Did The Vatican Take Back The Support It Gave To The LGBT Community?

Not a day has gone by and we already hear strong objections from the conservatives!

​We recently heard from Vatican sources that there appears to be a "softening" of the Catholic Church's stance towards homosexuality. A Vatican statement was reportedly released, mentioning the "gifts" that gays and lesbians can provide to the Catholic community. It was praised by the liberals, happy of the movement of the Church in a more accepting direction.

We are now, however, hearing a different tune. As it turns out, this statement was not welcomed by the conservative Catholics, who expressed their dissatisfaction.

image courtesy of bbc.com

CNN reports:

But many conservatives complained that the statement watered down church teaching and did not accurately reflect their discussions here, where nearly 200 Catholic leaders are meeting to debate pastoral approaches to modern family life.

One South African cardinal called Monday's statement, which also included positive language about unmarried couples who cohabitate, "irredeemable."

"The message has gone out that this is what the synod is saying, this is what the Catholic Church is saying," said Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, referring to the special meeting of Catholic clergy gathered here through Saturday.

"It's not what we're saying at all."

In response to such reactions, the Vatican backtracked a bit Tuesday. In a statement, it said the report on gays and lesbians was a "working document," not the final word from Rome.

The Vatican also said that it wanted to welcome gays and lesbians in the church, but not create "the impression of a positive evaluation" of same-sex relationships, or, for that matter, of unmarried couples who live together.

image courtesy of bbc.com

Some people, however, do not agree that the Vatican is taking back the support it has given the LGBT community.

"I actually don't think this is as much of a backtrack as we usually see!" said Marianne Duddy-Burke, head of the gay rights group Dignity USA.

"I think that response to this report was swift and intense, and I'm sure many bishops want to be sure people aren't reading more into it than is there," she continued. "However, it is undeniable that there has never been any Vatican document that made positive, respectful statements about same-sex relationships, so that is an undeniable breakthrough."

I'm still excited to see where this development is headed. We can not expect things to drastically change overnight, but significant steps like these will help propel our cause to the right direction.


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