Bishop Praises LGBTQ+ Witness, Calls Church to Be More Accepting

Bishop Raúl Vera López preaches at the opening Mass of the Red Católica Arcoíris México conference.

A retired bishop in Mexico addressed a national conference of LGBTQ+ Catholics there, telling the participants “without you the Church is not complete.”

Bishop Raúl Vera López, O.P., the former leader of the Diocese of Saltillo and a longtime supporter of LGBTQ+ people, made the comment during the fourth national meeting of Red Católica Arcoíris México (Catholic Network Rainbow Mexico), held this past weekend in Torreón, reports Vanguardia.com.  The meeting was attended by approximately 100 people, representing several regional Catholic LGBTQ+ groups across Mexco.

[Editor’s note: In this post, the italicized words in quotation marks are not necessarily the bishop’s verbatim words, but a summary made by the news reporter. The boldface words are direct, though translated, words from the bishop/]

The news report stated that during the meeting’s opening Eucharistic liturgy, the bishop told the participants that “homosexuality is not a sin,” and neither is it “an illness, or a perversion, but rather a condition inherent to human nature that must be understood and respected: ‘It is a matter of nature and is neither a human perversion nor an illness.’ ” The Mass was presided by Bishop Luis Martín Barraza Beltrán of Torreón in the diocesan cathedral. On the conference’s second day Bishop Jorge Estrada of the Diocese of Gómez Palacio presided at Mass for the participants that diocesan cathedral.

The conference participants pose in the Gómez Palacio cathedral with Bishops Vera López and Estrada (back row, center).

You can watch and listen to the entirety of the bishop’s sermon (in Spanish) by clicking here. For a full report on the conference’s events and proceedings (in Spanish), click here.

The news report said that the bishop went to to explain that since homosexuality is an inherent, naturally occurring human reality, “classifying or excluding people based on this condition contradicts the Christian responsibility to recognize the dignity of all believers.” 

Addressing the attendees directly, the bishop emphasized “that the Church has an obligation to welcome members of these groups and guarantee them a full place within community life, without discrimination or exclusion. In that regard, she affirmed that people with diverse sexual orientations have the right to actively participate in faith communities and even assume religious leadership responsibilities.”

Vera López also stressed that “that the acceptance of LGBT+ people should not be understood as an act of concession or goodwill, but as a moral and spiritual responsibility of Catholic communities to ensure that all their members can fully develop their life of faith.”

Because his message garnered a stream of criticism from anti-LGBTQ+ people, the bishop responded to these attacks on his Facebook page by doubling down on his support for LGBTQ+ people, and by posting a video of his homily along with a letter defending Catholic support for LGBTQ+ people (see screenshot in English translation at left). Vanguardia.com reported: 

“In his post, he expressed gratitude for the support he received, lamented the criticism and slander against him for considering himself a “brother, pastor, and friend” of this community. He also affirmed that “homosexuality is not a sin” and maintained that those who condemn people for their sexual orientation need a renewal in their understanding of the Gospel.”

In the post he said that anti-LGBTQ+ people “require a new heart as the prophet Ezekiel writes.”