Sir, – Archbishop Eamon Martin is quoted by the Crux Catholic website (April 18th) as saying that while the upcoming World Meeting of Families this August must offer a “clear and positive vision for family” rooted in the traditional understanding of marriage, the church also must not be marred by homophobia.
In the interview, Archbishop Martin says this is difficult: “The Catholic Church itself struggles to find a language by which it can relate to people, not just LGBT people but people who feel they have fallen short of the kind of vision or the kind of ideal of what Catholic marriage and family life is about,” he said.
Archbishop Martin misses the point. It is not LGBTI+ people who feel they have fallen short of any ideal, it is only people like the archbishop who think that, and therein lies the problem.
Could it be that the hierarchical church is struggling to find a language to relate to gay people because its theology of human sexuality is deeply flawed?
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It is worrying that while the hierarchical church struggles with itself over the LGBTI+ issue, it continues to treat gay members as second-class Catholics, depriving us of sacramental marriage and describing us as “objectively disordered” and our love as “intrinsically evil”.
Is it any wonder that the church struggles to find a language to relate to us when the language it already uses is so vile?
The hypocrisy of this while preaching a Gospel message of love and justice is breathtaking.
As a gay Catholic, committed to my faith, I am concerned about the World Meeting of Families and the way LGBTI+ Catholics and their families may be treated at it.
While event organisers say “All are Welcome”, the recent removal of images of gay people from the event brochure suggests otherwise and sends out a chilling message.
Without actions to back up the words of the organisers, it is a hollow welcome. – Yours, etc,
URSULA HALLIGAN,
Dublin 16.