Cardinal McElroy Calls Anti-LGBTQ+ Spirit a “Demonic Mystery” in Call for Inclusion
Cardinal Robert McElroy
The church needs to embark on a journey of radical inclusion, wrote a top U.S. church leader in a new essay that suggests the “profound and visceral animus” towards LGBTQ+ people in the church is a “demonic mystery of the human soul.”
Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego wrote his essay in America as a reflection on the challenges facing Catholics today, particularly in view of the global synodal process underway. “Many of these challenges,” McElroy suggests, result from “structures and cultures of exclusion that alienate all too many from the church or make their journey in the Catholic faith tremendously burdensome.”
McElroy strongly condemns the ways LGBTQ+ Catholics have been and continue to be mistreated by their fellow believers. He writes:
“It is a demonic mystery of the human soul why so many men and women have a profound and visceral animus toward members of the L.G.B.T. communities. The church’s primary witness in the face of this bigotry must be one of embrace rather than distance or condemnation. The distinction between orientation and activity cannot be the principal focus for such a pastoral embrace because it inevitably suggests dividing the L.G.B.T. community into those who refrain from sexual activity and those who do not. Rather, the dignity of every person as a child of God struggling in this world, and the loving outreach of God, must be the heart, soul, face and substance of the church’s stance and pastoral action.”
In one section of the essay, McElroy addresses concerns raised in the local phase of the synod about how LGBTQ+ people experience the church. (In other sections worth reading, he comments at length on the question of women’s inclusion and on polarization.) Yesterday, Bondings 2.0 reported on a related interview in which the cardinal said the language of “intrinsically disordered” relating to gay people should be removed from the Catechism.
The cardinal believes it is “very likely” that discussions about church doctrine on marriage and sexuality will be raised when the synod meets in Rome this October. Yet, he continues:
“But the exclusion of men and women because of their marital status or their sexual orientation/activity is pre-eminently a pastoral question, not a doctrinal one. Given our teachings on sexuality and marriage, how should we treat remarried or L.G.B.T. men and women in the life of the church, especially regarding questions of the Eucharist? . . .
“As the synodal process begins to discern how to address the exclusion of divorced and remarried and L.G.B.T. Catholics, particularly on the issue of participation in the Eucharist, three dimensions of Catholic faith support a movement toward inclusion and shared belonging.”
First, McElroy cites Pope Francis’ image of the church as a field hospital for the wounded, which includes all people. He comments, “Pastoral practices that have the effect of excluding certain categories of people from full participation in the life of the church are at odds with this pivotal notion that we are all wounded and all equally in need of healing.”
Second, the cardinal raises up “reverence of conscience” as a key part of Catholic pastoral practice. McElroy explains:
“Men and women seeking to be disciples of Jesus Christ struggle with enormous challenges in living out their faith, often under excruciating pressures and circumstances. While Catholic teaching must play a critical role in the decision making of believers, it is conscience that has the privileged place. Categorical exclusions undermine that privilege precisely because they cannot encompass the inner conversation between women and men and their God.”
Third, McElroy touches on debates over reception of the Eucharist by highlighting the “counterposed realities of human brokenness and divine grace that form the backdrop for any discussion” of Eucharistic reception. He cites Pope Francis’ famous words that communion is “not a prize for the perfect, but as a source of healing for us all.” The cardinal writes that critics who suggest that sexual sins are all “grave matter,” and as such allow for categorial denials of the Eucharist, “should be faced head on.” He continues:
“The effect of the tradition that all sexual acts outside of marriage constitute objectively grave sin has been to focus the Christian moral life disproportionately upon sexual activity. The heart of Christian discipleship is a relationship with God the Father, Son and Spirit rooted in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church has a hierarchy of truths that flow from this fundamental kerygma. Sexual activity, while profound, does not lie at the heart of this hierarchy. Yet in pastoral practice we have placed it at the very center of our structures of exclusion from the Eucharist. This should change.”
To conclude, McElroy states plainly but firmly: “We must enlarge our tent. And we must do so now.”
To read Cardinal McElroy’s full essay, click here.
—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, February 14, 2023
In my humble opinion, more is lost than gained by using the word “demonic”.
The use of this word those who are anti-LBGTQIA+ is part of the problem. Let’s not join them in their fear-mongering.
Would it not make more sense to appeal to the heart of Christians who aspire to live the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth when it comes to inclusion of LBGTQIA+ people.
What about encouraging the embrace of science and reason in pointing out what’s been learned in the areas of psychology, biology, anthropology when it comes to inclusion of LBGTQIA+ people in the Church.
If love casts out fear, why focus on frightening words such as “demonic”. As a parent and ally for transgender people, I refuse to go down that road.
May Cardinal McElroy’s wise and thoughtful approach give courage to his brother cardinals and bishops to re examine their pastoral positions.
Bravo! Cardinal McElroy speaks that which dared not be spoken about in the past. Yes — inclusion for everyone. The elephant was in the room all along, yet could never be acknowledged in all its wickedness. All my life, people who were perceived as heterosexual could get away with anything. I do not recall the church speaking out even when children were abandoned or men had several partners. Often wealth or causes more dear to a particular Bishop allowed such discrepancies to be overlooked. However, L.G.B.T. Q+ people always were the target even after they were allowed to have loving relationships by their government. In many dioceses in regards to adoption, allowing children to be without a home was considered better than placing them in a loving L.G.B.T household.
What an uplift to know that Cardinal McElroy is on the same page as Pope Francis in regard to who is worthy of receiving the Eucharist. Their enlightened vision is that the Eucharist is nourishment for all of us as we all share in the human struggles of life underneath the outer superficial labels. My Spiritual Guide at a Trappist Monastery told me way back in the 70s that ones own conscience, carefully discerned, trumps any Catholic teachings. That really helped me in my personal growth, yet this sort of got washed under the rug and not commonly known among the faithful causing much collective guilt. It was interesting how the church could systematically hide God from the multitudes instead of being a source of leading people to God.
The hierarchy of sins often reveals what best serves the needs of those who make that list in the first place. We need an earthquake of sorts to rearrange the furniture. The space prayerfully created in our own hearts allows room for everyone in the church without exception. Every person has unique gifts to offer and be celebrated. Our merciful God dwells everywhere and in everyone and cannot be divided desiring to raise up all his children to an equal level. Why was all this division ever allowed to happen without anyone ever questioning this evil years ago? Now, Cardinal McElroy offers the church a huge challenge, and he is not afraid to offer that and address that challenge head on.
May your voice be heard so that healing and inclusion become the hallmark of our faith.
Amen!
BAM! He gets it! God bless him.
Kudos to the wise and good cardinal, May his tribe increase. As I and others have noted, Christ said nothing about LGBT individuals and our sexual lives, but a lot about the poor and their care. Yet for hundreds of years the Church’s focus had been just the opposite. While not perfect the last half century has shown the start of a re-focus on the message of the Gospel. I pray it will continue.
Peace.
I think one source of that “profound and visceral animus toward members of the L.G.B.T. communities” comes from our unconscious self. From a Jungian perspective it is a lot like the shadow. Those things we don’t like about ourselves we project onto others. As we mature part of the process is to make peace with the shadow and recognize similar traits in ourselves. In this I think it is related to what Cardinal McElroy calls a “mystery of the human soul”.
At a much deeper level of the unconscious is the animus and anima and a connection with our sexality. If this operates in us like the shadow, it seems to me that it would be good to own and make peace with those parts of ourselves that we project on others. Here are a couple of examples; “Thank God I am not like that”. “It’s ‘dirty’ what they do”. “Straight people do what”?
Finally, a thought from St. Teresa of Availa; “Let us look at own shortcomings and leave other people’s alone; for those who live carefully ordered lives are apt to be shocked at everything and we might well learn very important lessons from people who shock us.”
My sister and I are sitting here in her kitchen in Maine and saying,
“Bravo, Cardinal McElroy!”
So incredible to hear such wise and pastorally inclusive words from a leader in the Church. It sounds like Jesus! Wonderful!