Synod Offers “Fresh Hope” for LGBTQ+ Welcome in Church, Writes Theologian

“There is…fresh hope for the church to develop a truly ‘catholic’ (inclusive) stance toward its LGBTQ+ members,” one theologian opined in evaluating the Synod on Synodality’s first General Assembly that concluded last fall.

Thomas Groome, a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, published his analysis of the synodal process in the National Catholic Reporter. In the article, Groome closely examines the aftermath of the Synod assembly for signs of hope.

“There was serious disappointment with the synod’s synthesis report,” Groome, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion, admits. Among other issues, “it made no explicit mention of full inclusion in the church for LGBTQ+ people.”

Despite the lack of LGBTQ-specific statements, Groome contends that the overall message of the Synod assembly’s report is clearly one of inclusion. He notes that “while it does not use the term LGBTQ+, the synthesis report repeatedly uses the word ‘welcome’ as defining the imperative posture of the church toward all peoples.'”

While “all peoples” does not explicitly mention the LGBTQ+ community, it implicitly signals their welcome, suggests Groome. Pope Francis has famously emphasized the Spanish word “todos (all),” which the theologian says “is generally heard as highlighting a particular welcome for LGBTQ+ people.”

Groome also finds hope for the LGBTQ+ community in the report’s emphasis on dialogue with science, as he writes:

“There is also fresh hope for the church to develop a truly ‘catholic’ (inclusive) stance toward its LGBTQ+ members in the repeated insistence in the synthesis report that, when addressing such social issues, theology needs to be in dialogue with the sciences.

“For example: ‘It is important to deepen the dialogue between the human sciences, especially psychology and theology, for an understanding of human experience that does not merely situate these approaches side by side but integrates them into a more mature synthesis.’

“Dialogue with the sciences, then, will help the church recognize the wide spectrum and the natural givenness of sexual orientation — rather than by choice — with all equally reflecting the image and likeness of God.”

The Synod assembly’s report gives cause for hope that other groups will be welcomed into the church in new ways as well, Groome writes. He believes this development could include: welcoming non-Catholic Christians to the Eucharistic table; allowing trained lay people to take on preaching roles; re-instating resigned priests into ministry; ordaining married men as priests; ordaining women as deacons.

The Synod assembly report calls for additional examination and discernment on each of these topics. Groome opines, “Let’s hope the ‘further study’ won’t take long — like not beyond the next synodal assembly in fall 2024.”

His conclusion:

“Synodality now is the way forward that can engage the whole people of God as active agents of their faith, moving along together.”

As the synodal journey continues, its work will not be complete without the full participation of the entire people of God. LGBTQ+ Catholics continue to claim their place in the church which Pope Francis describes as “a church with open doors,” a church for all.

—Ariell Watson Simon (she/her), New Ways Ministry, January 16, 2024