Catholics neither hate women nor are we afraid of homosexuals

Sometimes I come across a comment or article that is brilliantly written that I just have to reproduce it.

Well, the invitation of the Pope to Anglicans, who do not support their church's stand on certain issues that go against the teaching of the Christ to join the Catholic fold, has sparked a lot of criticism. One of it is this.

This is the comment of one of the readers to the article:

You characterize the Church’s stand on female priests and gay marriage as “misogyny and homophobia.”

Catholics neither hate women nor are we afraid of homosexuals.

Official Church beliefs about women and homosexuality are often mischaracterized in the press out of a refusal to understand them. Is that bigotry or ignorance? Are they truly two separate things in a day and age when the Catholic Church’s official beliefs are readily available at the Vatican’s website?

Catholics do not believe God called women to the priesthood. It has nothing to do with the worth of women or the mental abilities of women. We have female doctors of the Church and the most revered saint is a female. Many parishes have their day-to-day running placed on the back of a female lay person or religious because of the lack of a priest dedicated to soley that parish. So to imply that the Catholic Church does not believe women are equal to men is a false statement, dare I say a lie.

Men are not called to become mothers. Women are not called to become fathers. There is something about the priesthood that did not permit Christ, the most egalitarian, liberal, free thinking man of his time, to ordain women. He honored women, he respected women, he taught women, and women were part of his inner circle. They were not, however, given the authority to administer the sacraments. As a strong, intelligent, free thinking women, I don’t understand it, but I am prepared to accept that as something I will understand in fullness when I am no longer limited by the constraints of this life and can enjoy full communion with God in Heaven.Until then, I accept it.

Its not that big a deal in terms of feminism. We need to find a way to make things more equitable for single mothers struggling to support their families before we worry about things like a small, select group of people who are so intellectually conceited that they are unwilling to admit that there are things they are incapable of understanding.

As for homosexuality, the Catholic Church does not discriminate against homosexuals. Unmarried lovers are also guilty of sin. They, too, are expected to be celibate.

Furthermore, not everyone is called to marriage. Marriage in the Catholic Church is not a right. Marriage is not a right. If it was, then all the people who aren’t currently married because they have no partner would be unjustly denied their rights.

Homosexuals are, like all unmarried people, called to celibacy. The Church’s teaching to them is the same that it is to all unmarried people. The purpose of intercourse is two fold: unity and procreation. It is the outward sign of the spiritual union that occurs during the sacrament of marriage. That spiritual union is simply not possible between two people of the same gender.

The tendency of having an attraction to members of the same gender is not the issue here. The Catholic Church recognizes that tendency. It sympathizes with the discrimination people with that tendency have. It loves its children who have that tendency. But it can not change the sacrament to accommodate gay marriage. The Church can’t change the sacraments. They were, as any good Catholic knows, instituted by Christ.

Is there a subset of Catholics who are bigoted against homosexuals? You bet! There are subsets of homosexuals who are bigoted against homosexuals! But the official Church teaching on the matter is that the act of fornication outside marriage is a sin. THE ACT.

I think discussions about religion are good, but only if they serve to enlighten, not if they are filled with the sort of anti-Catholic bigotry that you appear to want to engage in.

Catholics don’t hate women, and we don’t hate or fear homosexuals. To write otherwise is libel.

— M. Boyle

Thanks M/s Boyle!