September 1, 1983

Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen
Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington

Archbishop Addresses Issue of Homosexuality

The following interview was conducted by Dr. Maury Sheridan, director of the Office of Communications for the Archdiocese of Seattle.

Archbishop, the subject of homosexuality has received widespread attention publicly during the past several months. Is this subject a critical concern from the point of view of the church today?

Of course… any issue that is a source of human suffering—spiritual, emotional, psychological—is a central concern to the church. And homosexuality is such an issue.

There are those who would rather it were not a central concern. But wishing it so does not make it so, nor does it alleviate the human suffering.

For a long time, homosexuality was an issue we did not discuss. We knew next to nothing about it. During our seminary training we heard very little about it—except that it was “evil; a sin against nature,” it was called. Like most of the material dealt with under the heading of sexuality, it was “not talked about.”

By its very nature, homosexuality is a sensitive and volatile subject, fraught with misunderstanding and misinformation.

In dealing with the subject, where do we start?

Homosexuality is a complex issue. We need to begin by making the distinction, I think, between “homosexual orientation,” the sexual attraction to a person of one’s own sex, and “homosexual activity,” the engagement in genital activity with a person of the same sex. It is acknowledged today that homosexual orientation is not a matter of one’s free choice (any more than the color of one’s eyes), and its causes are generally unknown. Obviously, I am not talking here about a cultivated homosexuality. Homosexual orientation does not automatically imply sexual activity. It is homosexual activity which presents a serious problem so far as the official teaching of the church is concerned.

What is the official teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality?

In general, the church teaches that a homosexual orientation, since it is not a matter of free choice, is morally neutral (not sinful), but that homosexual activity is objectively wrong (sinful).

In 1975, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, and in 1976 the American Catholic bishops published their pastoral letter To Live in Christ Jesus. The American Catholic bishops stated: “Homosexual activity … as distinguished from homosexual orientation, is morally wrong.”

Pope John Paul II, in his remarks to the bishops in Chicago during his 1979 pastoral visit to the U.S., specifically confirmed this teaching.

The American bishops went on to indicate that some persons “through no fault of their own” have a homosexual orientation, and that: “Homosexuals, like everyone else, should not suffer from prejudice against their basic human rights. They have a right to respect, friendship and justice. They should have an active role in the Christian community.”

The Vatican’s declaration on sexual ethics also acknowledges that homosexuality can be an “irreversible” condition—the implication being that such persons are not morally blameworthy for such a sexual orientation.

Do you feel this “official position” on homosexuality is likely to change?

There are credible theologians in the church who say it cannot; there are also credible theologians who believe that it can. I am not a theologian, and so must leave speculative matters to those better qualified to deal with them. As bishop it is important for me to stand clearly with the tradition of the church on this matter.

As you intimate, there are contemporary theologians who are reexamining this position. What leads them to do so?

Let me start by saying it is important to recognize that certain aspects of the church’s teaching on homosexuality have undergone development in recent years. We are coming to understand better, for instance, the important distinction between orientation and activity. The church, not unlike other institutions, draws from an increasing body of human knowledge in its reflection on the Word of God, which we call theology. An example of this is our understanding of Sacred Scripture which is constantly undergoing development that is in some ways revolutionary.

Since Divino Afflante Spiritu of Pope Pius XII, no credible Catholic scripture scholar can be content with a literal or fundamentalist approach to the interpretation of Scripture on this or any other issue.

When one adds to this new developments in the human and behavioral sciences, it is not difficult to understand why theologians are continually involved in this kind of re-examination.

I must say I await with great interest the findings of our theologians and the ensuing dialogue between them and the church’s Magisterium.

Why should the church be involved in this issue at all?

For a number of reasons, prominent among them the whole area of pastoral care. When Jesus was among us he ministered to all people in need, and the church can hardly do less today. Christ has called us to show compassion and love for one another. As Catholics and Christians we must keep in mind the fact that homosexuals are our brothers and sisters. We are all children of the same God, made in his image and likeness. We are members of the one Body of Christ.

Another reason is that while homosexuals are a minority group, they are a much larger minority than most of us are willing to admit. National statistics generally place the number at approximately 10 percent of the population. This means that one out of every four families has a member with a homosexual orientation. Put another way, these statistics tell us that significant numbers of our parishioners have, or are related to persons who have, a homosexual orientation. They are part of our community and they need our pastoral ministry.

Many of us ignore that fact. We set homosexual persons apart, label them as “different,” and thereby target them for ridicule, scorn, injustice and even violence. Not surprisingly, many of these people have left the church. As the chief pastor of this church I want to do all I can to halt this exodus.

What do you have in mind?

We can begin by acknowledging that homosexual persons are a part of our Christian community—and for some of us this is painfully hard to do—and by ministering to them in compassionate and caring and, yes, challenging ways.

… and remember, when we speak of ministry to the homosexual person we must include in that ministry the families of homosexuals: parents, brothers and sisters, and spouses—many with homosexual orientations are married persons with families.

These family members have been almost totally ignored by the church. And they undergo intense suffering from anger, confusion and often deep-seated guilt.

Are you speaking of a ministry to the homosexual that is different from the ministry to the heterosexual?

The trouble with using terms like “homosexual” and “heterosexual” is that they limit the identification of the person to the sexual component alone. The other dimensions of the human personality are eclipsed, so that the other needs of the person—including the need for spiritual growth in faith—are overlooked or ignored. Ministry to all human persons must encompass the total being. Yet, we must acknowledge in our ministry to homosexuals the scorn, the isolation, they have come to experience by virtue of their orientation. They must be recognized as full members of the church, integrated into the parish community… and that is painfully hard for many of our people to accept.

What are some other characteristics of this kind of ministry?

Like all ministry, it needs to be modeled on the ministry of Jesus as we find it in the Gospels. It must be characterized by a spirit of healing and reconciliation. It must recognize that the homosexual person has a need for self worth, for love and a sense of community, for prayer and worship—in other words for a variety of ministers and ministries.

For example, our pastoral care must recognize the intense struggle that the homosexual faces and the challenge that our church presents in its call for chastity, a challenge that our divorced and other single Catholics know so well.

Always, of course, it must be carried out within the normative teaching of the church with relation to sexual morality. There are many more aspects of this kind of pastoral ministry than I have time to enumerate here.

What does the church draw from in developing a ministry to homosexuals?

Well, first of all the church draws on scriptural witness, its lived tradition, and sound principles of pastoral theology.

Pastoral theology has the benefit today of a growing body of knowledge acquired from the social, behavioral and physical sciences. Many responsible studies and a good deal of research and dialogue on these sensitive moral and pastoral concerns are taking place within our Catholic community.

In all of this, we need to be aware of the lived experience of homosexual persons and their families. To this collective body of knowledge and experience we must bring openness of mind, critical judgment and a profound sense of charity—as well as a great deal of prayer.

Earlier you spoke of challenging the homosexual. What did you have in mind?

Maybe the best way I can respond to that is to share a quote from a pastoral statement on homosexual ministry developed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore (Feb. ’82):

Homosexuals are called to the “same challenge that Christ has laid before all of us: ‘Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.’  Not only must we demand from others respect for our dignity as human beings, we must live in such a way as to respect our own dignity. We must do justice to our personhood, for we have been created in the image and likeness of God.

Our response to Christ’s call to perfection must be total, that is, it must be made at every level of who we are as persons. Heart and mind, body and spirit, all have to be developed and integrated to the fullest of our abilities…

With regard to our sexuality, this call to perfection is a call to form our lives according to the virtue of chastity…Through chastity we strive to live our sexuality to its human potential…This call to perfection through a life of chastity is addressed to all people, whether their orientation be heterosexual or homosexual, single or married.

I guess what all of this says to me, Maury, is that in one sense the Christian with a homosexual orientation is no different from any other Christian in the eyes of God or the church.

Turning to another matter, Archbishop… as a church leader, what kind of response to the growing dialogue on homosexuality do you expect from our Catholic community?

I am certainly aware that some of our people are concerned—perhaps that’s too mild a word—about this. One thing about being a bishop, you are continually faced with issues that bring pain to someone…that cannot prevent a bishop from acting or from addressing controversial issues.

These people, these “other people” are our people. As I have said, they too are members of the Body of Christ. They have the same need for the sacraments as the rest of us. We have no right to deny them the use of our church. To do so would be to judge their standing before God.

When I was approached by the local Dignity chapter and asked whether the closing liturgy of the convention could be celebrated in St. James Cathedral, which is within walking distance of the convention hotel, I conferred with a representative group of my fellow priests, as well as with theologians and other advisors. On the basis of that consultation, I granted the request, even though I realize that some of our people might well question the decision or even misunderstand it entirely. I decided that this was a risk that ought to be taken in order to deal with this delicate and highly-charged issue in a Christian manner.

Thank you, Archbishop.