Ecumenical Catholic Diocese of South Texas
Old Catholic Church in the United States
In the light of the Incarnation, the call to love, and the development oLf our understanding of the demands of this love, we as Ecumenical Catholics address three specific issues that have practical implications for our faith communities: divorce and remarriage, same-sex relationships, and the sexual lives of our clergy. This by no means, exhausts the range of issues that could be taken up. However, they are issues that require a response from the Church with regard to its policies and practices.
There are many other issues of human sexuality that might be considered in a pastoral letter. These include: persons who are called to lead a celibate life, persons who are without a sexual partner through no choice of their own, the sexual maturation of adolescents, and the nurturing of love in married couples. These topics deserve serious attention, and raise issues of the differences among people and the changes we face as we progress through life. Nevertheless, in this writing I limit myself to three topics which I believe merit our attention at this time in our society.
DIVORCE AND RE-MARRIAGE
Divorce is a trauma for all who experience it: spouses, children, and others who are close to the family. Therefore, efforts at healing and reconciliation, are important and necessary. When the dissolution of a marriage is still the outcome, however, the family involved and the Christian community are called to love and support one another.
This love includes an invitation to those who are divorced and remarried to participate fully in the sacramental and community life of the Church. Love and faithfulness are strengthened by the healing power of friendship in Christ through the activities, study, and prayer life of our communities and celebrated in the Eucharistic mean and all of the sacraments. Many of us, clergy and lay people alike, have experienced the suffering of divorce, and now extend our hands to those who have been bruised by this experience. In this sense we are wounded healers who joyfully welcome the presence of renewed love in our midst.
We join our Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters in an ancient tradition of supporting those who are divorced and remarried by: embracing them in their brokenness and pain; including them fully in the sacramental life of the Church; counseling them to reflect on all that has passed and to grow with new insight; and encouraging them to reestablish love and commitment in their lives.
SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS & MARRIAGE
The issue of same sex relationships is one where Christian understanding has changed over time. In the past century, Christians have begun to rethink many matters related to sexuality and gender equality. For example, our position on issues on issues of birth control, divorce, and remarriage, the right of women to education, the ordination of women, and other matters have been reconsidered. Afer prayerful reflection and consultation with the members of our faith communities, we offer the following considerations regarding our brothers and sisters who are other than opposite sex oriented.
When Christ was asked to name the greatest commandment, he answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." One these two commandments hand all of the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus urges us to love our neighbor without exception. This is what he did, as story after story inthe Gospels show. All human activity is, in fact, measured by this standard of love.
The Christian understanding of sexual morality, like many other issues in Christian teaching has developed over time. What remains consistent is the standard of measure, which is love. In order to clarity our understanding of same sex relationships in the life of the Church, we have used the great commandment of love to frame this document. We affirm the goodness of creation and the human body in the context of the incarnation of God in Christ, and believe that we are called to respond to God's presence with love for God and for our neighbor. We regard the teaching of Jesus, and of the whole New Testament as overpowering in favor of love of neighbor and concern for the welfare of others. We recognize that in the past, whole groups of people, gay and lesbian persons among others, were often compelled to give up personal well-being (or even to suffer) on behalf of supposed moral principles. The arguments that led to such sacrifice are not consistent with the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, the Christian community must acknowledge that gay and lesbian persons should be accorded the same dignity and freedom that is the gift of our Creator.
Some will reply that Jesus "loved the sinner but hated the sin", and that homosexual behavior is condemned in some of the scriptures. However, many scripture scholars have recently concluded that the biblical writers did not deal with homosexuality as an orientation. This concept, that people are attracted to members of the same sex as a natural psychological condition, was unknown when the sacred texts were written. In the time of Paul for example, homosexual persons was thought of as bad bahavior by heterosexuals, rather than as natural behavior by persons attracted to members of the same sex. Biblical passages often read as condemning homsexuality can, and perhaps should, be read as comdemnations of violent and exploitative sexual behavior. When particular sexual behaviors, homosexual and heterosexual, were condemned, it was in the context of promiscuous of exploitative actions not in the context of loving relationships.
In recent times, the phschiatric and psychological communities of the world have concluded that homosexuality is not an aberrration of character, but rather a difference due to biological phychological and cultural factors. Our enlightenment to such emerging evidence is causing us, as a society, to reevaluate our understanding of homosexuality. This is not unlike our reevaluation of other prejudices in our culture, such as the bias we have had toward ethnic and racial minorities and the change in our understanding of the opportunities and equal treatment that should be afforded to women.
The community of faith continues to develop its understanding of the truth that the love of God is present in all creation and therefore in every human being irrespective of race, gender, or sexual orientation. Love is measured by the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentlness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galations 5:22-23). The moral issues of Christians is not whether love is homosexual or heterosexual, or on a continuum between these two. The moral issue is the extent to which love is characterized by the fruits of the Spirit. This applies to all people, whatever their affectional or sexual orientation, and is the standard by which Christian behavior is evaluated.
Therefore, we as Ecumenical Catholics, joyfully welcome gay and lesbian individuals and couples fully into our faith community. We ahve been graced by our gay and lesbians brothers and sisters presence among us, have seen the fruits of the Spirit in their lives, and have witnessed their dedication to a life of faith and faithfulness. The love we witness in their lives is the manifestation of their determination to live the gospel despite the obstacles that have been placed before them by both Church and society.
As Ecumenical Catholics, we are scripturally commited to offer gay and lesbian couples the same support give to others in our community. We completely embrace these couples, welcome them into the household of faith and provide a context in which to live out out the Chrsitan ideal of love, fidelity and commitment to one another. We believe that the Sacrament of Marriage theologically is open to all without condition. As such, there are no differences in opposite sex and same sex marriages.
THE SEXUALITY OF ORDAINED CLERGY
Fitness of Ordained ministry is measured by the standard of biblical love. Like God's grace, the call to ministyr is found in persons who are male and female, heterosexual and gay, single and widowed, divorced and remarried.
Clergy, in their sacramental and pastoral role in the community, are called to exemplify as extraordinary measure of this biblical love in their ministry and in their lives. This is especially true considering the vulnerability of those who look to them for guidance. When sexual exploitation is found in the ministry of the Church it is expecially damaging both to those persons involved and to the beloved community of faith. Inappropriate and exploitative sexual behavior on the part of clergy is categoricallly intolerable.
When evaluating a person for candidacy and/or ordination as an ordained member of our faith community, we look for qualities of commitment, maturity, insight, and unselfish love. These qualities, and other characteristics of grace-filled ministry, are not limited to persons of a particular gender, sexual or affectional orientation, or marital status. We joyfully welcome all called and qualified persons to ordained ministry, and we are enriched by the grace of their diversity.
SEXUALITY IN A LARGER CONTEXT
Divorce and death end some of our relationships and the sexual sharing that accompanies them. Others choose a celibate life. Still others long for a relationship of loving sexual expression, but never find the appropriate person with whom to join their lives. Sexual expression for some will reflect a season of life. For others the entirety of their adult lives, and for still others it will not be present at all.
As we observe the many varieties of life in our society and Church, we also recognize that our sexual lives, like all other experiences we share in this life, will end. With this in mind, we are reminded of the limitations of our sexual identities. There is a place and time to encounter God that is beyond sexual and personal distinction, as well as beyond age, ethnicity, and all other things that distinguish us.
CONCLUSION
The life we are called to lead is a challenging one. We are spirits embodied in a material world which is filled with God's presence. Living in that presence is a great joy, and it calls us to be the very best versions of ourselves. It is also true living according to the ideal of love of neighbor and of God is not only a blessing, but also a task which involves faithfulness, self-giving and maturity. For most of us, that task will also involve finding a partner to whom we can dedicate ourselves and with whom we can live in physical and emotional fidelity.
In this quest for a partner and in this life of fidelity, the differences between us, of gender or sexual expression, are not as important as the way in which we are the same. For those called to share their life with another in committed partnership, finding the right partner and living with that partner in love is not easy, but cal be a life filled with the grace and joy of the Spirit. Centuries of our tradition identify's a life of loving commitment and responsible fidelity as the surest path to human happiness. We affirm this reality, and urge all members of our communities to pray for the grace that nurtures and enables such a life.
The many ways in which we are different enrich our community. The personal and psychological differences among us, our individual talents, do this is a clear sense. Other differences, of ethnicity and culture, of age and gender, as well as differences of sexual/affectional orientation, also enrich the community. This rich diversity makes it possible to be open to the wonders of the world and of each new day, for every day is difference and we are constantly being challenged to celebrate the ways in which live is always changing around us.
In this document I have considred three areas where people ahve traditionally disagreed but where the Christian community is coming to greater understanding; divorce and remarriage, same sex relationships and choosing persons for ordained ministry. We affirm that for the point of view of the Christian, the material world is blessed and that our primary response to this blessing is love of God and love of neighbor. In this Christian visision all behavior, including sexual behavior, is judged by the standard of this love and sexuality with its commitment vitatlity, is transformed as a path to God. This is both a challenge for personal growth and a source of great joy.
In summary, as Old Catholics of the Ecumenical Communion, we affirm that our sexuality, like our body itself, it is grace - a gift where the divine and human meet. This grace knows many models: youthfull and aging, single and remarried, gay and straight. The moral call of this grace, as with all grace, is to make it a medium where love can flourish. For as Saint Paul tells us, "faith, hope, and love abide in these three; and the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13). God bless you! - + Robert D. Hall
