Wayne Besen - Author, Activist, Columnist, Public Speaker

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI issued his long-awaited first encyclical. It spoke of "love" but pointedly excluded gay people from such love. The encyclical, titled "God Is Love," did not specifically mention abortion, homosexuality, contraception or divorce, issues that often divide Catholics. It even embraced sexuality, which was quite rare.

"Love is indeed 'ecstasy,'" he wrote in a document that ran 71 pages in the English translation. "Not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus toward authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God."

This passage is essentially a call for allowing gay people to marry. If sexuality is essential for heterosexuals to "look outward," find "authentic self-discovery" and the "discovery of God," than the same must be true for gay people. By denying our relationships, the Pope is keeping us from our spirituality, which, by his own admission, can keep one from God.

I suggest that the Pope heed his own advice on how distorted religion leads to hate and violence.

"In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant," he wrote. "For this reason, I wish in my first encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes on us and which we in turn must share with others."

I read the article in The New York Times where the reporter Ian Fisher kissed the Pope's ass. It might have been the most biased story I've seen in the paper. I suggest the Vatican hire Fisher as a PR agent.

16 Comments:

The only 'love' his crowd is capable of 'sharing', is with CHILDREN!
posted by Anonymous, at 1/26/2006 4:18 PM

One benefit of being gay is that we get to see the hypocrisy of those that other people adore. I think that enables us all to be a bit more discerning than the average Joe.
posted by Anonymous, at 1/26/2006 4:20 PM

We are in a dangerous time! There is a witch hunt going on in the catholic church and gay men are the target. And they are targeting the men who "appear" to be gay. Sheesh!

Why must we be scapegoated!!?? And all in the name of Jesus Christ.

If you ask me, Christ would walk among the AIDS sufferers and Meth Users! At least historically he did such things.
posted by Bobby, at 1/26/2006 7:26 PM

OF COURSE Jesus would walk amongst the "rejects"! Just read the new testament. While I won't vouch for its historical accuracy, it reports that Jesus NEVER hung out with the religious people.

He went to those who were "outside the temple". All along, throughout the gospels, Jesus was attacked by religious people. His response? Read Matthew 23, the entire chapter. It's great reading.
posted by Anonymous, at 1/27/2006 10:09 AM

Your statement is terribly flawed.

Nowhere in any of the quotations you have of the Pope did he mention sexuality. He mentioned, instead, love as "extacy".

Not all love is sexuality.

I love some men, extatically, but I do not have sex with them.

For a man to have sex with a man is opposed to love.
posted by Paul Rimmer, at 4/11/2007 3:02 PM

Paul, Thank You! I couldn't have said it better myself.

Before reading my comment, please put your pride in your homosexuality aside. I have often struggled with understanding the concept of homosexuality. To commit a homosexual act is a choice. When does a man or women become a homosexual? I see Jesus walking with a man or women. No where in that picture would that man be proclaiming his sinfulness as if something to bear pride in.

The Catholic Church is not divided on topics of abortion, homosexuality, contraception or divorce. It knows exactly where it stands. It has never faltered or failed. Amen, Amen!
posted by Anonymous, at 4/16/2007 7:38 PM

Jesus hung out with the religious people his entire life.

He just hung out with a certain type of religious person, the truly spiritual and sincere religious people. He despised the poeple who pretend to be religious while actually being sinners, those who prayed in the streets for all to see.

He visited the meth users, yes, to show them the way to BECOME religious poeple themselves.

He disliked corrupt authority, and in his day, the Jewish priests represented that corrupt authority. He also disliked Pontius Pilot, the corrupt Roman authority.

Benedict's piece says nothing against homosexuals. You have to read that with a strong pre-existing anti-Catholic bias to possibly glean any anti-gay sentiments from those words.

The Catholic Church does not hate gays, it is not against gays, nor are most Catholics. The Catholic Church is against having sex for pleasure, as opposed to having sex to procreate or to nurture love. Gay sex cannot procreate.

However, the 2nd definition, to nurture love between two people, is the newer of the 2 reasons. In this reason I see the hope for homosexuals, I think that the Church purposely added this reason to imply that it is OK for homosexuals to have sex as well. Why else would they add that line just recently?

I think that within the next decade or so, we will see a much softer stance towards homosexual marriage and sex from the Church.

The Catholic Church is already seen as pro-gay among many other Christian groups. A protestant girl started yelling at me last week because I am Catholic and she said we Catholics like gays. I said so what, gays are God's children, just like her and I.

The Catholic Church is not the enemy of gays. Fundamentalist Protestant groups are. Ignorance is. Know who your friends are, and stop insulting them.
posted by Anonymous, at 4/23/2007 3:45 AM

Yea, the last commentator’s totally right! the Catholic Church, through Her 2000+ years of consistent history, has only frowned upon the homosexual acts, but NEVER on the homosexual people; and this is the reason why the are countless of CHASE homosexuals, through an organization called Courage, are still in full communion with the Church and, my dear friend, before you criticize Holy Mother Church, please consider what She teaches instead of what you think or you've heard She teaches__God is Love! and Laudatur Iesus Christus,
Jeff Mari Elima dit Jeff le Bel, and you can find me on myspace.com/jefflebel. and Benedict's a Much better teacher than Yoda. LOL. and instead of considering himself being better than you, he caries himself as if he's better FOR you. he's humble because he, like Peter before him,has been appointed by Christ Himself. God loves ya!!!
posted by Anonymous, at 7/28/2007 2:31 PM

The worst enemy of gays is Benedict XVI because he insist that "homosexuality is an intrinsic evil".
-- http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2006/10/pope-benedict-xvis-second-bite-gays.html

The Pope's Hypocrisy is that he lives 24 hours with his gay Private Secretary
-- http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/2007/06/benedict-xvis-handsome-private.html

Watch him in Google video how he covered up gay pedophile priests
-- http://pope-ratz.blogspot.com/
posted by Charles, nyc, at 9/06/2007 12:12 PM

I am an extremely devout Catholic and I believe that the Pope can not make a mistake in the area of Catholic teaching and doctrine. I also believe that homosexuality is a sin because it is a choice. People are not born gay they choose to be that way. I will suppoet the Holy Catholic Church and His Holiness the Pope until the day that I die. I only hope that other people support their beliefs as passionately as I support mine. If you're living in the homosexual lifestyle I urge you to turn away from it today.
posted by Anonymous, at 9/08/2007 1:39 AM

To the comment above: Catholic Church history shows that popes are in fact capable of error in doctrine. It happens from time to time that what is considered heresy in one century is doctrine in another. Take witchcraft for example. In the early Middle Ages it was heresy to believe that witchcraft existed, for a person can't have god-like powers. And yet, later, the Catholic Church took part in executing alleged witches. Don't forget Galileo. John Paul II apologized for that. Just some food for thought. Also bear in mind that genetic sciences are in fact turning up evidence that homosexuality is something you're born with. At any rate, pedophilia is a crime, and yet the Church was more concerned with shifting their deviant priests to other parishes, and now they're cracking down on celibate homosexual priests. I believe Jesus preached extensively against hypocrisy.
posted by Anonymous, at 11/21/2007 7:49 PM

Hi today you are talking about "love" can be constructively be interpreted as sexuality- for that matter homosexuality. I hope I am not sounding rude but this stretching too far a comment... tomorrow other sections of the crowd like the Paedophiles, animal-lovers, and such of their kindred might also use it to justify their aberrant behaviors and sexual-orientation disorders...
posted by Anonymous, at 12/20/2007 1:21 PM

i agree with the pope, homosexuality is intrinsic and purely EVIL.
posted by Anonymous, at 1/28/2008 1:34 AM

My brother I pray for healing to occurr in your life and for God to help you find peace. I also humbly ask for you to pray for me, a "straight" Catholic man who follows all of the teachings of the Catholic Church. I pray one day the truth will penetrate the hearts of all men and women from all walks of life and leave us in love with the truth of God.

The world is wounded. True authentic love is under attack. Authentic masculinity and authentic femininity are under attack by of the destruction of the family.

Lastly, true freedom is being able to say no to something. God will never stop anyone from saying no to Him. He won't stop us because love can't be if it is forced. He loves you more than anyone else in the whole wide world. He loves all of us this way regardless of our decisions in life. Our decisions can have eternal consequenses. God is the ultimate judge, not humanity.
posted by Anonymous, at 3/08/2008 12:13 AM

And you came to this conclusion...how? The Pope is not a hypocrite. If you would like to see a hypocrite, go look in a mirror.
posted by Anonymous, at 4/16/2008 6:54 PM

I have read through all your comments and very interesting and diverse responses. I am curious how some of you are so certain that being gay is a choice? While you are totally mistaken on this point I doubt some how any sense of reason would penetrate your arrogance and pride and certainty in your belief. I am gay and Catholic and I condemn neither. Live life well and be kind to other in your every day life. Stop judging people and using religion, not just Christianity either as a means of judging others. I am proud of who I am as are my friends and family. And for those of you who either find me abhorrent for being Catholic or for being Gay. Then meet me first and then decide if I am really all that bad. You may be pleasantly surprised that I am not the monster so many might think I am. .
posted by Anonymous, at 5/19/2008 3:13 AM