Sending shockwaves across the Catholic Church, a meeting of Vatican bishops yesterday noted gay partnerships may provide “precious” support, said the church must welcome divorcees and the children of unmarried families, and called for an examination of the church’s position on birth control.
Richard Gaillardetz, a professor of Catholic systematic theology at Boston College, hailed yesterday’s announcement as “an important step forward,” and one that’s “impossible to imagine without Pope Francis.”
“He has created an atmosphere that’s made it possible for this to happen,” Gaillardetz said.
The bishops’ preliminary report was released halfway through a Vatican meeting on family life called by Pope Francis.
While it does not change church doctrine, the tone of the report on a host of hot-button family issues such as marriage, divorce, homosexuality and birth control was one of almost-revolutionary acceptance and understanding rather than condemnation. It will guide a closed-door debate until a final document is issued Saturday.
The bishops said gays had “gifts and qualities” to offer and asked rhetorically if the church was ready to provide them a welcoming place, “accepting and valuing their sexual orientation without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony.”
The bishops repeated that gay marriage was off the table. But it acknowledged that gay partnerships had merit.
“Without denying the moral problems connected to homosexual unions, it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners,” they said.
Gay rights groups hailed what they called a “seismic shift.”
“For the LGBT Catholics in the United States and around the world, this new document is a light in the darkness — a dramatic new tone from a church hierarchy that has long denied the very existence of committed and loving gay and lesbian partnerships,” said Chad Griffin, president of Human Rights Campaign, the biggest LGBT rights organization in the U.S.
But Gaillardetz cautioned even so popular a pontiff is sure to encounter turbulence tackling issues many church traditionalists still regard as taboo.
“Of course there will be backlash. They’re going to be very scared,” Gaillardetz said.
Indeed, Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Gadecki called the report “unacceptable” and a deviation from church teaching.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
