Key Indian cardinal speaks about Catholics with same-sex attractions
October 20, 2015
One of the 10 prelates who will draft the Synod of Bishops’ final report has granted an interview to New Ways Ministry, an organization criticized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for its infidelity to Catholic teaching on homosexuality.
Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, emphasized that the Church must be welcoming to all people and said the synod would have been enriched if the synod fathers had listened to same-sex couples.
Cardinal Gracias was asked, “In my ministry with LGBT people, I meet a lot of LGBT people who are thinking of leaving the Church or finding it difficult to stay in the Church. What would you say to them?” He replied:
I would say the Church embraces you, wants you, and the Church needs you. You are not someone who is a burden to the Church. The Church needs you. You are part of us. We’d like to help you, we’d like to see you more clearly. We are struggling to see how to help you more with pastoral care
I’d also say, “Don’t get discouraged.” At the last synod there was just one official intervention on this topic; in group discussions it would come out much more. This time there were a few more. So, I would say to [LGBT people], “Hold on. It is certainly not the end. We are still in the process, and we will find a way.”
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Further information:
- Cardinal Gracias to LGBT People: ‘Church Embraces You, Wants You, Needs You’ (New Ways Ministry)
- USCCB President Clarifies Status Of New Ways Ministry (USCCB, 2010)
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Posted by: stpetric -
Oct. 20, 2015 6:44 PM ET USA
"We are still in the process, and we will find a way”? Find a way for what?
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Oct. 20, 2015 6:13 AM ET USA
What is so difficult to understand about Christ's message: Go, and sin no more? He never wrung His hands over the perennial dilemma of how to reconcile Catholic discipline with the worldly philosophy of "if it feels good, do it." Either a sexual sin is a sexual sin, or else St. Paul was a raving lunatic for saying so. Christ certainly welcomed all sinners who were willing to follow Him. He knew full well what following Him entailed, and yet He had the courage to continue to proclaim it.
