Reports a few weeks ago that Pope Francis had telephoned a young gay Catholic who had written to him, turned out to be a hoax: that call was never made. The interesting thing about it though, was that it was entirely credible - both the style, and the alleged content of the conversation, were entirely compatible with what we know about our new pontiff. He has personally telephoned others who have written to him, and we know that back in Buenos Aires, he took seriously the letters he received from gay Catholics, and was deeply moved by them. On at least one occasion, he met personally with an activist who had written to him about the Church’s response to Argentina’s proposals for marriage and family equality.
We now also know that even before the September reports of Francis’ fictitious phone call to the young Frenchman, he had in fact replied personally, but by letter, to a group of Italian gay and lesbian Catholics who had written to him in June. Both America and The Tablet have reported on an Italian story in La Repubblica referring to the letter, graphically describing it as a “message in a bottle”. (Follow the links for the English language summaries, or go to La Repubblica for the original Italian. Andrew Sullivan has a reasonable English translation of the entire report).
None of these include any content from Francis’ letter, but that doesn’t matter. What is important is the simple fact that he did reply, in sharp contrast to his two predecessors, who had simply ignored the many similar letters the same group had sent to them.It is also important for the speculation by Repubblica, noted by both America and the Tablet summaries, that this June exchange of letters may have influenced Francis in his notably sympathetic words about gay priests, and about LGBT Catholics, in his celebrated in - flight press conference, returning from Rio the following month.
For too long, the only letters to the Vatican that seemed to receive any attention seemed to be those from a small but vociferous minority of conservative Catholics, pleading for disciplinary action against those they regard as out of line with their own narrow understanding of Catholicism. Pope Francis has already said plainly that such letters of complaint should no longer be dealt with by the Vatican, and will be simply referred back to local bishops. On the other hand, it is becoming ever plainer that letters to the Pope that describe the difficulties encountered by ordinary Catholics grappling with the harsher aspects of Catholic doctrines in the reality of their life situations, are receiving considerable attention.
It’s time for lesbian and gay Catholics, individually and collectively, to seize the moment - take up your pens, or keyboards, and write to Rome.
Here follows the relevant section of the La Repubblica text:
Il gruppo Kairos: “Gli abbiamo scritto, lui ci ha benedetto”. Anche don Santoro scriverà a Bergoglio: “Voglio chiedergli come considera le nostre condanne”
di MARIA CRISTINA CARRATU’
Papa, lo stupore dei gay cattolici “Ha risposto alla nostra lettera” Carta e penna. Fra le tante rivoluzioni compiute da Papa Bergoglio, oltre alle telefonate a casa a gente qualunque, c’è anche l’”effetto posta”. La montagna di lettere recapitate ogni giorno nella sua residenza di Santa Marta, e inviate direttamente a lui da chi spera, così, di raggiungerlo scavalcando gli “ostacoli” curiali. E adesso c’è chi pensa che possa essere stata una di questi “messaggi in bottiglia” ad aver ispirato la svolta di Bergoglio sui gay. Una lettera inviata lo scorso giugno al Papa da vari omosessuali cattolici italiani, ma le cui firme erano state in gran parte raccolte nel gruppo Kairos di Firenze, molto attivo su questo fronte. E in cui gay e lesbiche chiedevano a Francesco di venire riconosciuti come persone e non come “categoria”, chiedendo apertura e dialogo da parte della Chiesa, e ricordando che la chiusura “alimenta sempre l’omofobia”.
Non la prima del genere inviata a un pontefice, ma a cui, come racconta uno dei responsabili di Kairos, Innocenzo Pontillo, “nessuno aveva mai dato neanche un cenno di risposta”. Questa volta, invece, la risposta è arrivata. Con un’altra lettera della Segreteria di Stato vaticana (il contenuto di entrambe le lettere è privato, e solo da poco si è deciso di rendere noto lo scambio), in cui si legge, spiega Pontillo, che Papa Francesco “ha apprezzato molto quello che gli avevamo scritto, definendolo un gesto di ‘spontanea confidenza’”, nonché “il modo in cui lo avevamo scritto”.
Ma non solo: “Il Papa ci assicurava anche il suo saluto benedicente”. “Nessuno di noi si era spinto a immaginare una cosa del genere” dice il rappresentante di Kairos, ricordando, per contrasto, come l’arcivescovo di Firenze, Giuseppe Betori, “si sia sempre rifiutato anche solo di riceverci, sostenendo che altrimenti saremmo stati legittimati in quanto omosessuali”. Adesso papa Francesco invia addirittura la sua benedizione, e chissà che le sue uscite successive sugli omosessuali (“Chi sono io per giudicare i gay?” detto in aereo di ritorno da Rio de Janeiro, e poi le dirompenti parole a Civiltà Cattolica: “Dio, quando guarda a una persona omosessuale, ne approva l’esistenza con affetto, o la respinge condannandola? Bisogna sempre considerare la persona”) non si debbano davvero anche a questo scambio epistolare
Related articles
- “Real” US Catholics Love Pope Francis - and Support Gay Marriage.
- Pope Francis: “Your Homosexuality? It Doesn’t Matter”
- Will the “Extraordinary Synod on the Family” Consider Queer Families?
- Yes, Francis Reached Out To Gay Catholics! (dish.andrewsullivan.com)
- New Poll Finds Two-Thirds of U.S. Catholics Agree with Francis, Six in Ten Approve of Gay Marriage (bilgrimage.blogspot.com)
- Pope Francis: ‘Gays Should Not Be Marginalized’ (businessinsider.com)
- Pope Francis’ Letter-Writing Revolution Requires Our Involvement (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
