“All Saints” aka Halloween, is a Holy Day of Obligation in
the Roman Catholic Church. The Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on
the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, (also known by its opening words
Homosexualitatis problema or, disparagingly, as "the Halloween
Letter") is a letter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of
the Roman Catholic Church written in 1985 and delivered in Rome on 1 October
1986 by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ( Pope Benedict XVI) and Archbishop
Alberto Bovone. The letter gave instructions on how the Clergy should deal with
and respond to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. Pope John Paul II approved
the letter and ordered its publication.
What does this letter have in common with the recent testimony
of Bishop William Lori, head of the newly created ad hoc committee on religious
liberty at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who recently testified
before Congress? According to Bishop Lori the Catholic vision of Religious
Freedom should be paramount and associated with the Vatican’s perceived threats
to religious liberty. Further that action in support of any legislation that
promotes equality for Lesbian/Gay People would be an attack a Catholics right
to practice his/hers religion. The Rainbow Sash Movement response to such a
view is that it is totally unreasonable, un-democratic and homophobic.
Like the 1986 Halloween Letter Bishop Lori promotes the idea
that propagation of religious belief as a justification for discrimination against
Gay people should be lawful. Both continue to promote the Catholic Church’s condemnation
of homosexuality under the guise “Religious Freedom”. This will only result in the
corresponding denial of “Religious Freedom” to Gay people as is exampled by the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The Halloween letter did not remove violence
against gay people if they try to legalize our rights.
The US Council of Catholic Bishops imperial religious behavior
in respect to Gay Marriage has only sought to deny equality and fairness by
promoting individual attacks on the rights of gay people generally, on Gay
Catholics and their allies specifically. The Bishops seek to promote through
the prism of “Religious Freedom” an atmosphere where promoting individual
rights of conscience and equal rights for Gay People are somehow at odds with “Religious
Freedom” which is a total fabrication of reasonable thought.
Both the Halloween Letter anniversary and Bishop Lori
testimony only show how out of touch the bishops are when it comes to the lives
of real people. Clearly the Bishops can no longer speak for the Catholic voter
on these issues as poll after poll has shown.
Bob Anderson
Rainbow Sash Movement
Rainbow Sash Movement
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