The Roman Catholic Church has again made itself more irrelevant to its flock and the contemporary world. This week, the Church released a document reinforcing its ban on ordaining homosexual priests, whether practicing or not, and those who condone homosexuality. The document revealed the Church’s deep-seated ignorance of the nature of homosexuality and its refusal to face the reality of its world. If the Church is to be a force for good in the world, it must confront the facts without willful bigotry.
The Church continues to espouse a theory in the document that most rational people have left behind: that homosexuality is a choice. In reality, homosexual men and women can no more shed their attraction for the same sex than they could change their eye color or height. Adherence to this theory of sexuality shows that the Church hasn’t learned the lessons of Galileo: You can’t fight—or squash—the truth.
Furthermore, the Church’s document is bigoted, reinforcing the idea that homosexuality is some kind of overwhelming trait that prevents a person from leading a productive life (or a priest from being a productive minister). This belief perpetuates the erroneous idea that homosexuals are more likely to be sexual predators than heterosexuals. While the Church may think this is an answer to the child molestation scandals of recent years, a better answer would be more transparency and harsher punishments for guilty priests, not a wild swipe at conscientious seminarians who happen to be gay.
Beyond these two failings, the fact that homosexual behavior is still considered sinful by the Church is sad in and of itself. The result of only a few sometimes vague scriptural references, progressive Catholics can only hope that this foolish ban will be left behind, along with passages upholding slavery or condemning clothing made of two different fabrics.
Under Pope Benedict XVI, the Church has taken steps to limit dialogue and debate on religious doctrine. It has silenced a Jesuit journalist at America and now is taking steps to end ecumenical and interfaith conferences at the shrine of St. Francis of Assisi. Preventing debate, particularly on the issue of homosexuality, will only stagnate the growth of the Church. We hope the students and scholars here at Georgetown University, a center for liberal Catholic thought in America, will not be afraid to speak out on this issue.
What does it mean to be Catholic? It means acknowledging Jesus Christ as your Savior and following his message of love. It does not mean persecuting homosexuals, who are as capable of following Christ (or serving him as a priest) as any other person, and it does not mean blind resistance to change. As long as Georgetown remains a Catholic university, it is our duty to support that truth.
