Okogie: Homosexuals: Nothing Has Changed in the Church

The meeting of Pope Francis with journalists aboard the return flight to Rome from the World Youth Day celebrations where he commented particularly about the divorced and remarried, women and homosexuals must be read and understood through the lenses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the concern of the church for those on the fringes, and the mercy, tenderness and forgiveness of a pastor who walks among his people. The media have given their classic coverage to this interview; sensationalism! Somehow they have convinced or rather confused many into thinking Pope Francis has changed the Church’s position on homosexuals. But far from it.

Pope Francis

   To understand the Pope’s reply, one must grasp adequately the context in which the question was asked. As is often the case, contexts shape and influence greatly our responses. Let us tarry this point awhile; a Nigerian child bred in the States is bound to speak English with a slurring American accent, while one brought up in the heart of Warri would almost certainly acquire a musical pidgin English to his credit. Contexts largely define us, if I am to go to work, the context of my work would naturally define the way I would dress, much in the same way the context of a party would alter my dress code. Similarly, every question is posed from within a context and every reply is expected, primarily, to address this context before reaching out, if the speaker so intends, to other, secondary considerations. A response or action taken out of context could easily carry the penalty of a fish out of water! The case of the Holy Father’s reply is not an exception.
The context
   On June 15, 2013 Pope Francis named Mons. Battista Ricca to one of the key posts in the overall effort to reform the Curia; the Popes representative at the Vatican bank, with the critical but sensitive task of overseeing every aspect of the management and reform of the bank. This appointment led to the searchlight being turned on the life of this prelate; as a result, unsavory details of a gay past came to limelight, leading to the appointment being viewed in some quarters as the result of “gay lobby mischief”. While others raised eyebrows on the sincerity of the new pope’s proposed reformation of the curia.
The question
   Thus given the above as backdrop, the question posed by the journalist read; “I would like to ask permission to pose a rather delicate question. Another image that went around the world is that of Monsignor Ricca and the news about his personal life. I would like to know, your Holiness, what will be done about the question. How should one deal with this question and how does your Holiness wish to deal with the whole question of the gay lobby?”
   Now let us examine the Pope’s responses with due emphasis on the highlighted portions which we consider to be the component parts of the entire construct:
• On the image and personal life of the prelate under scrutiny, the brief excursus above provides sufficient explanation for our discourse.
• On how one should deal with the above question, the pope makes a clear distinction between crime and sin. He makes it clear that while crimes such as child abuse are punishable by law, sin, is a different matter altogether, in his words, “if a person, or secular priest or a nun, has committed a sin and then that person experienced conversion, the Lord forgives and when the Lord forgives, the Lord forgets and this is very important in our lives. When we go to confession and we truly say, ”I have sinned in this matter,” the Lord forgets…” it is against this backdrop that he gently berates those, especially the Press, who have a habit of searching out the “sins of youth” to discredit or condemn an individual. A classic biblical allusion would be the case of the woman caught in adultery, while she had sinned against her own body and God, the creator of that body, the crowd tried to exact justice on an action that was not committed against them, it was the exclusive reserve of God, and God chose to forgive this repentant sinner…’I do not condemn you, go and sin no more.”
• Lastly, in response to the threat or presence of “gay lobby” within the Vatican, the Pope makes a statement which has been deemed controversial, he said, “if a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge that person?” a thorough analysis of this statement within the context of the question asked and from the standpoint of the individual around whom the question was framed leaves no contradiction at all with orthodox Church teaching on homosexuality and homosexuals. Without doubt the use of the term ‘a gay person’, could span in understanding, from one who has gay tendencies, to one who practices such tendencies, to one who openly lobbies or campaigns for such practices to become the norm. A cross examination of the Pope’s full reply shows he roundly condemns all ‘forms of lobby’ particularly because it entails placing the good of a few over the good of others, gay lobby inclusive! Hereby effectively disqualifying the third group as his terms of reference. Next reading into his lines ‘if they look for God and have good will’ directly points out his reference group; to search for God is to seek conversion and holiness and to bear goodwill towards humanity is to be open to life, put together, these stand clean contrary to homosexual acts. Hence the Holy Father could not have been referring to those who remain intent on practicing homosexuality, thus by elimination and adherence to the contextual rule which inadvertently or not, guides our reactions or responses to issues, we can safely conclude from the interaction between the Pope and the journalist, that the Pope’s use of this term captures the first meaning; the gay person as one who struggles with gay tendencies as he searches for God, he avers, ”the problem is not that one has this tendency.”
   In précis, The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear that “under no circumstances can (homosexual acts) be approved.” (CCC 2357) However, of persons who experience exclusively or predominantly same-sex attraction it says, “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.” (CCC 2358) This points out that acceptance of a person does not imply acceptance of every action that person might choose. The Holy Father extended this same indiscriminate respect, compassion and sensitivity to one of his own priests and from here echoes the message of a prodigal Father’s love for returning prodigal sons (and daughters). This must never be taken out of context.
   Some adventurous media personnel and no doubt some mischievous elements of the press have for reasons best known to them attempted to blow this simple restatement of Catholic truth way off tangent, they purposefully turn their eyes away from the official teachings of the church which the pope was at pains to quote when he cited 2358 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states:
   The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not eligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfil God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unity to the sacrifice of the Lord’s cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.
   A cross-section of the public even assumes that the entire episode ushers in a new trend in the Church’s teaching and stance on homosexuality and places Pope Francis in contradistinction to his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI. Nothing can be further from the truth. Suffice to note that the teachings embedded in the Catechism of the Catholic Church concerning this matter were products of an earlier Vatican document (Homosexualitatis Problema) on “The Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” published in 1986 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now the Emeritus Pontiff.  Hence the spirit in which Pope Francis spoke and the words used to express that spirit remain in tandem with the universal and eternal truths professed and taught by the Holy Roman Catholic Church. It surprises me not that a simple but theologically charged reply from the Bishop of Rome is capable of stirring up such furore, it reminds me of the Master who came to bring a fire on the earth, and wished it to continue burning. Truly nothing has changed!

• Cardinal Okogie is Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos.