete and total rejection of any such legislation."
Kelly said church leaders - especially those in Rome - were seriously out of
touch with their own people and many of their own clergy.
"It's a wake-up call that the gulf between church leaders and general body
of the church is becoming serious."
Agenda
Asked why the dissenters did not simply leave the church, he said it was the
duty of groups like the Rainbow Sash Movement to speak up and say: "This
is not where the majority of Catholics today are moving."
Elaborating on the activists' agenda, he said the Catholic Church was the
largest multi-national organization in the world.
"It's crucial that there are strong and articulate voices within it
calling for justice and critiquing what the leadership is doing and exposing
the hypocrisy and abuse of power that is going on around these issues.
"If all the critical voices left, this enormous and immensely powerful
organization would be free to do exactly what it likes - and that means
influencing not just Catholics but governments all around the world in all
sorts of ways that can be profoundly damaging to the good of a lot of
people."
On another level, he said, the church had a long history of working for social
justice, and caring for the weakest members of many societies.
"This is our turn to do our part to transform the church as generations
before us have done."
'Individuals must change'
Warwick Neville, a research fellow with the Australian Catholic Bishops
Conference, agreed Friday that those with contrary views should not leave the
church - but for a very different reason.
The argument of groups like Rainbow Sash was that "the church must
change," while the church, on the other hand, taught that it is the
individual who must change.
"The church says it is the responsibility of individuals to continually
seek to be converted in their lives, which will then enable them to live out
the teachings of the church," he said.
Neville conceded that there was always a possibility some people may leave the
church over this issue - as is the case with any of the church's teachings -
but he hoped that would not happen, and certainly did not envisage splits of
the type seen in other denominations.
Ultimately, he said, the issue was about marriage, and he expected the Vatican
document would refocus attention onto the importance of the institution.
"Marriage is an inherently heterosexual relationship. Whatever advances
have been made in reproductive technology, it is still only the relationship of
a woman and a man that - without any third-party intervention - can beget the
next generation."
In other reaction, an Australian Christian ethics action group welcomed the
Vatican's stance, saying it contrasted strongly with "revisionist
theology" being promoted in some other church denominations.
"We commend the Catholic Church for standing firm against the tide of
political correctness that is sweeping so many parts of society and the
Christian church today," said Peter Stokes, executive director of the
group, Salt Shakers.
Stokes urged Prime Minister John Howard "to ensure that marriage in
Australia remains solely between a man and a woman."