Caribbean Church Leaders Affirm Pope Francis’ Call to Decriminalize Homosexuality

Two Catholic leaders in the Caribbean have recently stated their agreement with Pope Francis’ declaration earlier this year that homosexuality is not a crime, though both leaders reiterated negative church teachings on sexual ethics.

Archbishop Jason Gordon of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Leela Ramdeen, a consultant with the archdiocese’s Catholic Commission for Social Justice made separate statements which show their support for Pope Francis’ call to end laws criminalizing LGBTQ+ people. But both also reinforced the church’s ban on same-gender sexual activity (referred to as “buggery” in some parts of the Caribbean).

In a radio interview, Gordon was asked about the pope’s condemnation of criminalization laws. Trinidad and Tobago Guardian reported:

“In contextualising the Pope’s comments, Archbishop Gordon said, ‘We’ve said for a long time, hate the sin and not the sinner.’

“The Archbishop said while civilisation has realised that the act of sodomy is ‘morally wrong,’ whether or not it should be a capital crime, ‘is a whole other story.’

“‘So, adultery, sodomy, all of these things were capital crimes at one time, so as we move from it being a capital crime, the sodomy laws remain on the books as a law, where you can convict someone up to 25 years if they are convicted of sodomy, which is a strange set of sexual perversions,’ Gordon added. . .

“‘So, the question is, should it be a crime? Is it wrong? It is absolutely wrong. Is it moral? It is an immoral act, but is it a crime? That’s the question the Holy Father was raising and he’s saying whereas it is immoral and it is something that is not good for society, a person should not go to jail for 25 years because of the act,’ he said.”

Ramdeen followed similar reasoning in her comments, per Newsday:

“‘The Pope also said it’s a sin to lack charity with one another, meaning anybody who is not charitable, who wants to discriminate against homosexuals, that’s also a sin. Every child is a child of God. Everyone is a child of God, God don’t make rubbish.’

“‘So what in fact our church is saying is, while we do not accept that they should be discriminated, we ask them the call to chastity.'”

Ramdeen brought up a 2018 legal case that challenged Trinidad and Tobago’s laws against “buggery” involving gay activist Jason Jones, who has appealed for more British Commonwealth nations to decriminalize homosexuality. At the time of his appeal, homosexuality was still illegal in 36 of 56 Commonwealth nations. Jones, who lives in London and regularly visits Trinidad and Tobago, always feared that he could be jailed for 25 years because of his sexuality. He stated then:

“‘Why is it that while our colonial masters who got rid of this so long ago, we want to put people in jail for 25 years, because they’re homosexual? There are so many other issues that we should be addressing.'”

A court found that the country’s laws needed revision, which was welcomed by the archbishop at the time in similar terms that homosexuality is immoral, but should not be criminalized. Church teaching is that a homosexual orientation is not immoral.

Jones weighed in on Gordon and the pope’s recent comments, noting he had written to Francis after the decriminalization remarks suggesting the pope was not actually helping. The Guardian reported:

“Jones also took issue with the Archbishop’s opening statement of, ‘hate the sin, love the sinner.’

“‘Once a catholic priest uses the term hate I switch off, because if you are trying to say it shouldn’t be illegal but we hate the sin, then you’re still condemning us and we don’t have any time for that,’ he said.”

“Jones said the LGBTQ+ community will take no comfort in the Archbishop’s words even if they sound sympathetic to their struggles.

“‘It actually muddies the water and it creates even more confusion for the general public, because what does that mean? And that type of hypocritical standing on the fence does not help anyone.'”

Robert Shine, associate director of New Ways Ministry, commented:

“Archbishop Gordon’s affirmation of Pope Francis’ call to decriminalize being LGBTQ+ is welcome. However, it is unfortunate that he and other church leaders insist on linking questions of social policy with sexual ethics. In no other context do Catholic officials defend human rights in situations of injustice while also criticizing the very people whose rights are being impaired. When speaking about criminalization, church leaders should provide clarity by simply affirming that being LGBTQ+ is not a crime and that all such laws must be abandoned.”

—Bobby Nichols (he/him), New Ways Ministry, April 5, 2023