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Insights from Bishop Lucker

I was asked to speak last January, and because of my illness, I was not able to be there. So, I offer to you now a brief summary of what I wanted to do with that talk. I wanted to offer some insights into Catholic teaching and, more specifically, what traditional Catholic teaching requires in our context.

I think of myself as being a very traditional person. People sometimes call me progressive, liberal, maverick - all kinds of labels like that, but I think of myself as quite traditional. My family grew up right across the street (from the parish) where I would have spoken in January. My mother’s family farm - their farm house - stood right where the cloverleaf is today. All of my family and relatives are buried in the cemetery. So I feel very close to this community, and over the past 150 years this community has been very traditional.

In January, I would have wanted to focus on ten points of Catholic teaching, quite traditional teaching. God loves us. God loves us, each of us, as we are. God made each of us as we are.

Second, God showed us His love. He loves all sinners, outcasts, publicans, lepers, women, public sinners.

Third, He told us to follow Him. He told us to love God, love our neighbor, to love as He did, with compassion, with compassion, with forgiveness, and non-violence.

These are all quite traditional teachings, aren’t they?

Fourth, traditional catholic teaching insists that discrimination is sinful because we need to look at each person with human dignity.

Fifth, homosexual orientation is not sinful; it is good. Every person is precious, a precious creation of God, a gift of God.

Sixth, the teaching of the church makes it clear that the fundamental rights of homosexual persons must be defended, that all of us must strive to eliminate any form of unjust oppression or violence against them. Yet knowing that, we still hear that we may discriminate against people because of their orientation, lest they hand on this evil to other people. This reasoning shows a total lack of understanding of both the human condition and the teachings of the Church.

Seventh, according to the Catechism, homosexual persons must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity.

Eighth, and this is from the Bishops Pastoral, the Christian community should offer its homosexual sisters and brothers understanding and pastoral care.

Ninth, homosexual persons may not be discriminated against in jobs, housing or benefits. I notice often that when there is a proposal to enact a state law guaranteeing the human and civil rights of gay and lesbian people, some Catholic leaders will object, insisting that such laws will be an attack on marriage. Those (Catholic) objectors refuse to accept the fact that rights legislation and marriage are two separate and different things.

The tenth point I would make deals with probably the most difficult issue of all - homosexual behavior. Official, authentic teaching of the Church says that acting out is against Catholic teaching. This is an application of moral principles; we can spell it out and explain the teaching, and then say it needs to be given respect.

I struggle with this issue. Ultimately the individual has to follow his/her individual conscience.

Furthermore, I ask; why is it that we can say to people that authentic teaching of the church opposes war, and yet there are so many people who are involved in the military/industrial complex - good Christians - who use violence as a means of solving human problems?

Why is it that we can say to married couples that the authentic teaching of the Church is that artificial birth control is wrong, and yet we still reach out and welcome everyone in the community, when we know that 85% of Catholic couples don’t follow that teaching.

To these people, as Church, we say, Well, do the best you can. Come to the community, come to the sacraments.

I struggle with understanding why, in many cases, we recognize the authentic teaching, affirm it, and apply it with little or no controversy.

Yet, we are so specific, about teaching regarding homosexual behavior. I struggle because I believe that authentic moral theology recognizes that in the application of moral norms there can be differences of opinion on how we respond to moral norms. And there are many Catholic theologians who support this view.

People say, I didn’t choose to be born with a homosexual orientation: this is who I am. And we are faced then with the question of whether God gives to every gay or lesbian person the gift of celibacy, for it is a gift of God, and not given to all. Reasonable people respond by trying to discern what God expects of them. And authentic, traditional, Catholic, pastoral theology reaches out and embraces all people, gays and lesbians alike, and says to them, You have to do the best you can. You have to respond to the grace of God who calls us.

Father Dick McCormick was probably one of the foremost moral theologians of the Catholic Church in this country, and he often talked about the need to make pastoral decisions. And Tom (Bishop Gumbelton) speaks so very clearly of how important it is for us to welcome, to be open, to listen. These are pastoral approaches, and we are all called to deal pastorally with others. I would emphasize that we need to listen to the experience of homosexual people, just as we need to listen to the experience of people in all other areas of human activity.

So these would be the main points that I would have developed had I been able to be here in January. But we can very clearly, I believe, start with traditional Catholic teaching and offer some hope, offer some welcome, offer some opportunities for all of God’s people to be members, active members of our Christian community.