Post-Synod Commentaries Reveal Fuller Story on LGBTQ+ Discussions
The pope participates in a roundtable discussion in the synod hall.
In the two weeks since the Synod on Synodality’s first General Assembly ended, a flurry of reactions and commentaries have appeared, both about the meeting’s final report and the larger question of its process.
As this blog reported previously, the synthesis report issued at the conclusion of the month-long October gathering did not mention LGBTQ+ people directly, leading to disappointment from some. A closer reading found several sections of the report that, if applied to gender and sexuality issues, could be helpful.
This week, Bondings 2.0 is highlighting some of insights that have emerged, providing links if you would like to read more. Today’s post includes information about some of what happened in the Synod assembly in terms of LGBTQ+ issues.
Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ, a columnist for Religion News Service, wrote two informative columns on the Synod report. In one column, he suggests “movement on LGBTQ issues was reversed,” noting that despite Pope Francis and the Vatican using the term “LGBTQ,” the Synod report omitted it. Reese opined:
“The 40-page report shows that power in the church, at least in the synod, has moved from the Global North (Europe and the United States) to the Global South (especially Africa).
“Africans were able to insert into the report pastoral concern for those in polygamous marriages but fought tooth and nail to keep any reference to LGBTQ Catholics out of the report. They were joined by Polish bishops and others in opposition to what they termed ‘LGBTQ ideology.’ Many of their comments at the synod would be considered homophobic in the Global North.
“The patriarch of Syria even stormed out of the synod rather than sit with someone who had opposing views on the matter. You wonder if they ever knowingly had a conversation with a gay person.”
Reese did note that the Synod assembly “did not close discussion of LGBTQ issues,” and the report even suggested there were “new questions” about “identity and sexuality” to be considered. However, to this, Reese reported on one LGBTQ+ advocate’s reply, “Have they been asleep for the last 50 years to think these are new questions?”
Reese has hope, though, for in a second column, he stresses that the Synod report creates opportunities for church reform. Indeed, he cites 15 such “hidden gems” in the report, about which you can read here.
The Washington Post also reported on how the LGBTQ+ issues was addressed during the Synod assembly, suggesting “no issue divided the consultative body more” than this one, according to several unnamed sources. The Post explained:
“[C]onservative bishops from Poland, Hungary, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Australia and elsewhere ardently rejected same-sex blessings, calling them tantamount to condoning ‘sin’ and a ‘colonial’ imposition from liberal Western Europeans. In public and private comments, they described homosexuality as ‘disgusting’ and ‘unnatural.’ . . .
“Liberal delegates sought to strongly counter those arguments. One delegate told a story of a woman who died by suicide after failing to obtain church absolution for being bisexual. Another delegate — the Rev. James Martin, an American priest who ministers to the LGBTQ+ community and was handpicked as a delegate by Francis — told a story of a longtime same-sex couple in which a man had painstakingly nursed his cancer-stricken partner before he died. He asked the synod to consider if that were not a genuine sign of ”love.’
“In an interview, Martin declined to confirm details of the synod debate, but said, ‘I’m disappointed not only that LGBTQ [people] were excised, but also that the discussions we had, which were passionate on both sides, were not reflected in the final document.’
“‘But I’m not surprised,’ Martin said. ‘There was great resistance to the topic among many members.'”
One conservative Catholic blog reported that the term “LGBTQ+” was actually included in a draft of the Synod report, before being removed in the amendment process, in which more than 1,000 changes were requested. According to the blog, the paragraph which eventually became item “16.h.” in the final report initially read in the first draft:
“In different ways, people who feel marginalized or excluded from the Church because of their status or sexuality, such as divorced people in a second union, people who identify as LGBTQ+, etc., also ask to be heard and accompanied.”
That paragraph in the final, approved version reads: “In different ways, people who feel marginalized or excluded from the Church because of their marriage status, identity or sexuality also ask to be heard and accompanied.”
Fr. Martin, who participated as a delegate, wrote in-depth about his experience and the hope he still has even though LGBTQ+ issues were disappointing. He framed his column in America using eight words, among them freedom, humor, friendship, and hope. Martin wrote, in part:
“[T]here was occasionally a temptation to despair, as I heard uncharitable comments about L.G.B.T.Q. people and thought, ‘Will we ever be able to make progress on this?’ But despair is never coming from God. . .
“[Yet] there is much in the document about reaching out to that group of people, even if we didn’t use the name that many L.G.B.T.Q Catholics would prefer. Second, what happened at the synod is far larger than the synthesis document. The real message of the synod is the synod itself: how we came together to discuss difficult topics. And I was amazed that the topic was discussed so openly and so extensively in the synod, surely a major step forward in the church, along with the strong recommendations to listening and accompaniment in the final synthesis.
“Most of all, I thought, despair gets us nowhere. “Corraggio!” a cardinal said to me as we walked toward St. Peter’s Basilica. He grabbed my forearm tightly. “Non dimenticare!” Don’t forget!”
Later this week, Bondings 2.0 will feature more reactions to the Synod and further commentaries. For the blog’s full coverage of the multi-year synodal journey, click here.
—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, November 15, 2023
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National Catholic Reporter, “Pope’s major Vatican summit ends without action on women deacons, mention of LGBTQ Catholics“
After researching very quickly, and roughly, it would be interesting to understand, for example why a Sub Saharan African country like Benin has 20 bishops serving 3. mil. Catholics. Yet Brazil has 14 bishops serving 140 mil. Catholics. And who determined the distro of participants at the Synod of Bishops? And who composed the team that wrote the final document?
Is it not this comparatively very small group of people (men?) who were responsible for the published ‘voice of the World Church’ of the Synod.
There should be grave concern that the Synod on Synodality may stall on matters that are crucial to the survival of the Church—especially treatment of women and recognition of the rights of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters; Church leaders should not underestimate the expectation that change will arrive; the process of sending such issues out for more review or study is a precarious one from the viewpoint of many of us who are hopeful for much needed change but realistic enough to have already one foot out the door in case it does not arrive soon
This makes me very sad. Such a lack of Compassion and Love. Jesus tells us to Love as He Loves us. I see very little love coming from the men that ‘teach and instruct’ us. And this is very worrying. What hope have the rest of us sinners have.