Openly Gay Prime Minister and His Husband Welcomed at Vatican

Luxembourg’s openly gay prime minister and his husband were welcomed at the Vatican recently, a potentially hopeful sign that church officials will increasingly respect people in same-gender civil marriages.

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Prime Minister Bettel, center, with his husband, Destenay, and Archbishop Gänswein.

Archbishop Georg  Gänswein greeted Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and his husband, Gauthier Destenay, as they arrived to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Union. Pink News reported:

“The gay couple joined other heads of government from across Europe for the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome [which founded what would become the European Union]. . .Pope Francis then held a meeting with the leaders, including Prime Minister Bettel, in the Vatican, marking the anniversary.

“Despite the unusual circumstances – Mr. Bettel is the only openly gay leader in the world – Vatican bosses opted for the usual protocol around heads of government and their spouses.”

That it was Gänswein who welcomed them is also notable as he was given a Vatican position by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whom he still serves as the former pope’s personal secretary.

Luxembourg legalized marriage equality in 2014, a move Bettel oversaw in a country where 67% of the population remains Catholic.  In 2015, the couple married shortly after the new law went into effect. About their treatment at the Vatican, Prime Minister Bettel tweeted:

“It was a great pleasure and honour for me and Gauthier to be welcomed by the leader of the Catholic church. XB”

Welcoming an openly gay politician is another chapter in the confusing story of  whether and how the Vatican and other Catholic institutions will treat LGBT people, including those people in same-gender marriages.

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Pilgrims in Rome shortly after the audience

In 2015, a pilgrimage of LGBT Catholics and their families led by New Ways Ministry was given VIP seating at an audience with Pope Francis. It was reported that Archbishop Gänswein had a role in securing the tickets, and pilgrims expressed their feelings that it was moment of welcome they would never forget.

But that same year, the Holy See rejected France’s ambassador, Laurent Stéfanini, who is openly gay and married. Few answers about the rejection were offered by either the French government or the Holy See. After six months of simply waiting, France withdrew Stéfanini’s application for diplomatic credentials without an official reason given by either party.

Elsewhere, since 2008, more than 60 church workers have lost their jobs over LGBT-related issues; for many, their firing was caused by a decision to marry their same-gender partner.

This institutional confusion is, in part, due to Pope Francis’ own mixed record on LGBT issues. The pope of “Who am I to judge?” is also the pope of “there is a world war to destroy marriage.” In just over two weeks, Catholics will gather in Chicago to discuss just what to make of LGBT issues in the age of Pope Francis during New Ways Ministry’s 8th National Symposium. There is still time to register, which you can do by clicking here.

While magisterial teaching prohibits same-gender sacramental marriage, civil law is not synonymous with church teaching. One thing Pope Francis is clear about through his many acts is that church leaders should be prioritizing radical hospitality over exclusion. Welcoming Bettel and Destenay is a good step, but to really make such inclusion palpable, it must be modeled at churches worldwide.

Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, April 11, 2017

 

0 replies
  1. Tom Bower
    Tom Bower says:

    There is no change in the Vatican’s offensive stance from the 1986 Halloween letter. Where they can control the situation (not accepting France’s ambassador or the Dominican Republic’s archbishop’s continual insulting the US’ gay ambassador), they have no problem being offensive and denigrating of LGBT individuals. The Luxembourg prime minister was in Rome for a meeting of EU heads of state (not a Vatican activity) and was greeted by a personal secretary (who is considered gay by most accounts as is B16), not a ranking official of the Vatican. A snub is still a snub even if it is a picturesque one.

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