{"id":4726,"date":"2013-08-13T23:16:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T05:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lavozlit.com\/?p=4726"},"modified":"2013-08-13T23:16:26","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T05:16:26","slug":"pope-francis-and-lgbt-people-nothing-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/2013\/08\/13\/pope-francis-and-lgbt-people-nothing-new\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis and LGBT People: Nothing New!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
Pope Francis and LGBT People: Nothing New!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Elder Sano \u201cFolha\u201d(*)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:04<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"
\nIn a press conference given in the airplane, on his trip back from Rio de Janeiro to Rome, pope Francis said that he has no authority to judge gay people, that \u201cgays shouldn\u2019t be discriminated\u201d and that \u201cthey must be integrated into the society\u201d.
\nSome organizations in the Brazilian LGBT movement received these statements with excitement. Carlos Magno, president of ABGLT (Brazilian Association of Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals, Travesties and Transsexuals) asserted that \u201cwhen we see a religious leader saying that our community must be included in society, we even have the hope that the church may revise their positions\u201d. Fernando Quaresma, president of the S\u00e3o Paulo LGBT Pride Association, believes that \u201cthe statement represents a great advance. All the other popes have made only destructive critics\u201d.
\nWith more reservations, Luis Mott, from the Grupo Gay da Bahia (Gay Group of Bahia), said that \u201cif the Catholic Church will not be our ally, may it, at least, stop being our enemy\u201d, although he also said that the pope\u2019s statements are \u201cwords of relative acceptance\u201d. He also said the statements are \u201cfrom now on our shield, our support, our passport to confront any insult, comments or homophobic practices\u201d.
\nIn turn, the feminist and pro-choice catholic organization Cat\u00f3licas pelo Direito de Decidir (Catholic Women for the Right to Decide \u2013 in relation to abortion) has pointed out the difference in the pope\u2019s statement, \u201cif we compare with the other ones, who strongly condemned homosexuality\u201d, but asserted that \u201cit\u2019s superficial, since it stays in speech, and does not cause structural changes in the doctrine\u201d.
\nFor us, from PSTU (United Socialist Worker\u2019s Party), the speech, in appearance, seems progressive; but, in reality, it doesn\u2019t change the practices of the Catholic Church, which always condemned the homosexuality, preached homophobia, and, under a \u201cacceptance\u201d speech, reinforces hate and violence. It is worth remembering that we are talking about the Catholic Church as an institution, not as a faith practiced by millions, which we respect.
\nThe official position of the Catholic Church on homosexuality: no change<\/strong>
\nFirst of all, it\u2019s important to make clear that: Pope Francis\u2019position is not new. On the contrary, it has been, for years, the official position of the church.
\nIn 1983, for instance, Dom Avelar Brand\u00e3o Vilela, then Cardinal Archbishop of Salvador, declared: \u201cWe can\u2019t praise or encourage this kind of minorities, but since they exist, we can\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t be violent against homosexuals: we have to help them, not be violent\u201d.
\nThe paragraphs 2357, 2358 and 2359 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1997 by pope John Paul II, are exclusively about homosexuality. The first of these paragraphs states that homosexuality is contrary to the natural laws. The second one says that homosexuals should be accepted in the church, that \u201cevery sign of unjust discrimination\u201d should be avoided, and that the Christian homosexuals should \u201cunite to the sacrifice of the Lord\u2019s cross the difficulties they may encounter because of their condition\u201d. The third one calls homosexual people to remain chaste.
\nFuthermore, it is necessary to remind that although this is the official position of the Church, its practices are much different, as the feminist women of Cat\u00f3licas pelo Direito de Decidir highlight: \u201cThe Catholic Church not only defends, but also practices, \u201ccure\u201d for homosexuals all over the world.\u201d
\nThere is even a specific orientation from Vatican, called Homosexualitatis problems or \u201cletter to the bishops of the Catholic Church on the pastoral care for homosexual persons\u201d, published in 1986 by Joseph Ratzinger (later pope Benedict XVI), to fight sectors inside the church who were starting to defend homossexuals.
\nThe letter follows the same line of the Catechism published 11 years later: homosexuality is seen as abomination, and the catholic faith by homosexuals can only be expressed by abandoning the homosexual practices. Besides, the Catholic Church remains against any act or law that could make the rights of LGBT advance, as criminalization of homophobia and the same-sex marriage. And it has also supported bills that allow homophobia to advance, like the \u201cgay cure\u201d bill in Brazil and other homophobic laws in several countries.
\nIn other words, Catholic Church says it accepts homosexuals, but can\u2019t tolerate homosexuality. People can be homosexual, since they don\u2019t practice homosexuality, since they continue to live their lives in the closet. The homosexual is (theoretically) accepted, but the church will always be there, to condemn what it considers a sin.
\nThis has been the official position of the Catholic Church for years, and it is shared by many protestant denominations, like some branches of the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist and Anglican Churches (although there are exceptions, including branches that celebrate same-sex marriages in their temples), as well as many Neo-Pentecostal denominations that share the Chatolic position.
\nPope Francis, as archbishop of Buenos Aires, was one of the fiercest objectors of same-sex marriage in Argentina. His position on homosexuality has always been conservative, and it still is, as demonstrated in his conversation with the rabbi Abaham Skorka, published by Veja magazine, in April of 2013, when the then archbishop Bergoglio said homosexual couples are an \u201canthropological throwback\u201d.
\nTherefore, although the pope\u2019s statements seem to be opening a dialogue, or opening the church doors to homosexuals, they are, at least, ambiguous and remain in the speech framework. Evidence of this is the fact that, in the same interview, the pope said the Vatican will not announce any changes on abortion or same-sex marriage positions.
\nMake no mistake: only the organized struggle can guarantee our rights!<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s essential for us, in the LGBT movement, to recognize who are our enemies. Pope Francis, with his ambiguous speech, is not showing us an increasing openness to homosexuals. Instead, he is reinforcing the Church\u2019s position, which stimulates its followers to live their lives in chastity, in the closet, and not express nor practice their sexuality. The pope\u2019s statement, unfortunately, gets lost in words, and it doesn\u2019t indicate, in any way, that the Church is changing its position; let alone its position of fighting homosexuality.
\nIt\u2019s worth remembering that the choice of Jorge Bergoglio to the pontificate came in a moment of serious crisis on the Catholic Church, with visible reduction of its followers, due to the growth of evangelical churches in the American continent and of Islam in several parts of the world. Not to mention all the scandals with pedophilia and corruption, which led the unpopular pope Benedict XVI to renounce.
\nPope Francis came to reverse this crisis: he is Latin American, shows charisma and has the aim to improve the relationships between the Church and its followers. He is the pope of sweet speeches to the poor people; of dialogue with different sectors of society. He is the pope of the Church in modern times, in contrast with the arrogance and the regressive speeches of Benedict XVI. Therefore, it doesn\u2019t sound weird his speech to dialogue with homosexuals. But the Catholic Church, as an institution, remains the same for all practical purposes; as the \u201cacceptance\u201d of homosexuals also remains the same.
\nWe should, indeed, use the pope\u2019s speech as a \u201cweapon\u201d, a \u201cshield\u201d and a \u201csupport\u201d to point the contradictions of the Catholic Church and the pope himself at every attack we suffer. But the Church should not be the depositary of our confidence: we should always remember that the Catholic Church is the major institution for the persecution of homosexuals in the history of humanity \u2013 and still persecutes.
\nAn institution that says, day after day, that we live in sin and that we are abominations cannot be our ally. And a pope who states his respect for us but worked hard to prevent us from be granted with the same-sex marriage in Argentina, and will try hard to prevent us from acquiring any rights, is not by our side too.
\nIf the church says we can be homosexuals, but we can\u2019t live our homosexuality, is the same as saying we shouldn\u2019t exist. Coming out of the closet and fighting homophobia is a political attitude, and only the LGBTs, organized in movements, allied with women, black people and the worker\u2019s movement, can defeat homophobia in all society. And the Catholic Church (we highlight again: this is not about the Catholic faith, but the policy applied and defended by the Vatican), on this fight, is on the other side of the trench.
\nThere\u2019s no difference between the pope\u2019s speech – reinforcing the position of the Catholic Church – and the position of the religious fundamentalists \u2013 as the evangelical pastors Marco Feliciano and Silas Malafaia (who even said he loves homosexuals) \u2013 that we are fighting so hard, every day. The Catholic Church didn\u2019t turn into a \u201cmore moderate\u201d one: our historical enemies remain the same!
\n_________________
\n(*) from the LGBT Bureau of PSTU \u2013 Brazil<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Francis and LGBT People: Nothing New! Written by Elder Sano \u201cFolha\u201d(*) Tuesday, 13 August 2013 23:04 In a press conference given in the airplane, on his trip back from Rio de Janeiro to Rome, pope Francis said that he has no authority to judge gay people, that \u201cgays shouldn\u2019t be discriminated\u201d and that \u201cthey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13882120,"featured_media":4727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27806],"tags":[27738,28281,27856,28697],"class_list":["post-4726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internacionalinternational","tag-argentina","tag-catholic-church","tag-lgbt","tag-pope-francis"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"es","enabled_languages":["en","es"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"es":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdQxqk-1ee","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13882120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}