Catholic Bishops Speak about Homosexuality

The cover story of today's Redeye reads: "Catholic Church to Gays: Don't Act, Don't Tell."

US bishops have released a statement, "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination," which seems to be a mess of pastoral theology. On the one hand, it attempts to be welcoming to homosexuals, noting that it is not a sin to be attracted to people of the same sex and seemingly making a place within the church for gays and lesbians. However, according to the bishops, it is a sin to act on such attraction and homosexuals should not be overly open about their sexuality.

It seems to me that the bishops are trying to provide a genuinely pastoral response to the Catholic gay community, but I'm not sure how effective these guidelines will actually be in real pastoral situations. What kind of message is it to tell your flock that God loves you for who you are, but don't act on your natural desires and certainly don't tell anyone about it. I just don't think such a middle ground approach will be very effective.

Of course, I'm not sure the Presbyterian Church is doing any better. You could make a pretty strong case that our national rules and practices are just as middle ground and just as ineffective. Sure, there are churches that are completely open and welcoming to the GLTB community and there are churches that are not, but as a national body we've been sending mixed messages for years, and I don't think that our most recent General Assembly actions are any different.

The cultural and religious wars over sexuality are painful and slow. How I wish that we could fast forward to a conclusion, but that doesn't seem to be God's way. Two thousand years into this movement called Christianity and over three thousand years since an ancient people named Israel began its journey with God, we're still trying to figure out what it is that God intends for us and how we are to live that out.

You can read the Redeye story and leave your own comments at http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/red-111506-church-main,0,2123267.story .