Editor's Desk: Rome Speaks

By Michael F. Flach
^{HERALD Editor}

In a rare display of Vatican authority, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced last week severe limits on the ministerial activities of Sr. Jeannine Gramick, S.S.N.D., and Father Robert Nugent, S.D.S., who had been ministering to the homosexual community in the United States for many years.

The Vatican notification, which was published in the July 14 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, stated that Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent are "permanently prohibited from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons and are ineligible, for an undetermined period, for any office in their respective religious institutes."

A lengthy review by the Vatican of their theological views and teachings on homosexuality found their positions to be ambiguous and ultimately irreconcilable with the firmly-held teachings of the Catholic Church.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2357-2358) teaches that individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, deserve to be treated with respect, compassion and dignity; however, a homosexual inclination is objectively disordered and homosexual acts are in and of themselves gravely immoral.

The Vatican has not issued such a strict ruling since 1986 when Father Charles Curran was publicly disciplined and eventually asked to leave the Catholic University of America in Washington. Curran, who took a teaching at Southern Methodist University in Texas, is no longer an active Catholic priest.

Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent co-founded New Ways Ministry in 1977. Since then they have been workshop facilitators, counselors and writers serving the pastoral needs of the gay and lesbian community.

Cardinal James A. Hickey of Washington first raised questions about Sister Jeannine’s and Father Nugent’s seeming support for the morality of homosexual activity in 1981. New Ways Ministry, which was headquartered in the archdiocese, sponsored a symposium featuring speakers who dissented from Catholic teaching.

"The Holy See’s decision comes only after extensive dialogues with the two individuals and representatives from their religious orders, several reviews of their writings and a commission called to study the situation," the cardinal said. "Both were given numerous opportunities over the past 20 years to clarify their beliefs and to assent to the Church’s full teaching on homosexuality, which is the pastoral area in which they chose to minister. Unfortunately, they did not convey and advocate the clear teaching of the Catholic Church.

"The Catholic Church has long called for compassionate ministry and respect for all persons who may have a homosexual orientation," the cardinal said. "A truly compassionate ministry is one which is based upon an authentic discipleship, reflecting the fullness of the Church’s teaching."

The Baltimore Province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (to which Sister Jeannine belongs) announced July 13 the establishment of a fund that will support an individual in pastoral ministry to those who are gay and lesbian.

Ministry to homosexuals — or any group which openly rejects the Church’s moral teachings — requires a delicate balance of compassion for the individual, but firm rejection of their chosen lifestyle.

One group that achieves this balance in its outreach to homosexuals is Courage. Founded in 1980 by Oblate Father John Harvey, Courage promotes a chaste lifestyle in accord with Church teaching on homosexuality. The group will hold its 11th annual conference Aug. 12-15 at Trinity College in Washington. Father Marcus Pollard, newly appointed administrator of St. Veronica Parish in Herndon, is moderator of the local Encourage group (a support group for parents of homosexual children).

 Copyright ©1999 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.