The Roman Catholic Church has always been clear regarding its stance towards homosexuality. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity (Cf. Genesis 19:1-29; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:10; 1 Timothy 1:10), tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered’…They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
However, despite this official disapproval, the Church believes that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.” At the same time, the Church teaches that “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery…by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.”
Regarding transgenderism, the Church’s belief is “one that is grounded in genuinely confirmed reality. One is born either male or female… In this light, the Church recognizes that every human person is created in the image and likeness of God, male or female (Gen. 1:26-27). And so we should help people discover their true identities as children of God, not support them in the disordered attempt to reject their undeniable biological identity.”
Pope Francis does not deny these teachings. But the Holy Father seems to have his own point of emphasis regarding these fundamental issues. In January of 2023, the Pope said, “It’s not a crime (to be gay) Yes, but it’s a sin…Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime…It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another.” He also “criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as ‘unjust,’ saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. ‘Being homosexual isn’t a crime,’ Francis said during an exclusive interview…with The Associated Press.”
Now the Catholic Church under the direction of Pope Francis has gone even further in expressing its support for homosexual and transgender Catholics. Early in November of 2023, “(t)he Vatican announced...that transgender people can be baptized and become godparents under certain conditions, as well as serve as witnesses to church weddings… The Vatican’s document stated that transgender people, including those who have received hormone replacement therapy or sex reassignment surgery, can be baptized ‘under the same conditions as other believers’…Additionally, the statement allows for transgender ‘children and adolescents’ to be baptized as well, and added that there is no reason why transgender people cannot serve as witnesses at weddings. The document also specifies that a same-sex couple would be able to baptize a child who had been adopted or born via surrogate providing there is ‘a well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.'”
This statement did not come from Pope Francis himself, but was written by Argentinean Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who is head of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith. However, according to Reuters, Pope Franics approved of this statement on October 31, 2023.
Most concerning to the Catholic faithful is the lack of clarity in Cardinal Fernandez’ pronouncements. As described by CBS News, the baptism of a transsexual or any of the other rights of participation described in the statement can only be accomplished “if there is no ‘risk of generating a public scandal or disorientation among the faithful.’ But the document did not clarify what a public scandal would entail.”
Further, the document also fails to clarify whether a transgender person should be baptized under a name consistent with their birth sex, or with a name consistent with their chosen sexual identity. If the transgender is baptized under a name consistent with their chosen sexual identity, wouldn’t the Priest performing the baptism be tacitly endorsing transgenderism?
Similarly, it is unclear how a same sex couple could be expected to provide a “well-founded hope” that their child would be “educated in the Catholic religion.” Besides sending the child for religious education, would that same sex couple be expected to provide a “proper” Christian example, refrain from “sinful activity” and live together in chastity? How could this unrealistic expectation not cause “disorientation among the faithful” by its very ambiguity?
The position announced in the Catechism was clear enough – homosexuals acts are not consistent with a Christian lifestyle, and Catholic homosexuals are expected to refrain from homosexual acts. While obviously not a very popular position in the modern world, the Catholic Church is not alone in its view regarding same sex relations. But rather than defend the clarity of this stance, the Progressive Pope has made it a practice to obfuscate and dilute his own support for this fundamental Catholic teaching.
Naturally, some applauded this less than clear expression of rights for Catholic homosexuals and transgenders. “‘It is a major step for trans inclusion … it is big and good news,’ said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church… Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who has advocated for years for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the church, welcomed the new document…’the Vatican’s statement is a clear recognition not only of their personhood, but of their place in their own church,’ he said. ‘I hope that it helps the Catholic church treat them less as problems and more as people.'”
But DeBernardo and Martin may actually be in the minority of Catholics who welcome the Pope’s views on homosexuality, especially in the United States.
“(A) study (conducted by The Catholic Project, a research group at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC) that claims to be the largest national survey of Catholic priests conducted in more than 50 years has found, among other things, that priests describing themselves as ‘progressive’ are practically going ‘extinct’ among U.S. seminary graduates, with the vast majority of young ordinands describing themselves as conservative and orthodox… the researchers assert that self-described ‘liberal’ or ‘progressive’ priests have all but disappeared from the youngest cohorts of priests and that priests describing themselves as ‘conservative/orthodox’ reached more than 80% among those ordained after 2020.”
“’Simply put, the portion of new priests who see themselves as politically ‘liberal’ or theologically ‘progressive’ has been steadily declining since the Second Vatican Council and has now all but vanished,’ the report asserts. ‘More than half of the priests who were ordained since 2010 see themselves on the conservative side of the scale. No surveyed priests who were ordained after 2020 described themselves as ‘very progressive.’ The researchers said a full 85% of the youngest cohort describes itself as ‘conservative/orthodox’ or ‘very conservative/orthodox’ theologically, with only 14% describing themselves as ‘middle-of-the-road.’ The report also says that nearly 70% of priests ordained in the mid- to late 1960s describe themselves as somewhat or very ‘progressive.’ By 2020, fewer than 5% of priests describe themselves that way.”
In other words, it is Priests who are closer in age to the Pope who are the “Progressives,” while the majority of those Priests under the age of 50 are the ones who might find some disturbing ambiguity in the Holy Father’s views on homosexuality and transgenderism. Presumably, these younger Priests are the ones who will be expected to baptize transgenders and the children of same sex couples.
One such Priest is Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler Texas, who stated in May of 2023 that “I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith.” (“The Deposit of Faith is the body of saving truth entrusted by Christ to the Apostles and handed on by them to be preserved and proclaimed.”)
And what was Bishop Strickland’s reward for expressing his views? In November of 2023, “Pope Francis…removed the bishop of Tyler, Joseph Strickland, who had been openly critical of the pope’s efforts to reform the Catholic Church to be more inclusive of women in governance and LGBTQ+ people.” But rather than close the subject, “Strickland’s removal has sparked further backlash among the Pope’s conservative critics: Michael J. Matt, editor of the traditionalist Catholic newspaper The Remnant, declared the move was ‘total war’ and said Francis was ‘actively trying to bury fidelity to the Church of Jesus Christ.’ Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who has previously called on the pope to resign, wrote that Strickland’s removal was ‘a cowardly form of authoritarianism.’”
For his part, when interviewed after his removal, Strickland stated “I really can’t look to any reason except I’ve threatened some of the powers that be with the truth of the Gospel…When asked what was behind Pope Francis’ decision, Strickland said: ‘The only answer I have to that is because forces in the Church right now don’t want the truth of the Gospel.’ He added: ‘They want it changed. They want it ignored.’ Strickland did not accuse Pope Francis of being part of this push to undermine Church teaching, but he did say that ‘many forces are working at him and influencing him to make these kinds of decisions.’ For those ‘forces,’ the bishop said, ‘I’m a problem,’ and so they pushed for the ‘removal of a bishop for standing with the Gospel.’”
As we discussed earlier, Strickland “has also repeatedly criticized the pope for a ‘dangerous’ lack of clarity in his statements, especially related to sexuality.”
Is the Pope’s “lack of clarity” on issues related to sexuality intentional? Or is it due to the intercession of the “powers” referenced by Bishop Stickland, “powers” that are influencing the Holy Father and opposed to the truth of the Gospels? For that matter, who exactly are these “powers?”
These are fundamental questions for most followers of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in the United States. As the American Priesthood becomes more conservative and orthodox, more Priests are likely to follow the example of Bishop Strickland and refuse to endorse practices that are inconsistent with the Deposit of Faith.
As Abraham Lincoln famously said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” Can a Church stand divided any more than a house?
Judge John Wilson (ret.) served on the bench in NYC
