Thinking Anew:ANY DISCUSSION involving the Catholic Church and sex can create emotional turmoil in Ireland.
People who are now in their 50s and 60s remember the behaviour of priests, sisters and brothers, who expounded a strange, to say the least, attitude to sexuality. Ordained ministers preached a narrow and unforgiving approach which constrained normal relationships between men and women. Meanwhile, some of those ministers, as we now know, were performing lewd acts with children for whom they had a duty of care.
And a culture of secrecy within the institutional church protected the transgressors, scandalously vilifying the victims. The anger and rage which characterises many people’s reaction to church statements on sexual matters comes directly from this shameful period. So when clergy speak about marriage, or matters with a sexual aspect, it is understandable that many of the faithful simply don’t want to hear what is said to them. They’ve heard it all before, it proved to be a sham then, and so on.
In tomorrow’s Gospel we read how Jesus advises his listeners against the practice of divorce, and then at the end of the longer version we see how Jesus takes the little children in his arms and blesses them. (Mark 10: 2-16) One might be forgiven for seeing a dreadful irony in the juxtaposition of the two stories.
Right now there is a public debate about whether or not the law should allow gay couples to marry. Legislation being prepared suggests that gay relationships will be afforded a legal status but they will not be “marriages”. It is a controversial topic. It is an area where the Catholic Church has given its opinion.
It is a fundamental tenet of Catholic teaching that everything we do has to have an end or a purpose. In sexual activity the purpose is the love of the partner and the procreation of children. And if one of these aspects or ingredients is missing then the act falls short.
The church teaches that marriage between a man and a woman is the ideal scenario in which heterosexual couples have the possibility of love and procreation.
But we live in a secular State and it is not the role of the church to instruct the State how to order its affairs. Of course Catholic clergy must preach the Gospel and be prophetic in that task. Modern psychology and psychiatry have gone a long way in opening the mystery and intricacy of the mind for us. The church, while claiming to be a divine institution, knows only too well it is made up of human beings who err. History proves the point.
The church has not had an unblemished record when it comes to homosexuality. Indeed, here it suffers an extra dilemma. While it has a record of speaking strongly against homosexuality, it is an organisation which has the reality of having among its ordained ministers people who are homosexual. And these people invariably have to deny their orientation.
Meanwhile, despite the difficulties, be they external or self-inflicted, the church must still preach the Gospel, which it believes is what God wants for us. When it comes to sexual behaviour it follows the words of Jesus – marriage is an institution between a man and a woman and that it is a life-long commitment. That indeed is the perfect state. And the church needs to preach that message in friendship and conviction.
But that does not mean that people of different beliefs and opinions are duty-bound to fall in behind what the church says. And in that context the church can advise, but it should not tell the State what to do.
As Christians we all need to pray that married people will be given the grace and the strength to live the Gospel message. At the same time we can never cast scorn or sit in judgment on people who differ from us.
Maybe the greatest and most influential way of preaching the Word of God is through our own dedicated living out the Gospel message.
Above all we need to be gentle and kind in all our dealings with other people. God is forever extending to us the hand of love and friendship. We in turn will recognise that moment – not through bluff and force – rather through love, gentleness and kindness.
– MC