Catholics Are Reaching Out to Gays While Standing Firm on Abstinence

The Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality is clear--sex should only occur between a woman and a man who are married to each other.

So how does the church reach out to gay men and lesbians without bending the rules?

That is an issue with which the church as a whole and Father Peter J. Liuzzi of Los Angeles in particular have been grappling.

Liuzzi is director of the Los Angeles Archdiocese’s Ministry With Gay and Lesbian Catholics and liaison to the larger gay and lesbian community.

On the eve of a national gathering in Long Beach of leaders in gay and lesbian Catholic ministries, Liuzzi spoke of the church’s expanding efforts to include homosexuals and the challenges of his own work, which includes talks to parishes and dioceses across the United States that are interested in gay ministries.

Here are some of Liuzzi’s remarks:

Question: What does the church teach about homosexuality, and how do you incorporate that in a ministry to gays and lesbians?

Answer: It’s a clear mandate from the cardinal [Roger M. Mahony] that part of my work . . . is to make sure people understand exactly what our teaching is, first of all among Catholic people, because I think they don’t. Sometimes [their perceptions] get mixed up with the religious right and fundamentalism. The only thing we agree on is that sexual activity outside of marriage would be immoral. But after that, when we start talking about how to approach this, we are miles apart.

Q: What is your approach? Is it any different from the expression heard among many Protestant evangelicals who say they “hate the sin but love the sinner?”

A: I suppose some Catholic circles might use that expression, but I never use it because I think it makes a judgment: By the very fact that someone is homosexual that we’re assuming sexual acting out in some way, or that the person already is a sinner so we should love them anyway. . . . The impression I have [from fundamentalists] is you have to get rid of the sexual orientation, and that they hope to get you straight, because that’s what God’s will is all about. And [fundamentalists] can really do a good job if we can get you married. The [Catholic] difference is we would say we don’t know why you’re gay, but it’s a fact of life and we don’t think you have to change that orientation. We are willing to support you as you live with it or through it. . . .

While we would be uncompromising with doctrine, I think we would be concerned all the time to recognize the fact that people on a faith journey are in various places of approaching and wrestling with that teaching--from rejecting it completely to wrestling with it to maybe coming close to approaching it. We really respect the fact that someone is on a journey and a lot of gay people are confronted with difficult questions.

Q: What do you say to a gay man, for example, who says he wants to return to the church or become a Catholic but is in a sexual relationship with another man?

A: As a priest and pastoral counselor, I would have to make sure that he understands that that relationship would not be acceptable. . . . What isn’t so clear is [that] when you take that doctrine or principle and apply it to someone’s life, it gets very, very complex. The church says you have to be very, very careful that you don’t end up driving a person away from the “whole” based on the one dimension. . . . You pay very close attention, you listen and you raise questions. . . . You end up saying, “It seems to me that you have really struggled with this and you’re doing the best you can.” That’s quite different than saying I approve, I bless or I think in your case it’s not a sin. You’re saying you really can’t do anything else and I am not going to make the doctrine some kind of sledgehammer to get you out of the church. Instead, we trust in God’s mercy. This is a process of conversion.

Q: If marriage is out of the question, what are gay men and lesbians to do with their sexuality?

A: We would say that’s quite a journey to go through, especially if you notice a difference in yourself. . . . Somewhere between not accepting every [sexual] choice we could do, like we do with other Catholics. There are a lot of areas about sexuality in our teachings that people find problematical. We don’t throw them out of the church for that. But for a lot of Catholics the decisions ended with that.

Q: Your ministry started in 1986, and now there are eight parishes in the region with active programs for gays and lesbians. What accounts for the growth?

A: I think that we have created a working model. It’s being recognized as something that bishops can relate to. There is no program as such. It’s discipleship. The cardinal loves to use the word “discipleship.” These people are primarily baptized Catholics called to discipleship in Christ, and part of that, sure, is laboring with a different sexual orientation. But there’s an awful lot more to discipleship, a whole spiritual life of somehow finding a way to be a generous and self-giving person within your church communities, or to be an agent of change for society. Rather than be “gay and Catholic,” they are “Catholic and gay,” and the Catholicity, the tradition and broader sense of ministry and being part of a parish and struggling to lead a Gospel life is what the program is. I like that.

Q: Recently, a group called Roman Catholic Faithful Inc. said it wrote priests in the Los Angeles Archdiocese seeking information on “homosexual activity being endorsed or promoted.” Your comment?

A: We obviously don’t promote homosexuality, which I think would be their suspicion. Very often I know they sometimes come to our meetings and that kind of thing. . . . I think our response is to be dedicated to the work that we’re doing, a clear presentation of church teaching. . . . I think [the accusation] betrays an attitude of real fear of gay people, or some contagion spreading to the church, or someone like myself undermining the teaching by not being harsh. . . .

As for the sin of homosexual activity, I think in our own city things like racial hatred and discrimination and deep-seated social injustice are far greater and more destructive.