The synod on the family that recently finished in the Catholic world was not a doctrinal synod; rather, it was a pastoral one. While I can be critical about the results of the synod, I am still very hopeful that the final synod next year will bear many benefits for Catholics in general. The synod’s final document, in my opinion, lacked any courage in the promoting the truth about LGBT people and how they should be welcomed in both church and society.
The high points were the questions dealing with homosexuality and whether divorced and remarried Catholics should be welcomed to the Eucharist table.
We should not hide ourselves in our parishes, nor hide our Catholic identity in Catholic Churches, nor tolerate the ongoing attempt by the archdiocese of Chicago to segregate LGBT people into Our Lady of Mount Carmel for their experience of faith.
Nor should we allow Catholic entities such as DePaul University to not address homophobia. Our Catholic university system needs to be more publically engaged about homophobia. While DePaul has a thriving calendar of activities for LGBT students, more needs to be done in dealing with homophobia. One only has to look at the recent events that took place at the Catholic University of America (CUA) concerning its student LGBT group to understand how rooted homophobia is in any sincere discussion about LGBT student groups.
Some of those who claim either to be the authentic Catholic voice in our community continued to hide themselves in their self-imposed Catholic closets.
We must clearly understand what homophobia is—and is not. Knowingly appointing a closeted person to a position of leadership in a LGBT Catholic organization is neither healthy nor helpful, and could be dangerous for the individual concerned.
Joe Murray