Resources

Cardinal Mahony's Lenten Message. The archbishop asks forgiveness of gays and lesbians for past rejection by the Church.

A Place at the Table. This reprint from Edge Magazine, a local gay and lesbian publication, describes Cardinal Mahony's outreach to gay and lesbian Catholics in the archdiocese.

Messages from St. Victor's. A series of advertisements placed in local gay and lesbian media dealing with various issues facing the community.

Notes from a Community — Catholic and Gay. This cover story in America, the national Jesuit weekly, was recognized by many across the nation as describing the welcoming environment at St. Victor's.

Always Our Children. This is an official document from the U.S. Bishops encouraging acceptance of gays and lesbians. It is written especially for parents, so if your parents have expressed difficulty in accepting you because of Church teaching, you may want to share this document with them.

Two-part series from the Tidings. Fr. Peter Liuzzi, O.Carm. wrote this two-part piece for the archdiocesan newspaper. Part One: Acceptance in the Church. Part Two: Debunking myths of 'curing" gay and lesbian people.

On the Dedication of the AIDS Memorial Chapel at St. Victor's. These thoughts on the dedication of our Lady Chapel by Bishop Stephen Blaire, then auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles and current bishop of Stockton, were reprinted in the Los Angeles Times. PDF format; Adobe Acrobat Reader required.

A Place at the Table

Cardinal Mahony Says Gay and Lesbian Catholics Are Irreplaceable Members of the Church. Archbishop of Los Angeles calls for understanding, end to double standards

from Edge Magazine

by Eric Stoltz

"Say to those whose hearts are frightened: be strong, fear not!"

With these words of the prophet Isaiah, Cardinal Roger Mahony, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles, began his homily at a Sept. 6 Mass he celebrated for the 1997 conference of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries.

As he spoke, a small group of ultra-conservative protesters milled about outside the Long Beach Sheraton, angry at the cardinal's outreach to the lesbian and gay community, a protest that would eventually grow and repeat itself outside the Archdiocesan offices on Wilshire Boulevard the next week.

Addressing a group of several hundred who minister to gay and lesbian Catholics in 30 U.S. dioceses [regional areas of the Catholic Church], Mahony noted that those present had "drunk deeply from the well-springs of life." He said, "You are familiar with deep joy and deep sorrow. You remain faithful to a Church which has been at times both a cause for joy and a cause for sadness. You pay dearly for your fidelity through the derision of friends who are especially alienated from the Church. You have witnessed the ravages of a disease that threatens countless lives on this earth. You live always in the shadow of death and dying, in a crucible of grief and sorrow that seems endless. I have met people who have lost all of their dearest friends."

Quoting the late gay author Paul Monette, who called AIDS "The Great Calamity," the cardinal went on to note that the response of the gay and lesbian community to the epidemic "will live forever, a genuine mark of faith." He quoted more fully from Isaiah: "Be strong, fear not. Here is your God. He comes with vindication, with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf will be cleared; then will the lamb leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing." Mahony connected this passage to Mark's account of the cure of the deaf-mute, a reference to baptism, which gives gay and lesbian Catholics a right to membership in their own Church.

Referring to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says that homosexuality is not a choice and is in fact a trial for most gay and lesbians, the cardinal observed, "How often do people accuse gay people of choosing a perverse way of life, or being led into such a life by example or worse means? These words of the catechism help to clarify so many misconceptions that serve to create fears and prejudice on the part of many of our Catholic people...We do not know, with certainty," the cardinal observed, "why anyone is homosexual. Is homosexuality a puzzle or a mystery? If a puzzle, there is a best solution that awaits only a mind keen enough to find the missing piece. But if homosexuality is a mystery, there are no easy answers to find; rather, one seeks wisdom about how we are to live and believe. Surely, homosexuality is a complex mystery."

Mahony admitted the difficulty of current Church teaching in regard to sexual activity. "But we must be careful not to be more demanding of gay and lesbian Catholics than we are of the rest of JesusÕ disciples in the Church," he warned.

The cardinal, who in his most recent pastoral letter to all Catholics of the Archdiocese insisted that parish Sunday celebrations "should be the one experience in our lives when we will not be sorted out by education level, skin color, intelligence, politics, sexual orientation, wealth or lack of it, or any other human condition...Homogeneity and comfort are not Gospel values," concluded his remarks by saying that gay and lesbian Catholics have a role to play in the work of God, even though, as he noted earlier, many feel estranged or alienated from the Church. "Homosexuality remains a major pastoral challenge for the Church. While it could be an issue that tears the Church asunder...we can turn it into something that unifies and heals the Church. I urge you all to do all you can to call back into our Catholic faith community all those who no longer share in our community. Seek them out, make this a major pastoral goal, not just for their healing or comfort, but because they are baptized Catholics. We need them to build up the Body of Christ, the Church, and to join all of JesusÕ disciples in proclaiming the reign of God."

Earlier in the conference, the Rev. Peter J. Liuzzi, a Carmelite priest who is the director of the Ministry to Lesbian and Gay Catholics of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a regular columnist in Edge Magazine, said in his keynote address that baptism was the key to the Church's embrace of gay and lesbian Catholics.

"Baptism is undisputed common ground," Liuzzi proclaimed. "Remember that moment of salvation because baptized is who we are at any given moment and in any given place. ÔWhat name do you give this child?Õ... You were called by name. Echoed in the Church and recorded in the baptismal register to this day. Members of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people set apart. Lay claim to it."

Liuzzi went on to recall the sacramental life that gays and lesbians are heir to, a youthful reverie that is often broken by the first signs of self-awareness as a gay man or a lesbian and the process of coming out. "We were baptized and confirmed and welcomed at the table of word and sacrament, We were initiated into the life and ministry of the Church and had become his disciples by no less than the Holy Spirit. And it was springtime. We thought it would always be spring. But strange feelings and attractions awakened in some of us. Spring surrendered to autumn. No one talked about my situation. They murmured. Nor did I speak. Silence kills and chills. Silence separates me from myself." Liuzzi recalled that, at one time, the only time this silence was broken was in the confessional, where absolution could be refused if the penitent did not promise to avoid the sin in the future. "Doctrinally correct words can be pastorally devastating," he declared. "And the faithful of the greater orientation ignore the same teaching that binds us all, but with few repercussions. A double standard is created, which is always a severing. Eventually the gay Catholic feels shamed. She is less than. He is flawed in his very being. She is unworthy of love and touch, he is unwelcome at the table... And one day there are no reasons to stay. Most have left for other churches, and the leaving is heart-wrenching because few ever get over being Catholic.

"Given the clear call to embrace the stranger and the alien, such disdain for the baptized is a great scandal of the Church and is unconscionable," Liuzzi maintained, continuing with an unusual observation: "The hierarchy takes the rap. I am not so sure that is fair. I lay most of the responsibility on the baptized.

"We choose to work within the structures of our Church, in collaboration with our bishops and within the parameters of scripture and tradition," Liuzzi pointed out, referring to the sources of Catholic doctrine, which differ from Protestant beliefs in that Catholic doctrine is not strictly Bible-based.

Calling to mind the difficulty of reconciling certain Catholic teachings with the life experience of gay and lesbian Catholics, Liuzzi observed, "In the face of opposition [from the far right], we avoid confrontation, but point to clear misuse of the magisterium [the official teaching of the Church], such as using Church teaching as a threat, or interpreting it in a fundamentalist manner, or focusing on phrases like 'intrinsic disorder' or subscribing to theories or therapeutics ["change ministries"] which are highly questionable or somehow asking gay Catholics what we dare not ask of straight Catholics. Such abuses, often called 'orthodox,' are a disservice to the teaching office of the Church."

Liuzzi acknowledged that the Catholic Church is not a democracy, and that must be dealt with in the issue of homosexual activity. "What is to become of the lived experience of gay Catholics that seems to contradict Church teaching? It is a fact of Catholic life that we do not vote in doctrine. Nor do we vote it out. The will of God and truth are found by discernment [the practice of prayerful reflection on oneÕs state and oneÕs own approach to how one lives the Gospel]. Discernment is never just the province of bishops. Discernment is the work of the baptized in union with the bishops. Making protests out of life experience does not seem productive. Public dissent is not recognized in the Church. These experiences need to be lived out in the Church, among ordinary Christian faithful. The community of believers will discern what is faithful to scripture and tradition and the bishops will make the final decision. We have to hold on to that tradition."

In closing, Liuzzi again recalled the primary importance of baptism in words that echoed those used by Mahony. "Our preoccupation is with those who no longer walk with us. Like a shepherd seeking out a lost sheep, we call them back to their rightful place in the Church... We need their gifts and ministries to build up the Body of Christ and announce GodÕs reign. They have work to do!"

In addition to the remarks by Mahony and Liuzzi, three of the six auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles also participated with addresses to the conference: Bishop Stephen Blaire, whose region encompasses the most heavily gay areas of the Archdiocese; Bishop Gabino Zavala, who is responsible for the San Gabriel Valley; and Bishop Joseph Sartoris, whose pastoral region extends to the Santa Barbara area.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has established ministries in several area parishes to welcome gay and lesbian Catholics into the life of the Church. These include St. Monica (Santa Monica), St. Jane Francis de Chantal (North Hollywood), St. Matthew (Long Beach), Our Lady of the Assumption (Claremont), St. Dominic (East Los Angeles) and St. Camillus (East Los Angeles: Spanish language). Additional programs and particularly welcoming environments can be found at St. Victor (West Hollywood), Blessed Sacrament (Hollywood), Mother of Good Counsel (Los Feliz), St. Paul the Apostle (Westwood) and St. Ambrose (West Hollywood). All 283 parishes of the Archdiocese throughout Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties are encouraged by the Archbishop to welcome gay and lesbian Catholics into their communities.

Any questions or concerns can be directed to the Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Catholics of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 213 637 7337 (e-mail: frpjliuzzi@la-archdiocese.org).

visit the AIDS Memorial Chapel at St. Victor's