Has Pope Francis said something new about homosexuality and, in particular, about homosexual priests? Reports of remarks made during a news conference on the return flight from Rio to Rome seemed to indicate that he did. For example, the Atlantic Wire wrote on July 29, “Pope Francis took a huge step forward for the Catholic church Monday morning when he endorsed gay priests within the church…” and many other sites. But keep reading and consult other reports and you will find that the pope said nothing new.
It’s important to take note of what question was put to the pope. Was he asked whether he would endorse homosexual priests, active or chaste? No, he was asked “how does your Holiness wish to deal with the whole question of the gay lobby?” That is why his answer is about the problem of homosexual persons and lobbies, not about priests.
“I think that when we encounter a gay person, we must make the distinction between the fact of a person being gay and the fact of a lobby, because lobbies are not good. They are bad. If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge that person? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this point beautifully but says, wait a moment, how does it say, it says, these persons must never be marginalized and “they must be integrated into society.”
“The problem is not that one has this tendency; no, we must be brothers, this is the first matter. There is another problem, another one: the problem is to form a lobby of those who have this tendency, a lobby of the greedy people, a lobby of politicians, a lobby of Masons, so many lobbies. This is the most serious problem for me.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes the same distinction between having tendencies and acting on them. This is true of all sinful behavior. We all have temptations or tendencies to sin, whether it is anger, greed, selfishness, or, indeed, heterosexual lust. Having a temptation is not sinful, acting on it is. All temptations, all inclinations to evil, are indications of the disorder that is deep-seated in all of us, so when the Catechism says that homosexual tendencies are intrinsically disordered, it is making an observation that is true of every other temptation.
But this is not the nut of the problem. This is not why news reports call what they think the pope said “a huge step forward.” The problem is the Church’s assertion that homosexual activity is wrong. The Catechism explains why homosexual acts are disordered: “They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity.”
Those who think such acts are not wrong want the Catholic Church to give up its stand and get with modern times. Now we have a pope who appears to be more in the modern spirit than his predecessors. He won’t live in the isolated splendor of the Renaissance palace (he says he will go nuts if he can’t have people around him), he rides around in a small car, he carries his own small bag onto the airplane, he speaks extemporaneously, he gives an unfiltered news conference. With all this, why shouldn’t we expect him to change Church teaching? But apparently Pope Francis knows the difference between what his job is and how he does it. His job is to preserve and proclaim the unchanging message that the Church received from Jesus Christ and to strengthen the brethren in the unity of faith. Keeping up with the times is not a consideration.
So did the pope say that homosexual acts are not wrong? Pope Francis refers us to the Catechism; he is not changing its teaching:
“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.”
And he most certainly did not “endorse gay priests within the church.” People with homosexual tendencies “should not be discriminated against; they should be made to feel welcome.” The proviso he gives is that they should be “in eager search of God,” as should we all. This is guidance and encouragement for all of us. No one struggling against any temptation should ever be made to feel unwelcome. The Catholic Church is full of sinners.
Jesus told us not to judge one another, so Pope Francis says “Who am I to judge?” We don’t know one another’s struggles, but we do know the objective reality of evil and must acknowledge it in ourselves and help one another resist it. Jesus also said, “Fear not, I have overcome the world.” Being drawn into the life of the Church, living by the grace of Christ, is what sustains us. “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That’s a tall order. Who can contemplate it without trepidation? It means that we have to recognize our sins and beg, repeatedly, for God’s forgiveness. It does not mean, the pope is saying, that we deny sin and form a lobby against the common good, be it for homosexual acts, greed, or political interests.
Expect Pope Francis to continue to surprise us with his personal warmth, his simplicity, and his frank talk. Do not wait for him to rewrite the Catechism.