In the WSJ on August 31, Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, described Fr. James Martin as “one of the most outspoken critics of the church’s message with
regard to sexuality.” Cardinal Sarah makes the key point that critics say is
missing from Martin’s book: that an authentic Catholic outreach to homosexuals
is only possible in light of the Church’s moral teaching.
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| Cardinal Sarah |
“As a mother, the church seeks to protect her children from the
harm of sin, as an expression of her pastoral charity,” the cardinal writes.
His
Emminence said that Same-sex attractions are not necessarily sinful, though
they are “at odds with human nature,” but same-sex relations are “gravelysinful and harmful to the well-being of those who partake in them."
“People
who identify as members of the LGBT community are owed this truth in charity,
especially from clergy who speak on behalf of the church about this complex and
difficult topic.”
“Those
who speak on behalf of the church must be faithful to the unchanging teachings
of Christ, because only through living in harmony with God’s creative design do
people find deep and lasting fulfillment,” he wrote.
Cardinal
Sarah also highlights the witness of men and women who experience same-sex
attractions but choose to refrain from acting upon them, in obedience to the
Gospel. He mentions in particular the new book by Daniel Mattson, Why I
Don’t Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace,
for which the cardinal wrote a foreword.
“These
men and women testify to the power of grace, the nobility and resilience of the
human heart, and the truth of the church’s teaching on homosexuality,” Cardinal
Sarah writes. “Their example deserves respect and attention, because they have
much to teach all of us about how to better welcome and accompany our brothers
and sisters in authentic pastoral charity.”
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