Seeking a quantum leap on
homosexuality
By PAMELA SCHAEFFER
NCR Staff
Recent efforts by Vatican officials to silence a priest and nun
noted for their work with homosexuals may have inhibited discussion of gay and
lesbian concerns at the annual meeting of the Catholic Theological Society, but
they certainly didnt stop it.
In one of the two sessions devoted to the topic, Jesuit Fr. Jon
Fuller, a physician who teaches at the Boston University School of Medicine,
said stress and tension are increasing for many Catholics as a result of a
cognitive dissonance between personal beliefs and the churchs
teaching on homosexuality. For such people, which includes many of the
churchs own ministers, the impact of the churchs teaching is
profoundly negative, he said.
Fuller, widely known for his work with AIDS patients, has spoken
often about that subject but has been more cautious about publicly challenging
the churchs teaching on homosexuality.
Homosexuals, warned by church teaching that their orientation is
objectively disordered, and that exploration of their sexuality
leads to serious sin, are thus forced to repress a core aspect of their
personhood even when they desire to voluntarily dedicate themselves to God and
Gods kingdom, Fuller said.
Although the church has tried to separate the disordered
inclination from the person, the fact remains that, from the churchs
perspective, they cant be healed but can only be prevented
from doing harm. Gay youth may never morally explore their
sexuality, he said.
While Salvatorian Fr. Robert Nugent, the silenced priest,
refrained from comment in Fullers session and others he attended, some
theologians spoke strongly against repression and dissent. Sr. Jeannine
Gramick, the nun who, like Nugent, was ordered by the Vatican last year to stop
working with homosexuals and last month was ordered to cease speaking publicly
about both homosexuality and the Vatican order, is not a member of the
theological society and did not attend the meeting.
During discussion following his talk, attended by about 40
theologians, Fuller described the destruction brought on by the
cognitive dissonance -- the gap between the churchs teaching and the
homosexuals own experience -- as just unconscionable.
A second session on homosexuality drew a larger crowd. It was
titled, Theological Implications of the Churchs Teaching, and
included presentations by Jesuit Fr. Roger Haight of Weston Jesuit School of
Theology, Susan A. Ross of Loyola University of Chicago and Mary Ellen Sheehan
of University of St. Michaels College, Toronto.
Paul Giurlanda, professor at St. Marys College of
California, said the sessions were highly significant, representing an
explosion of awareness within the society. He noted that its first
session on homosexuality was held just two years ago. Last year, a single
session drew only about a dozen people, he said.
Augustinian Fr. Daniel E. Doyle of Villanova University attributed
the growth of interest to an evolution in thinking. Catholic theology had
reached an impasse in its approach to homosexuality, he said -- a
point where the natural law tradition can no longer carry us, given
the insights gleaned from the positive experiences of same-sex
relationships.
We need a quantum leap to build a whole new system, he
said.
National Catholic Reporter, June 30,
2000
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