In today’s first reading at Mass, we hear the story of how the prophet Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall at Belshazar’s feast.
When I attended Mass this morning, the celebrant ended his few words on this text with a question: What is the writing on the wall, for us? What warnings should we be seeing in our own lives?
This is of course a deeply personal question, which each of us must answer for ourselves alone. But it is also a collective question, which we do well to consider for the LGBT community, and for the Catholic Church, and for the society in which we live. In “Evangelium Gaudium”, one of Pope Francis’ major themes is a scathing attack on the materialistic that surrounds us, with its celebration of money and financial success, to the detriment and exclusion of the poor. For the Catholic Church, he condemns the culture of clericalism, that treats priesthood and episcopal office as seats of power and prestige, rather than as ministries of service. For the community of gay men and the stereotype of the so-called “gay lifestyle”, we need to ask searching questions, ourselves. While the stereotype is just that, far removed from typical of all gay lifestyles, we must acknowledge that there is at least some truth in an obsession by some gay men with consumption, sexual and other hedonism, and excessive attention to fads and fashion. Are these really the values that we want to be associated with “gay”?
As specifically LGBT Catholics, I see a much more hopeful sign - an implication, unstated but clear, that the writing is on the wall for the Catholic obsession with sexual dogma.
At Bondings 2.0, Francis DeBenardo has written about Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, “Evangelium Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel), using as a headline, the important question,”How Will Pope’s New Document Affect LGBT Issues?“. With his initial attempts to answer his own question, DeBenardo focuses (correctly) on the important implications for pastoral practice and inclusion. Once again, as has become Francis’ regular practice, there is nothing in the document to indicate any immediate change in any matter of doctrine.However, no document exists in isolation. Read in conjunction with Professor Linda Woodhead’s recent article on empirical research findings on “What British Catholics Believe”, it becomes clear that although there is to be no doctrinal change in the short term, in the longer run,a funfamental reappraisal of sexual theology is inevitable.
This is because of some of Francis’ observations in “Evangelium Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel). “Dogma” may not be democratic in any secular sense, BUT: His observation that there are different levels of church teaching, not all requiring the same level of assent, implies that not all teaching in fact qualifies as “dogma”
Further, his reference to the “sensus fideii” likewise reminds us that although teaching may not be democratic, it must be either valid, or not valid. Any particular element of teaching he notes, is “infallible” only if it has received the support of the church as a whole. If not, the corollary is that it cannot be regarded as infallible, and can instead be questioned. Elsewhere, he notes the importance for the Church of a willingness to examine itself and its structures for the possibility of error. From this, and the abundant empirical evidence that sexual doctrines do NOT have the support of the Church as a whole, it follows that we must accept at least the possibility that these doctrines are simply not valid. There is a dire need to revisit the theology of sex and intimate human relationships - a proposition with which many professional moral theologians would undoubtedly agree.
Related articles
- “What British Catholics Believe About Sex” (It’s Not the Catechism!) (queeringthechurch.com)
- How Will Pope’s New Document Affect LGBT Issues? (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
- Louis Cameli, “Catholic Teaching and Homosexuality” (Book Review) (queeringthechurch.com)
- Recasting the New Evangelization Framework in Light of the Poor: Early Highlights and Analysis of Evangellii Gaudium (dailytheology.org)
2 other important sections here from ‘The Joy of the Gospel':
16. … Countless issues involving evangelization today might be discussed here, but I have chosen not to explore these many questions which call for further reflection and study. Nor do I believe that the papal magisterium should be expected to offer a definitive or complete word on every question which affects the Church and the world. It is not advisable for the Pope to take the place of local Bishops in the discernment of every issue which arises in their territory. In this sense, I am conscious of the need to promote a sound “decentralization”.
36. All revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel. In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead. In this sense, the Second Vatican Council explained, “in Catholic doctrine there exists an order or a ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith”.[38] This holds true as much for the dogmas of faith as for the whole corpus of the Church’s teaching, including her moral teaching.
Thanks, Martin. Both of these are important, and I have edited your remarks to highlight in bold what I see as the key sentences of each. The point about the need for further reflection and study probably explains the absence of any reference to sexual ethics - a point I will elaborate on in a post in preparation. The other, about the orders of Catholic teaching, is one you first alerted me to some years ago (for which I thank you), and which is far too often ignored.