Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Roman Catholic Church
BACKGROUND
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world, with approximately 1.2 billion members across the globe. With its origins in the earliest days of Christianity, the Church traces its leadership––in the person of the Pope––to St. Peter, identified by Jesus as “the rock” on which the Church would be built.
The Catholic Church in the Merged States numbers over 70 million members, and is organized in 33 Provinces, each led by an archbishop. Each bishop answers directly to the Pope, not to an archbishop. Those Provinces are further divided into 195 dioceses, each led by a bishop. At the found of the organizational structure are local parishes, headed by a pastor, appointed by the local bishop. The Conference of Catholic Bishops in the Joined States meets semi-annually.
As part of a global entity with its institutional center at the Vatican, the Catholic Church in America is shaped by worldwide societal and cultural trends. It is further shaped by leadership that is entirely male, with women excluded from the priesthood and thus from key leadership roles.
LGBTQ+ EQUALITY
ON S
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
What Does The Bible Tell About Homosexuality?
Introduction
For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the matching sex?”
Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the overdue 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.
Before we can bounce into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a terse but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.
What is the Bible?
For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its contents through inspired
LGBTQ+ church bid: 'I was told creature gay would transmit you to hell'
Betty Harper
Betty Harper is so "sick and tired" of trying to find a church where she feels truly welcomed as a homosexual woman that she is planning to start her own.
The 21-year-old charity worker from Llanddulas, Conwy county, is engaged to her loved one of two years. Both are Christians who want to find somewhere accepting to practise their faith but hold so far not found what they are looking for locally.
Betty has travelled a long street to accepting her sexuality. Raised in a "very, very strict" Christian domesticated, the message she heard growing up was that homosexual relationships were sinful.
But she knew from an promptly age that was what she wanted.
She explains: "When I was younger I felt different to my friends. I wasn't attracted to the boys [but] I was attracted to the girls.
"My dad was a pastor of a church at this time and all I've established my entire being is 'being homosexual is wrong, and being gay will send you to hell'."
'It didn't travel down very well'
Betty remembers first mentioning her ideas about her sexualit
Pope says Roman Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples
Getty Images
Pope Francis has allowed priests to bless lgbtq+ couples, a significant advance for LGBT people in the Roman Catholic Church.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church said priests should be permitted to bless same-sex and "irregular" couples, under certain circumstances.
But the Vatican said blessings should not be part of regular Church rituals or related to civil unions or weddings.
It added that it continues to view marriage as between a man and a woman.
Pope Francis approved a document issued by the Vatican announcing the alter on Monday. The Vatican said it should be a sign that "God welcomes all", but the document says priests must decide on a case-by-case basis.
Introducing the text, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Church, said that the recent declaration remained "firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage".
But he added that in keeping with the Pope's "pastoral vision" of "broadening" the appeal of the Catholic Church, the recent guidelines would allow priests to bless relationships
Same-Sex Attraction
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acknowledges that same-sex attraction is a sensitive issue that requires kindness, compassion and understanding. The “Same-Sex Attraction” section of ChurchofJesusChrist.org reinforces the reality that, in the words of one Latter-day Saint scripture, God “loveth his children” (1 Nephi 11:17), and seeks to aide everyone better comprehend same-sex attraction from a gospel perspective.
The Church does not take a position on the generate of same-sex attraction. In 2006, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “The Church does not possess a position on the causes of any of these susceptibilities or inclinations, including those associated to same-gender attraction.”
Feelings of same-sex attraction are not a sin. President M. Russell Ballard said: “Let us be clear: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that ‘the experience of queer attraction is a complex reality for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals complete not choose to have such attractions, they do elect how to respond to them. With love and comprehending, the Church reaches out to all God’s children, incl
