What queer people would say to the pope¶
Here is what I imagine that queer people and their friends have to say to the Roman-Catholic church. It is work in progress. Please contact me if you want to contribute. Maybe we could translate this and publish it on https://petitsioon.ee in order to collect signatures. Before doing so, I need help for the final formulation.
Dear Holy Father,
we are often disappointed when we hear and see what many Christians say and think about homosexual people. For example the EKN position paper about homosexuality does not make us say “See how they love one another” (Tertullian) or that they “have love for one another” (John 13:35).
Many of us are really angry with the Church. This is more than unfortunate, it is a serious issue because extra ecclesiam nulla salus. We want to help the Church on her synodal journey of seeking what is good and true[1].
It is true that we happen to collaborate with an entertainment industry that uses the situation for making money.
It is true that we happen to be impatient or provocative.
It is true that we happen to not be prudent. We agree that sexuality is a topic that deserves delicateness. Especially children must be protected from getting answers to questions that they didn’t ask.
It is true that we sometimes fail to understand that a life-long binding makes sense only when there is a life-long purpose like a consecrated life or a biological family.
We acknowledge that the topic of About queer people is a controversial question, being discussed fervently among Christians in the whole world. We acknowledge that individual humans have strong opinions and beliefs about this topic. We do not blame anybody for having a strong opinion. We acknowledge the importance of sexual polarization for the human race.
We ask you to please explain to the Church:
Homosexuality is an extraordinary sexual orientation, not a disorder. A disorder is an attitude that hinders you from loving your brothers and sisters and disturbs social behaviour. Homophobia is a disorder, queerness isn’t.
Queer people are very welcome in the Church. Homosexuals are a gift to humanity that the church has unfortunately refused to accept for a long time.
Some queer people are called to live a life in celibacy, some as eremites, some as consecrated people. Others are called to found a biological family with a partner who values them so they can find workarounds for their particular couple.
Same-sex couples make sense under civil law and are no obstacle to being a fully recognized member of the Church.
Note: Above text has never been approved nor even been discussed by anybody in Estonia. I lacked energy and time to organize any discussions, especially because I was the only member of the Sinoditiim to consider talking with LGBT people.
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