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FAQs
Frequently asked questions about being Catholic & lesbian
A question we are often asked is "How can you be lesbian and Catholic?" The person who asks the question, lesbian or otherwise, often believes it is impossible in light of scripture, church teaching and family pressure. In the face of hostile actions by the Church, feeling discouraged and abandoned, we ask the same question of ourselves: "How can we continue to be Catholic?"
Below are some responses to those questions. We invite you to email us with additional questions, and your response to the ones featured here. Please tell us a little about yourself, and if we can post your name and comments.
Can I be Christian and lesbian?
What is it to be Christian? First and foremost, it is to believe that Christ is God, from God, became a human being, suffered, died and was risen, so we can know, touch, experience God, know who God is, that is love, and so that we can have a personal relationship with him, today, based on love and trust as we hope for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Christianity is a faith is based on the belief in the Incarnation of God in our humanity. It is not something lofty, reserved to the pure and perfect. It is not based on what we should be or should do. It is not based on Commandments or rules. Baptized in Christ’ death and resurrection, we are his family, his friends, full members of his tribe. The basic question Christ is asking each one of us is not: ‘who are you?’ but rather, ‘who am I for you?’ He already knows us by our most intimate name. He already knows us more than we know ourselves and loves us, as we are, more than we love ourselves. To be a Christian is simply to accept this relationship with him that Christ proposes to each one of us. And as St. Paul said: "Nothing can separate us from the love of God."
Can I be lesbian and still follow Christ’s teachings?
Nowhere in the Gospels will you see anything about homosexuality. In the Old Testament, yes, as well as in some of the Epistles. Dignity’s web site has a very good discussion on those passages
http://www.dignityusa.org/faq.html. But the Gospels do not say anything about homosexuality, and, as a matter of fact, very little about sexuality. When Christ was angry and at his most harsh, it was against the abuse of power, hypocrisy, and love of money. To be a disciple of Christ one needs to read the Gospels, over and over again. To learn how they were written, to study them is also important to understand some of the apparent contradictions. Reading the Gospels is very inter-active. One reads, thinks, imagines, meditates, and an intimate knowledge of Christ eventually grows in us. Something more than the results of our thinking, meditating, imagining and studying. It is in the light of this knowledge that we begin to see our own lives: what needs to be changed: more love, more patience, more forgiveness… Perhaps sometimes a call to change our life style, but not because it is homosexual or heterosexual, rather because it is not a good one for us in the present condition; for instance an abusive relationship.
Can I be a lesbian and call myself a Catholic?
The (Roman) Catholic religion is Christian. It is based on the communion with the Pope, the bishop of Rome, and the belief in the Sacraments. Other Christian religions hold also the sacraments as central, such as the Orthodox and the Anglicans/Episcopalians. I do not believe that to be Catholic one has to agree with all the encyclicals, rules and regulations in effect. The Catholic Church in its teaching regarding sexuality as well as anything based on sciences is not infallible. Look back for instance as the history of Church’s teachings. The one on the earth as being the center of the universe is commonly given as proof that the Church’s Magisterium (official teachers: Pope, cardinals, bishops) can err and did err. Slavery for instance was not condemned until 1435. The nature of women and thus, their place and role and the church, leaves much to be desired. More recently, the interdiction of all forms of contraception ran headlong against Catholics’ understanding of their sexuality, so much so that many (and more!) practicing Catholics ceased to confess it as a sin. To be fair with the Catholic hierarchy and magisterium, many other religions still view homosexuality as a perversion. See for instance the on going debate/dispute between Anglicans and Episcopalians. The understanding of homosexuality made tremendous progress in the last fifty years, in the western world. The Church as an institution is rarely if never ahead of society in terms of moral and social teachings. Individual Christians are. They are the prophets through whom the Spirit speaks.
