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©2009 New Ways Ministry
4012 29th Street - Mount Rainier, MD 20712
Tel. 301-277-5674
info(at)newwaysministry(dot)org
March 12, 2009
TESTIMONY OF FRANCIS DeBERNARDO,
Executive Director, New Ways Ministry
to
THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE,
MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES
Annapolis, Maryland
SUPPORT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM & CIVIL MARRIAGE PROTECTION ACT
(HOUSE BILL 1055 – BARNES, MCINTOSH, MIZEUR, KAISER)
OPPOSE MARYLAND’S MARRIAGE PROTECTION ACT (HOUSE BILL 913 – DWYER)
Good afternoon. My name is Francis DeBernardo, and I am the Executive Director of New Ways Ministry, a national Roman Catholic ministry of justice and reconciliation for lesbian/gay Catholics and the wider church community. Our organization was founded by a priest and a nun in 1977 because they saw a great need to promote dialogue between these two groups. We are housed in Mount Rainier, Maryland.
I am here today to support House Bill 1055 and to oppose House Bill 913. I am here because I am a Roman Catholic, not in spite of the fact that I am a Roman Catholic.
When I tell people what I do for a living—that I work at trying to promote equality for lesbian/gay people in the Catholic Church—the usual response that I receive is either shock, disbelief, or a sympathetic line such as: “You must have the hardest job in the world!” In fact, the opposite is true.
Most Catholic people are ready and willing to grant marriage equality to same-sex couples. The Catholic laity—the Catholic voters—do not hold the same position on this matter that the hierarchy maintains. It would be a grave error in judgment—both politically and morally—for government leaders to assume that the Catholic hierarchy reflects the belief of most Catholic people.
Catholic laity and most Catholic theologians approach the topic of same-sex marriage differently from the hierarchy. While the hierarchy views the issue as one of sexual ethics, the Catholic laity view it as a question of social justice. Catholic social teaching requires that people be treated with human dignity, regardless of their state in life or their beliefs. This moral tradition requires that all people be treated equally and fairly. Catholic social justice principles allow for people to freely form associations and to follow their consciences—even if that conscience differs from the position of the hierarchy. Catholic social teaching values increased access to health care benefits, to the protection of children, to dignity in end of life choices, and, most importantly, to the promotion of stable family units--regardless of how these family units are composed.
While the hierarchy is concerned with the ethics of sexual activity, the Catholic people are concerned about the benefits and quality of life that people experience. The laity look at same-sex couples not in terms of what they may or may not do in bed, but in terms of the quality of their relationships, and they see that committed and legally protected same-sex relationships benefit not only the individuals, not only the family members, but the entire social order.
In my work with Catholic parishes, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, and many other institutions, I can tell you that there is a tremendous concern about the protection of same-sex couples among Catholic people and the “middle managers” of the church—principals, pastors, leaders of communities of priests, nuns, brothers—in spite of what you hear from the hierarchy. At a recent conference I attended, Catholic colleges and universities were discussing ways to provide benefits to same-sex partners of faculty and staff.
As you may know, the Catholic laity disagree with the bishops on many important social matters of the day. The Catholic hierarchy has been wrong many times on social, moral, and scientific issues, such as slavery, the charging of interest, and even on the position of the sun in the solar system. In the present time, Catholic people, in huge numbers, do not agree with their church’s positions on other sexual topics such as birth control and divorce, and certainly none of you is willing to make Catholic teaching the law of the land in these areas.
I ask that you follow the will of hundreds of thousands of Catholic Marylanders, not the few leaders at the head of the church, and protect the human dignity and civil rights of same-sex couples by opposing House Bill 913 and supporting House Bill 1055.
# # # # # #
TESTIMONY OF FRANCIS DeBERNARDO,
Executive Director, New Ways Ministry
to
THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE,
MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES
Annapolis, Maryland
SUPPORT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM & CIVIL MARRIAGE PROTECTION ACT
(HOUSE BILL 1055 – BARNES, MCINTOSH, MIZEUR, KAISER)
OPPOSE MARYLAND’S MARRIAGE PROTECTION ACT (HOUSE BILL 913 – DWYER)
Good afternoon. My name is Francis DeBernardo, and I am the Executive Director of New Ways Ministry, a national Roman Catholic ministry of justice and reconciliation for lesbian/gay Catholics and the wider church community. Our organization was founded by a priest and a nun in 1977 because they saw a great need to promote dialogue between these two groups. We are housed in Mount Rainier, Maryland.
I am here today to support House Bill 1055 and to oppose House Bill 913. I am here because I am a Roman Catholic, not in spite of the fact that I am a Roman Catholic.
When I tell people what I do for a living—that I work at trying to promote equality for lesbian/gay people in the Catholic Church—the usual response that I receive is either shock, disbelief, or a sympathetic line such as: “You must have the hardest job in the world!” In fact, the opposite is true.
Most Catholic people are ready and willing to grant marriage equality to same-sex couples. The Catholic laity—the Catholic voters—do not hold the same position on this matter that the hierarchy maintains. It would be a grave error in judgment—both politically and morally—for government leaders to assume that the Catholic hierarchy reflects the belief of most Catholic people.
Catholic laity and most Catholic theologians approach the topic of same-sex marriage differently from the hierarchy. While the hierarchy views the issue as one of sexual ethics, the Catholic laity view it as a question of social justice. Catholic social teaching requires that people be treated with human dignity, regardless of their state in life or their beliefs. This moral tradition requires that all people be treated equally and fairly. Catholic social justice principles allow for people to freely form associations and to follow their consciences—even if that conscience differs from the position of the hierarchy. Catholic social teaching values increased access to health care benefits, to the protection of children, to dignity in end of life choices, and, most importantly, to the promotion of stable family units--regardless of how these family units are composed.
While the hierarchy is concerned with the ethics of sexual activity, the Catholic people are concerned about the benefits and quality of life that people experience. The laity look at same-sex couples not in terms of what they may or may not do in bed, but in terms of the quality of their relationships, and they see that committed and legally protected same-sex relationships benefit not only the individuals, not only the family members, but the entire social order.
In my work with Catholic parishes, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, and many other institutions, I can tell you that there is a tremendous concern about the protection of same-sex couples among Catholic people and the “middle managers” of the church—principals, pastors, leaders of communities of priests, nuns, brothers—in spite of what you hear from the hierarchy. At a recent conference I attended, Catholic colleges and universities were discussing ways to provide benefits to same-sex partners of faculty and staff.
As you may know, the Catholic laity disagree with the bishops on many important social matters of the day. The Catholic hierarchy has been wrong many times on social, moral, and scientific issues, such as slavery, the charging of interest, and even on the position of the sun in the solar system. In the present time, Catholic people, in huge numbers, do not agree with their church’s positions on other sexual topics such as birth control and divorce, and certainly none of you is willing to make Catholic teaching the law of the land in these areas.
I ask that you follow the will of hundreds of thousands of Catholic Marylanders, not the few leaders at the head of the church, and protect the human dignity and civil rights of same-sex couples by opposing House Bill 913 and supporting House Bill 1055.
# # # # # #