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Homosexuality, Seen in Relation to Ecumenical Dialogue: What Really Matters to the Catholic Church

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Philippe Bordeyne
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Type
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Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 87 , Issue 1012 , November 2006 , pp. 561 - 577
Copyright
© The Author 2006. Journal compilation © The Dominican Council/Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA

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References

1 Cahill, Lisa Sowle, Sex, Gender and Christian Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 2CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 See for instance the recent discussion between Msgr Robert Sokolowski and Stephen Pope in America: Robert Sokolowski, ‘The Threat of Same-sex Marriage: People who Separate Sexuality from Procreation Live in Illusion’, America 190/19 (June 7, 2004), p. 12; Stephen J. Pope, ‘Same-sex Marriage: Threat or Aspiration?’, America 191/18 (December 6, 2004), p. 11; Robert Sokolowski, ‘The Primacy of Procreation: a Response to Stephen J. Pope’, America 191/18 (December 6, 2004), p. 14.

3 In the final words of a 1986 document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, national bishops' conferences were encouraged to examine the question of civil law in the light of their own cultures: ‘Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons’, Origins 12 (November 13, 1986), pp. 377–382. The issued statements proved to be varied: Stephen J. Pope, ‘The Magisterium's Arguments against “Same-sex Marriage”: an Ethical Analysis and Critique’, Theological Studies 65/3 (Sept 2004), pp. 530–565.

4 Bordeyne, Philippe, ‘Xavier Thévenot: la créativité de la théologie au service de la morale’, Esprit et vie 133 (septembre 2005), pp. 1–7Google Scholar.

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15 The Belgian Canon Moeller, who was deeply involved in the redaction of Gaudium et spes, was a specialist of atheistic existentialism: Charles Moeller, Littérature du XXe siècle et christianisme: 4 Volumes (Tournai & Paris: Casterman, 1953–1961). With Mgr Philips, another major Vatican 2 expert, he had been an active promoter of ecumenism: Mœller, Charles & Philips, Gérard, Grâce et œcuménisme (Paris: Éditions de Chevetogne, 1957)Google Scholar.

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17 Bordeyne, Philippe, ‘Vatican II: un Concile dans l'histoire’, Études 403/6 (décembre 2005), pp. 51–60Google Scholar.

18 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ‘Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons’, 28 March 2003, Origins 33 (August 14, 2003), pp. 177–182Google Scholar.

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20 Cf. Lumen gentium, n° 11.

21 Choix éthiques et communion ecclésiale, op. cit., p. 37.

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29 See Stout following Rogers: Stout, Jeffrey, ‘How Charity Transcends the Culture Wars: Eugene Rogers and Others on Same-Sex Marriage’, Journal of Religious Ethics 31/2 (2003), pp. 169–180CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Here: p. 176.

30 Loader, William, Sexuality and the Jesus Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), pp. 196–197Google Scholar.

31 Causse, Jean-Daniel, ‘Homosexualité et éthique de la reconnaissance: un déplacement théologique’, in Dermange, François, Ehrwein, Céline, Müller, Denis, eds., La reconnaissance des couples homosexuels: Enjeux juridiques, sociaux et religieux (Genève: Labor et Fides, 2000), pp. 93–100Google Scholar. Here: p. 96.

32 This anthropological and moral insight should be further founded on Scripture. The pericope of Lk 10: 25–42 can be helpful. After calling Jesus' disciples to be compassionate without any consideration of sex (the good Samaritan), Luke invites the practice of hospitality through the narrative of Martha and Mary, where the relationship between Mary and Jesus, typically male and female, allows gender critique.

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35 This is probably the matter on which I had most disagreement with Gene Rogers in the public and fraternal discussion we had in Strasbourg. He assumes that, in refusing the sacrament of marriage to same-sex couples who promise to live faithfully with one another, the Church deprives them of the means of sanctification that would deepen their communion with the Trinitarian God. To my mind, this view underestimates the traditional relationship between spirituality, sanctification and their institutionalization. See: Rogers, Eugene F. Jr., ‘Marriage as an Ascetic Practice’, INTAMS review: The Journal of the International Academy of Marital Spirituality 11 (2005), pp. 28–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

36 Malina, Bruce J., ‘The Meaning(s) of Purposeful Non-Marriage in the New Testament’, in Salzman, Todd A., Kelly, Thomas M. & O'Keefe, John J., eds., Marriage in the Catholic Tradition: Scripture, Tradition, and Experience (New York: Crossroad, 2004), pp. 30–44Google Scholar.

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39 John Paul II, Familiaris consortio, 1981, n° 34.

40 Conseil Permanent Luthéro-Réformé en France, Église et homosexualité: Document de travail (Paris: juillet 2002, http://www.protestants.org/textes/homosexualite/cplr.htm).

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42 Timothy Radcliffe, ‘Can gays be priests?’, The Tablet (26th November 2005).

43 See above, note 40.