Catholic Church, marriage & family

Yet Another Cardinal Supporting Same - Sex Unions.

In yet another sign of a softening of the Catholic approach to same - sex unions, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, has added his voice to the rapidly growing list of Catholic bishops and other senior or influential clergy who have expressed support, to varying degrees, of some form of legal recognition and protection for same - sex couples.

gay union, in church

Before getting to the details of his statement, consider the degree of seniority of those on the list: when I first started to note the trend, I was aware of a cryptic, off - the -cuff remark by Cardinal Schonborn who was not expecting it to become public, and a handful of retired bishops who were encouraged by his statement. More recently, these statements have been increasingly explicit and deliberate, and by increasingly senior men. I make it by now six cardinals (including one who is now the present pope), three archbishops, seven further bishops, the full Portuguese bishops’ conference, the marriage and family subcommittee of the French bishops conference, the “diocese of New Hampshire”, and the Pope’s official spokesman. (An updated complete listing is given at the end of this post.).

That’s a pretty impressive listing - and these are just those who have gone public, and been reported. There will be more, who may have said similar things less publicly and gone unreported, and still more who are thinking the same thing, but are as yet afraid to stick their heads above the parapet. The more they realize they are not alone, but are in good company, the more freely they too will go on the record.

Equally interesting, is how Cardinal Daneels has presented his support as fully in compliance with accepted church teaching, even though a CDF document of 2003 is absolutely clear that any form of legal recognition should be strenuously opposed

Ten years have passed since the publication of that document by the Ratzingerian CDF under the pontificate of Karol Wojtyla. But the contents of the “considerations” cited above seem by now to belong to another ecclesial era.

One faithful mirror of this new course are the declarations released to the press by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop emeritus of Mechelen-Brussels, on the eve of his eightieth birthday on June 4.

The Belgian cardinal - who without hypocrisy did not conceal his disappointment at the election of Benedict XVI at the conclave of 2005, and this year was one of the main electors of Pope Francis - stated that the Church “has never opposed the fact that there should exist a sort of ‘marriage’ between homosexuals, but one therefore speaks of a ‘sort of’ marriage, not of true marriage between a man and a woman, therefore another word must be found for the dictionary.”

And he concluded:

“About the fact that this should be legal, that it should be made legitimate through a law, about this the Church has nothing to say.”

The Belgian newspaper “Le Soir,” in reporting the words of Danneels, added that “the position of the cardinal is shared by Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard,” his successor as archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels. The newspaper does not provide the evidence for this agreement, which in fact has been denied by Léonard’s spokesman. But there is no doubt that Danneels has effectively said, with the frankness that distinguishes him, what other cardinals and prelates have said in recent months.

-chiesa espresso

This is a magnificent example of how the institutional Catholic Church constantly but gradually adapts and modifies doctrine, referring all the while to the “constant and unchanging tradition”, which (they maintain) leaves them unable to make any change at all. Don’t be fooled. They know full well that in the pews, Catholic support for such recognition is sky high, and increasing rapidly. (The most recent Pew poll shows US Catholic support at 76%, up from 50% in just ten years).

For much more on Cardinal Daneels’ words, and some useful commentary, see the excellent post at Gay Mystic)

Acceptance of legal recognition is a first and necessary step for them to retain any credibility on the matter. The next, equally necessary steps will be to accept that there is inherent value in these loving, committed,and faithful unions, and then to find a way to recognise and celebrate these unions in Catholic churches, as many other denominations are already doing (but that will take a little longer).

Updated listing of supportive cardinals and bishops:

Books

(links to Amazon.co.uk, UK)

Boswell, John: Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe (Harper-Collins, 1994)412 pages

Comstock, Gary David: Gay Theology Without Apology

Glaser, Chris: As My Own Soul: The Blessing of Same-Gender Marriage (Seabury Books)

Heyward, Carter: Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God

Hunt, Mary: Fierce Tenderness: Feminist Theology of Friendship (Crossroad, 1991)

Jennings, Theodore W. The Man Jesus Loved (Pilgrim Press)

Jordan, Mark: Blessing Same-sex Unions: The Perils of Queer Romance and the Confusions of Christian Marriage(Univ of Chicago Press)

Moore, Gareth OP: A Question of Truth : Christianity & Homosexuality(Continuum Books, 2003)

Stuart, Elisabeth: Just Good Friends: Towards a Lesbian and Gay Theology of Relationships (Mowbray, 1995)

Sullivan, Andrew: Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality(Picador, 1995)

Sullivan, Andrew: Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival(Chatto & Windus, 1998)

Sullivan, Andrew: Same-Sex Marriage: Pro and Con

Vasey, M: Strangers and Friends: New Exploration of Homosexuality and the Bible

 

Books

(links to Amazon.com, USA)

Boswell, John: Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe (Harper-Collins, 1994) 412 pages

Glaser, Chris: As My Own Soul: The Blessing of Same-Gender Marriage (Seabury Books)

Hunt, Mary: Fierce Tenderness: A Feminist Theology of Friendship (Crossroad, 1991)

Jennings, Theodore W. The man jesus loved (Pilgrim Press)

Jordan, Mark: Blessing Same-Sex Unions: The Perils of Queer Romance and the Confusions of Christian Marriage (Univ of Chicago Press)

Stuart, Elisabeth: Just Good Friends: Towards a Lesbian and Gay Theology of Relationships (Mowbray, 1995)

Sullivan, Andrew: Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality (Picador, 1995)

Sullivan, Andrew: Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival (Chatto & Windus, 1998)

Vasey, M: Strangers and friends: A new exploration of homosexuality and the Bible

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5 comments for “Yet Another Cardinal Supporting Same - Sex Unions.”

  1. Joseph Gentilini
    June 12, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    The living of out contemplative lives is bringing about the change in the Catholic Church, even if it may not be totally seen in our lifetime. By living with integrity and honesty, we are united with Christ. The “power” is within our lives and is radical grace. Joe Gentilini

    Reply
    • Terence Weldon
      June 12, 2013 at 1:45 pm

      Agreed, Joseph. I think this is of enormous importance: I’m busy right now with a follow- up post, and want to make this into a major them from now on. The Washington Post had a story last week headlined “The political war over gay marriage is over. The culture wars continue” (or something like that). Change “culture” to “religious”, and that’s my position, exactly.

      The political wars will take time to reach completion, but it’s only a matter of time. The churches must now deal with the implications, for themselves. The cardinals and bishops who are speaking up publicly are only those will to show their noses. There are many more, just waiting to do likewise. Once they start talking about legal recognition, they will have to start talking also about the inherent value of these relationships - and then, of the need to find some way to recognize and celebrate them, in church congregations. That can’t be done, without accepting that same - sex love in itself, is not intrinsically sinful. Exciting times, ahead.

      As the old platitudes for against gay marriage fade away, we need to create a more reasonable, constructive debate about the real meaning and value of marriage - and other forms of relationships. Our experience as gay men or lesbians, in real world loving relationships, will be useful for the whole church in working out those issues.

      Reply
      • Joseph Gentilini
        June 12, 2013 at 4:14 pm

        AMEN!

        Reply
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