Pastoral Care According to the Truth
by Fr. Roger J. Landry - December 1, 2006
Last month at their November meetings, the U.S. bishops approved three teaching documents concerning, respectively, the pastoral care of those with a homosexual orientation, the criteria for worthy reception of Holy Communion and why the use of artificial contraception within marriage is against God's plan and the couple's good. That all three have been considered controversial is a clear indication of why and how much they are needed, for they were controversial not because the bishops articulated new teachings, but because they re-articulated settled teachings that some have prefered to ignore or reject. Out of compassion, the bishops, in clear and accessible language, have raised all three topics again. We will dedicate successive editorials to each of them.
In their Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care, the bishops begin by stating clearly the purpose of the document: "The Mission of the Church is to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people and to minister to all people in his name. In our time and culture, special challenges are faced by those Church members who carry out this mission among persons who experience same-sex attraction. There are many forces in our society that promote a view of sexuality in general, and homosexuality in particular, not in accord with God's purpose and plan for human sexuality. To offer guidance in the face of pervasive confusion, the Catholic bishops of the United States find it timely to provide basic guidelines for pastoral ministry to persons with a homosexual inclination and tendency."
Later they add: "All ministry to persons with a homosexual inclination must be guided by Church teaching on sexuality. This basis of this ministry, if it is to be effective, has to be a true understanding of the human person and of the place of sexuality in human life. Departure from the Church's teaching, or silence about it, in an effort to provide pastoral care is neither caring nor pastoral. Love and truth go together."
The truth about which people are silent most or depart from Church teaching is the sinfulness of homosexual sexual activity. With recourse to the natural law and to God's revelation in Sacred Scripture, the bishops clearly state that that homosexual acts are "not in keeping with our being created in God's image and so degrade and undermine our authentic dignity was human beings.… They are incompatible with the Christian life."
Cardinal Sean O'Malley a year ago described how true love for those with same-sex attractions and this truth about the immorality of homosexual sexual activity must go together. "If we tell people that sex outside of marriage is not a sin," he wrote in a much-hailed statement, "we are deceiving people. If they believe this untruth, a life of virtue becomes all but impossible." Then he responded to one of the most common objections to this union of love and truth: "Sometimes we are told: 'If you do not accept my behavior, you do not love me.' In reality we must communicate the exact opposite: 'Because we love you, we cannot accept your behavior.'" The bishops as a body have tried to communicate exactly this message in their document.
They also clearly show how truth and love go together in other areas of the Church's pastoral ministry toward homosexuals. Since "all people are created in the image and likeness of God and thus possess an innate human dignity that must be acknowledged and respected, …persons with a homosexual inclination must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity." The bishops condemn as "deplorable" any malice toward them in speech or action. "Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs."
They also distinguish between engaging in same-sex acts and having same-sex attractions. "While the former is always objectively sinful, the latter is not. To the extent that a homosexual tendency or inclination is not subject to one's free will, one is not morally culpable for that tendency. Although one would be morally culpable if one were voluntarily to entertain homosexual temptations or to choose to act on them, simply having the tendency is not a sin." Since the homosexual inclination predisposes one toward what is truly not good for the human person, the bishops reiterate it is "objectively disordered," but stress that this predicate refers to the inclination and not to the person. They add that heterosexuals can have disordered sexual inclinations, too — whenever sexual pleasure is not subordinated to the greater goods of love and marriage — and that people have other disordered inclinations, such as those that lead to envy, malice or greed. "Simply possessing such inclinations does not constitute a sin, at least to the extent that they are beyond one's control. Acting on such inclinations, however, is always wrong."
Like all people, those with same sex attractions, the bishops say, are called to the chaste living, which "overcomes disordered human desires such as lust and results in the expression of one's sexual desires in harmony with God's will." This is made possible by repeated acts of self-mastery as well as the power of God through the sacraments and prayer and through friendship with those who will love and help them according to the truth. This path, which involves the Cross, is a path toward the greatness of holiness, toward which all of us, whatever our attractions, are called. The purpose of human life is to become a saint and "the ministry of the Church to persons with a homosexual inclination must always have the overriding aim of fostering the greatest possible friendship with God.… Persons with a homosexual inclination ought to receive every aid and encouragement to embrace this call personally and fully."
The bishops then go on to give this "aid and encouragement" in several helpful pastoral applications. One they stress is the importance of proper catechesis. "The Church's teaching in its fullness ought to be presented by the clergy especially from the pulpit and in other appropriate venues." This catechesis should give witness to the "whole moral truth" and be "welcoming yet challenging, charitable but firm in the truth."
The bishops — themselves clergy — have clearly tried to set the example of that type of catechesis in this helpful document.
Those interested in reading the Bishop's document may find it at here.
Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.
