With Chaput Out, Philadelphia’s New Archbishop Should End Church’s Anti-LGBTQ Lawsuit
Archbishop-elect Nelson Pérez at his introductory press conference
Pope Francis appointed a new leader for Philadelphia last week, naming Bishop Nelson Pérez as archbishop and ending the tenure of his caustic predecessor, Archbishop Charles Chaput. While repairing the damage Chaput inflicted on LGBTQ Catholics and their communities will take time and intentionality, one simple step Pérez could take to promote goodwill is ending the archdiocese’s lawsuit against LGBTQ rights.
In mid-January, the U.S. Supreme Court signaled it would hear a case that could determine whether faith-based social service agencies are exempted from anti-LGBTQ non-discrimination protections, reported Gay Times. The case stems from Catholic Social Services Philadelphia’s (CSSP) lawsuit against its city because municipal officials ended a contract with the Catholic agency over its policy barring LGBTQ people from becoming adoptive parents. Lower courts have ruled in favor of the City of Philadelphia.
With the case at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia through one of its charitable agencies could be the catalyst to provoke widespread civil legal changes threatening LGBTQ people. The Court will likely rule in June of this year, and given its conservative majority, may give CSSP a victory. While a ruling in favor of the agency may be limited in scope, a wider ruling in favor of CSSPwould undercut long-standing legal precedent that religious groups do not have blanket exemptions from laws, including non-discrimination ones. It could be disastrous for LGBTQ rights.
The lawsuit is a leftover from Archbishop Chaput’s focus on opposing any measure favorable to LGBTQ people. He is notable among even the conservative U.S. episcopate for his stances. In the past, he has said there is “no such thing” as an LGBTQ Catholic “as if our sexual appetites defined who we are,” and therefore the term “LGBT” should not be used in church documents. In 2017, he applauded the Trump administration’s removal of Department of Education guidelines aimed at protecting transgender and gender non-conforming students. He has issued pastoral guidelines barring several categories of people from public ministry, including those in same-gender marriages. He was a detractor of the Synod on the Family, and ejected LGBT groups from holding workshops on Catholic property during the 2015 World Meeting of Families. He has ejected children with same-gender parents access from Catholic school. In short, he did tremendous harm over many years.
Several reports suggest Pérez to take a different approach. An editorial by The Philadelphia Inquirer stated:
“By leaning into the community-building spirit he embraced when previously ministering to the people of Philadelphia, Archbishop Pérez can create an opportunity for the Catholic Church to be a safe place for all people — either through worship or action. And through that, he can bring some hope that the city desperately needs.”
Archbishop Pérez could end the Supreme Court appeal, withdraw the case from the Court’s docket, and help to prevent any possibility of further harming LGBTQ non-discrimination laws already under attack by the Trump administration. He could recognize that church teachings on justice, human dignity, and non-discrimination mean Catholics should side with marginalized groups, not use religious liberty as a cover to do further harm LGBTQ people. And, in this case, to the thousands of children who need loving homes, too.
Am I hopeful that Pérez will end a potentially devastating lawsuit against LGBTQ rights? I am not sure. But it would be the right course of action, a way to signal to the LGBTQ community and allies that a new day has begun in Philadelphia.
Reactions from Catholic commentators and LGBTQ advocates will be posted on Bondings 2.0 next week.
—Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, January 30, 2020
“He is notable among even the conservative U.S. episcopate for his stances”
How kind of you to use the term notable; I would have used the pejorative term notorious. I attended the World Meeting of Families in 2015 when Archbishop Chaput ejected LGBT groups from holding workshops on Catholic property. Ever since then, I have felt completely uncomfortable in my own Catholic Church in Philadelphia. So much so, that I attend another liturgical based denomination when I am in Philadelphia. They were a welcoming inclusive community. Imagine how I felt when we sang Marty Haugen’s great hymn “All are Welcome.” I couldn’t get through it without a lot of tears.
At the same time, I realized that I had to find a way to forgive Archbishop Chaput. I had a long conversation with the pastor, and she affirmed that, yes indeed, I had to be able to do that. That forgiving process took two years. This is how it happened. While attending mass one day, just before the sign of peace, I particularly heard the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles; Peace I leave you, my peace I give you…” I can’t say how many times I have heard those words, but on that particular day, it was the answer that I was looking for. I received the grace to forgive the Archbishop, and so I did.
But I was soon to be tested about the meaning of the answer to Peter’s question about how many times must one forgive someone, and Jesus’ answer seven times seventy. In the very next week, Archbishop Chaput issued his statement, “[T]here is no such thing as an LGBTQ Catholic.” Since I am a catechist, and I teach these words of Jesus; of course, I had to forgive again.
As for the Church in Philadelphia, here we are dealing with institutional or social sin. I’m still working on that one. Perhaps, that will be determined by further formation of my conscience.
I have found the best incentive for forgiving is that it unloads something negative in me.
I hope Archbishop Pérez does end the appeal. It is a scandal for Catholic Church agencies to put uninformed doctrines ahead of the welfare of children.
Scratch the skin of a vociferously anti-GLBT bishop, and you’ll often find a an emotionally repressed, closeted gay man. It’s a basic and verifiable matter of fact. At a certain level, you’ve got to feel sorry for them. But it’s entirely up to them to gain courage of being who they are. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Withdraw the Case from the Supreme Court
“Archbishop Pérez could end the Supreme Court appeal, withdraw the case from the Court’s docket, and help to prevent any possibility of further harming LGBTQ non-discrimination laws already under attack by the Trump administration.”
Easier said than done. The Archdiocese is not technically a party to the suit, Sharonell Fulton et al. (petitioners) vs. City of Philadelphia et al. (respondents). Et al. is Latin for and others. The full list of petitioners are Sharonell Fulton, Toni Lynn Simms-Busch, and Catholic Social Services. All of these petitioners would have to withdraw from the case to end the litigation. The two individuals are two foster parents who share CSS’s beliefs. They are represented by counsel from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty an anti LGBTQ organization.
More importantly, here is where the case stands with the Supreme Court as of 21-January-2020. The court has considered taking up the case a total of six times. The court has neither granted or denied a writ of certiorari. Instead, they keep relisting it for the next conference. Let’s hope that the court ultimately denies a writ of certiorari. That would mean that the decision and ruling of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the City of Philadelphia would stand within the Third Circuit.