Fr. James Martin & Others Are #SayingSomethingPositive
Father James Martin SJ
When it comes to Catholic clergy, many assume an anti-LGBT bias because ‘welcoming’ statements often come with conditions. Resisting this trend, many priests continue building safe spaces in the Church for LGBT people and their loved ones. Jesuit Fr. James Martin is behind the recent “#SayingSomethingPositive” campaign on Twitter seeking to do just that.
Recent examples of the clergy leave many disheartened. Cardinal Timothy Dolan is largely silent on an anti-gay hate crime surge in New York, Fr. Derek Lappe and others have written ignorant statements about the Boy Scouts welcoming gay youth, and Bishop Thomas Paprocki told marriage equality supporters to just leave the church last Friday.
As troubling as these events are, they fail to reveal the broader picture about priests who positively minister to the LGBT and ally community within the Church. We also know of Fr. Joe Muth in Baltimore who leads a gay-friendly parish and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton who urges all Catholics to receive Communion. Michael O’Loughlin of Religion News Service reports on the latest trend, led by Fr. Martin on Twitter:
“The Jesuit Jim Martin has asked why Catholic bishops are seemingly unable to make an unqualified statement of God’s love for LGBT people. He wrote:
” ‘I would love to see a Catholic leader make an unabashedly positive statement about gays and lesbian Catholics, without including a critique.’ “
That initial tweet seeking positive statements from the Catholic hierarchy led to a powerful exchange with priest-scholar Fr. Raymond Kemp about the many LGBT Catholics serving God. Fr. Martin followed up with more positive statements about lesbian and gay people in his life and now, O’Loughlin reports, more are joining him. Bondings 2.0 has included a sampling below:
If you’re on Twitter, make your supportive voice heard with the hashtag #SayingSomethingPositive. Be sure to connect with @JamesMartinSJ, @mikeoloughlin, and @NewWaysMinistry if you do! We just got started:
–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry
In last Sunday’s Gospel Jesus fed the multitude. I did not hear in the Gospel that he told his disciples to deny food to anyone. I would love to see the Catholic hierarchy follow Jesus and welcome all to the table.
The church will never experience shalom–that is, the wholeness God desires for her–so long as she continues to deny the gifts inherent in her lgbt members.
Fr. Martin asks why can’t the bishops make an unqualified statement that God loves GLBT people. How can they? They teach, authoritatively, that GLBT may not love each other; therefore, how could God possibly love them?
Con cariño, para los que no conocen a James Martin sj escribe para America, revista SJ muy bien evaluada. un abrazo, Soledad Vial U San Crescente 651 Depto 101 Las Condes Santiago de Chile Skype: soledadvial1 Cel. (56 9) 90512994
El 05/06/2013, a las 14:56, Bondings 2.0 escribió:
> > Respond to this post by replying above this line > New post on Bondings 2.0 > > > Fr. James Martin & Others Are #SayingSomethingPositive > by newwaysministryblog > > > Father James Martin SJ > > When it comes to Catholic clergy, many assume an anti-LGBT bias because ‘welcoming’ statements often come with conditions. Resisting this trend, many priests continue building safe spaces in the Church for LGBT people and their loved ones. Jesuit Fr. James Martin is behind the recent “#SayingSomethingPositive” campaign on Twitter seeking to do just that. > > Recent examples of the clergy leave many disheartened. Cardinal Timothy Dolan is largely silent on an anti-gay hate crime surge in New York, Fr. Derek Lappe and others have written ignorant statements about the Boy Scouts welcoming gay youth, and Bishop Thomas Paprocki told marriage equality supporters to just leave the church last Friday. > > As troubling as these events are, they fail to reveal the broader picture about priests who positively minister to the LGBT and ally community within the Church. We also know of Fr. Joe Muth in Baltimore who leads a gay-friendly parish and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton who urges all Catholics to receive Communion. Michael O’Loughlin of Religion News Servicereports on the latest trend, led by Fr. Martin on Twitter: > > “The Jesuit Jim Mart
What Good News this is!! It’s a shame more clergy cannot speak out because they could lose their positions and their pensions. Somehow I don’t think blackmail is part of the Christian message.
God loves us all unconditionally. Is that difficult to live with?