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A legacy of homophobia
More than any other pope in the modern age, he was a man of his time and place: the years of the Cold War and Eastern Europe. In such an environment, it's easy to develop hard and fast beliefs, especially when you have the institutional force of two millennia backing you up.
A legacy of homophobia
by John Gallagher
April 01, 2005
For anyone under 30, it's hard to imagine the Catholic Church as anything other than an ideological monolith -- intentionally insulated, closed to outsiders and incredibly hostile to gays and lesbians. After all, these are the folks who labeled us "morally disordered" and even "evil." And for that, we have John Paul II to thank.
More than any other pope in the modern age, he was a man of his time and place: the years of the Cold War and Eastern Europe. In such an environment, it's easy to develop hard and fast beliefs, especially when you have the institutional force of two millennia backing you up. It's not a coincidence that John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher all took their place on the world stage at the same time. The world was easy to portray in black-and-white terms (as it is again today) -- them against us, evil vs. good. (Guess which side you're supposed to be on.) And urging them on was the firm conviction that the liberal excesses of the '60s and '70s -- including gay liberation -- needed to be corrected or, more accurately, wrung out of the system as vigorously as possible.
But unlike Reagan and Thatcher, John Paul II had absolute authority. Even Ron and Maggie couldn't claim to speak for God (although in Thatcher's case you have to believe she was tempted to lobby for the Supreme Being role for herself). And the result of that absolute authority is a church that slammed shut the window of change that was opened during the Second Vatican Council. For a brief moment, it was possible to look at the church as a progressive force for good in the world. Thanks to John Paul II, that moment is gone.
And thanks to John Paul II, homosexuality has risen to the top of the list of modern evils. This elevation was due to his own experiences. As a young man, he lived through the Nazi occupation of Poland. As a bishop and then cardinal, he endured the repression of a communist regime. Once communism fell, something else had to take its place as the ideology of evil. With the rise of gay rights, we were the easy pick to fill the void.
It's not that John Paul II didn't take aim at other targets. There's always that hardy perennial -- abortion. But you have to admit that nothing seems to have spurred the Church and John Paul II on as much as homosexuality. Bishops who were considered weak on the topic, such as Bishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, were essentially laid off. Dignity, the gay Catholic group, was banned from holding services in local churches.
The pinnacle (or nadir) of the John Paul II papacy has to be the notorious Halloween letter, issued in 1986, which declared gays and lesbians "disordered," "self-indulgent" individuals who "threaten the lives and well-being of a large number of people." So much for pastoral outreach. Even the pope's last major statement, his recent book, tore into homosexuality as an ideology of evil.
Don't expect the new pope to make any changes. Imagine a court packed with conservatives getting ready to select the next president. (OK, so you don't have to imagine it.) That is the operating definition of the College of Cardinals, which will choose the new pope. Since practically all were appointed by John Paul II, who enforced a pretty stringent litmus test for conservative ideology, it's hard to imagine them picking somebody from left field, so to speak.
One name being thrown around is Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the author of the Halloween letter. As pope, he would serve for what would be a limited time (he is 77, after all, so the odds are against a very long papacy) while the church sorts out its next move. If you don't think things could be worse, think of a Ratzinger papacy. He's the James Dobson of the Vatican, watching to make sure that no one strays an inch from the philosophical hard line. With him as pope, every day would be Halloween.
John Gallagher is co-author of "Perfect Enemies: The Battle Between the Religious Right and the Gay Rights Movement."
by John Gallagher
April 01, 2005
For anyone under 30, it's hard to imagine the Catholic Church as anything other than an ideological monolith -- intentionally insulated, closed to outsiders and incredibly hostile to gays and lesbians. After all, these are the folks who labeled us "morally disordered" and even "evil." And for that, we have John Paul II to thank.
More than any other pope in the modern age, he was a man of his time and place: the years of the Cold War and Eastern Europe. In such an environment, it's easy to develop hard and fast beliefs, especially when you have the institutional force of two millennia backing you up. It's not a coincidence that John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher all took their place on the world stage at the same time. The world was easy to portray in black-and-white terms (as it is again today) -- them against us, evil vs. good. (Guess which side you're supposed to be on.) And urging them on was the firm conviction that the liberal excesses of the '60s and '70s -- including gay liberation -- needed to be corrected or, more accurately, wrung out of the system as vigorously as possible.
But unlike Reagan and Thatcher, John Paul II had absolute authority. Even Ron and Maggie couldn't claim to speak for God (although in Thatcher's case you have to believe she was tempted to lobby for the Supreme Being role for herself). And the result of that absolute authority is a church that slammed shut the window of change that was opened during the Second Vatican Council. For a brief moment, it was possible to look at the church as a progressive force for good in the world. Thanks to John Paul II, that moment is gone.
And thanks to John Paul II, homosexuality has risen to the top of the list of modern evils. This elevation was due to his own experiences. As a young man, he lived through the Nazi occupation of Poland. As a bishop and then cardinal, he endured the repression of a communist regime. Once communism fell, something else had to take its place as the ideology of evil. With the rise of gay rights, we were the easy pick to fill the void.
It's not that John Paul II didn't take aim at other targets. There's always that hardy perennial -- abortion. But you have to admit that nothing seems to have spurred the Church and John Paul II on as much as homosexuality. Bishops who were considered weak on the topic, such as Bishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, were essentially laid off. Dignity, the gay Catholic group, was banned from holding services in local churches.
The pinnacle (or nadir) of the John Paul II papacy has to be the notorious Halloween letter, issued in 1986, which declared gays and lesbians "disordered," "self-indulgent" individuals who "threaten the lives and well-being of a large number of people." So much for pastoral outreach. Even the pope's last major statement, his recent book, tore into homosexuality as an ideology of evil.
Don't expect the new pope to make any changes. Imagine a court packed with conservatives getting ready to select the next president. (OK, so you don't have to imagine it.) That is the operating definition of the College of Cardinals, which will choose the new pope. Since practically all were appointed by John Paul II, who enforced a pretty stringent litmus test for conservative ideology, it's hard to imagine them picking somebody from left field, so to speak.
One name being thrown around is Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the author of the Halloween letter. As pope, he would serve for what would be a limited time (he is 77, after all, so the odds are against a very long papacy) while the church sorts out its next move. If you don't think things could be worse, think of a Ratzinger papacy. He's the James Dobson of the Vatican, watching to make sure that no one strays an inch from the philosophical hard line. With him as pope, every day would be Halloween.
John Gallagher is co-author of "Perfect Enemies: The Battle Between the Religious Right and the Gay Rights Movement."
For more information:
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Women's Ordination Conference Mourns Pope's Death and Looks to Future
4/2/2005 6:16:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Aisha Taylor of Women's Ordination Conference, 703-352-1006 or 703-307-5631 (cell), Web: http://www.womensordination.org
WASHINGTON, April 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) mourns the passing of Pope John Paul II. He was an example of compassionate discipleship to Catholics and people of faith around the world. WOC also grieves for the actions the Pope left undone for women's equality in the church.
"We honor Pope John Paul II for his prophetic preaching about women's dignity, yet we acknowledge that during his papacy, the church took significant steps backward in the struggle for women's full equality," stated Joy Barnes, WOC's Executive Director. "He kept women from the highest leadership positions in the church -- he barred them from ordination."
"In the last year of his life, he called for the 'active collaboration between the sexes' but did not see the irony of refusing the same rights in his own church," continued Barnes. "WOC prayerfully advocates for a new pope who supports women's ordination. He should usher in a renewed priesthood that fully embraces the gifts and talents of women and includes the laity's participation in the governance of the church."
"Today we express sorrow at his death and we honor the fullness of his life. His suffering has ended and he is now at peace with God in his eternal resting place," said Barnes.
"We grieve the loss of Pope John Paul II," stated Evelyn Hunt, the President of WOC's Board of Directors, "We must now trust that the Holy Spirit will continue to breathe new life into the Roman Catholic Church -- one that will herald in a renewed priesthood led by women and men who will teach, preach and live out gospel values."
------
Founded in 1975, the Women's Ordination Conference works for equality in all dimensions of life and ministry in the Catholic Church, including women's ordination to a renewed priestly ministry. For more resources on women's ordination, the legacy of Pope John Paul II, and selecting a new pope, visit http://www.womensordination.org.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
-0-
/© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
The article is packed with lies and propaganda.
it is not true that the Pope and the Catholic Church are hostile to homosexuals.
On the contrary, within the Catholic Church there are organizations whose assignement is to look after people with AIDs, most of whom are homosexuals.
"And thanks to John Paul II, homosexuality has risen to the top of the list of modern evils"
According to John Paul II, homosexuality is not a sin. What is a sin is homosexual relationships. And he didn't say this sin was top of the list of modern evils.
Anyway, what do you care? You don't believe of those things, so why don't you ignore them?
Did the Pope or the Catholic Church prevent you from doing something?
If you want to have sexual intercourse with a man or a woman or with your dog, it's up to you.
The Spanish royal family yesterday expressed its condolences on the death of the Pope, as did other religious groups. Today will be an official day of mourning in Spain, one of the countries John Paul II visited most during his 27 years as Pope. The monarchs Juan Carlos and Sofia communicated their "deep sorrow," as well as that of the rest of the royal family. The Pope and the royals maintained a close relationship and met fifteen times. Meanwhile, the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, Jacobo Israel Garzón, joined millions of other Spaniards in expressing his condolences on the Pope's death in the name of the Spanish Jews. Garzon communicated the Jewish community's sorrow to all Catholics and especially to the Spanish faithful, declaring the Spanish Jews' solidarity with their Catholic compatriots and stating his hope that the Pope's successor will continue John Paul II's policy of openness and dialogue between the two faiths. In addition, the Mosque of Peace in Granada expressed its condolences to the Catholic community on the Pope's death, which means for the world "the loss of a great person and spiritual leader." Imam Abdul-Qader Husni Qamhiyen said that "In the thoughts and hearts of the Islamic community the memory of his permanent struggle, commitment, and effort for peace in the world will always be remembered." The president of the Union of Islamic Communities in Spain, Riay Tatary Bakry, said, "From an Islamic perspective, John Paul II's papacy has opened the door to interreligious dialogue, especially with Muslims." He pointed out that "This was the first Pope to visit the mosque in Damascus. His death is a great loss because he was a man of peace and tolerant toward all religions. He created a good relationship with the Muslim religion."
http://www.spainherald.com/2005-04-04news.html#515
Federico Jiménez Losantos
«John Paul II did so much for freedom, and also for Spain, that we will never stop considering him one of our leaders, one of the few we will hold in our hearts as long as we live.»There is no doubt John Paul II was one of the most important Popes in History. But he has also been one of the 20th century’s most important politicians. Together with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, he managed to stop the terrible Western decadence when it was about to be swallowed by the Soviet empire with the silence of lambs. Together, they radically turned around that trend. Those who did not live the 1980’s cannot imagine how difficult it was to break the powerful economic, political and religious paradigm of a constant and smothering intellectual defense of socialism; that is, de-legitimizing freedom. The first four years of that decade brought the titanic job of reanimating, in some ways a true resurrection, the great Western values against a totalitarianism that was not willing to let go. It is no coincidence, those three great leaders of the end of the 20th century suffered very serious terrorist attacks. The Pope’s was the most terrible. If the USSR had not failed in its criminal intentions, it is hard to know what the world would be like today but it would surely not be better than the current one. It would definitely be less free: that fact alone makes libertarians all over the world, Catholic or not, mourn the man who was able to die like he lived: setting an example
http://www.spainherald.com/514.html
[From Pope John Paul's 1986 "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons"-
"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder. Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed to those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not."
Catholic Catechism: #2357 (in part) Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of great depravity, tradition has always declared that "Homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered". They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complimentary. Under no circumstances can they be approved....#2359: Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection."]
it's unfortunate that the Church that the Pope leaves behind remains incapable of extending its compassion to gays and lesbians, and persists in fostering such hatred towards them
--Richard
It is not lack of compassion. Why don't you read
pack of lies and propaganda
by Sefarad Monday, Apr. 04, 2005 at 5:32 AM
[above]
for example, see the following link about the Pope declaring the move towards gay marriage as part of the "ideology of evil", utilizing rhetoric evocative of the fascists of the 1920s and 1930s
http://www.catholic-pages.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3963
note that none of the Catholics who responded to the posting of the article objected to the Pope's chilling characterization of gay and lesbian relationships
most of them were clear in their belief that it was just wonderful
one would think that a Pope would aspire to encourage his flock to spiritually grow beyond such puerile hatred, as he did in his teachings of tolerance in other ways, such as, for example with Islam, but in this instance, he not only failed to inspire, he actually encouraged the intensification of their bigotry
--Richard
I know what he said and what is the Catholic Church position on the matter.
But being against the marriage of homosexuals doesn't mean lack of compassion for people.
I believe that the Catholic Church and the Pope have the right to free thought and free expression, as anyone else.
And the people, Catholic or not Catholic, are not sheep that blindly obey a person or an institution. And if they obey it is because they have their own reasons for it.
As for the people in disagreement with that point of view, they can do what they like.
The Pope hasn't encouraged hatred. On the countrary: even if it is a sin (I don't know, I am not God), the teaching of the Catholic Church is that you have to be compassionate to everybody, even the sinners. In fact, all of us are sinners, because nobody is perfect.
every time over the last 20 years that I can recall, whenever there was an issue involving the civil rights of gays and lesbians, such as laws prohibiting discrimination against them in employment and housing, laws rendering violent attacks against them hate crimes, the Catholic Church was in the forefront of opposing them
priests would be there, along with their supporters, people that would say the most vile things about gays and lesbians, such as their livestyle is depraved, they are a threat to children, they are no different than pedophiles . . . and I don't recall the representatives of Church saying much to condemn them
the Church developed a "moral" teaching that considered the rights of these despicable people to discriminate and express their hatred of gays and lesbians as more important than the rights of gays and lesbians to live in this society on equal terms with everyone else
and, now, just prior to his death, the Pope releases a book that describes gay marriage and its proponents as part of an "ideology of evil", yet again reinforcing these people in their bigoted beliefs, instead of encouraging them to grow beyond them
we can only hope that people don't take these remarks seriously, because people will do some pretty dangerous violent things against anyone they consider to be "evil"
--Richard
I tell you are wrong about the Pope. Now I don't dare to say about the Catholic Church, because perhaps the experience you have there is different from mine.
I remember a friend from the US told me that the Catholic Church Authorities here are more open-minded than there. That does not mean that here there are for homosexual marriages and things like that.
Anyway, it is hard for me to believe that the Catholic Authorities there spread hatred, because that is not the Church's doctrine.
for example, he could have said that, even though we disagree with it morally, the Church will not deny the civil power of the state to permit gay marriage, as long as the Church is not compelled to recognize them
frankly, I don't understand why the Church, under this Pope, elevated homosexuality to such a level of importance, there are a lot of things that are purportedly described as sins in the Bible (say, adultery, for example), and yet the Pope didn't give much prominence to need to eradicate adultery
African American Baptist churches may be a good contrast here, although my comment here is based upon impressions
they believe that homosexuality is a sin as well, and, with some exceptions, I didn't see them engaging in large, organized campaigns to resist civil rights protection for gays and lesbians
others might recall differently, but that's my memory
--Richard
--Richard
for example, he could have said that, even though we disagree with it morally, the Church will not deny the civil power of the state to permit gay marriage, as long as the Church is not compelled to recognize them ]
The Pope has no power over the civil power of the state. He expresses the Church's point of view and that's all.
[frankly, I don't understand why the Church, under this Pope, elevated homosexuality to such a level of importance, there are a lot of things that are purportedly described as sins in the Bible (say, adultery, for example), and yet the Pope didn't give much prominence to need to eradicate adultery ]
They have always condemned adultery. As for gay marriage, it is now when it's being discussed if it should be legal or not. So it is now when they express their opinion about it.
[African American Baptist churches may be a good contrast here, although my comment here is based upon impressions
they believe that homosexuality is a sin as well, and, with some exceptions, I didn't see them engaging in large, organized campaigns to resist civil rights protection for gays and lesbians
others might recall differently, but that's my memory ]
Then they agree on the matter, with the only difference that they don't protest so much. Two different ways to do things. And in some north European country (I think Norway, although I don't remember exactly) a Lutheran minister has been enjailed for talking against homosexuals 'marriage. Who is the bigot in this case? Because the Christian Churches are against that kind of marriage but they don't ask for homosexuals to be sent to prison.
He may have been a great politician, but he was NOT a great man. His task was to further empower the Catholic Church. He did what he did not for moral reasons, but for politicial ones.
And saying that "homosexuals" aren't evil, just their relationships are, ignores reality. Which isn't unusual for the Catholic Church -- or for anyone who mistakenly thinks that "AIDS victim" is a synomym for "homosexual."
JPII will not be missed, I assure you, as the Church will continue to milk every little bit it can from his life AND his death.