The U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops is debating how parishes can
be welcoming to gays while also upholding the teaching
that gay relationships are ''disordered.'' The
proposed guidelines before the bishops Tuesday, called
''Ministry to Persons With a Homosexual Inclination,''
condemn discrimination against gays, acknowledge that many
try to live faithfully, and state that it's not a sin to be
attracted to someone of the same gender.
But the document also directs gays to be
celibate and reaffirms church opposition to same-sex
marriage and adoption by the couples. It also
discourages gays from disclosing their sexual orientation
outside a close circle of parish friends and advisers.
''I think the whole tenor of the document is
trying to be more welcoming than condemning,'' said
Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman
of the bishops' doctrine committee.
The statement is among the documents up for a
vote at this week's meeting in Baltimore that aim
to define Catholicism for an often uninvolved flock.
The other documents explain the importance of receiving Holy
Communion regularly and following the church's widely
ignored ban on artificial contraception.
DignityUSA, an advocacy group for gay and
lesbian Catholics, called the draft document on gay
ministry ''deeply flawed.'' Maintaining secrecy about
sexual identity fuels shame among gay Catholics and allows
others to dehumanize them, the group said. Bishops
should acknowledge that committed gay relationships
''have the same potential for holiness'' as
heterosexual marriage, the group said.
Anticipating the criticism, the bishops who
drafted the document said they must be honest about
sinful behavior to be truly supportive of gays.
The assembly opened Monday with the bishops
authorizing more funding for their most detailed study
yet on the clergy sex-abuse crisis. The research,
conducted by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New
York City, will look at whether children have been
victimized at a higher rate inside the church or in
society at large. It will also examine how bishops
responded to allegations of abuse in the past.
John Jay's previous studies for the bishops'
conference found that American dioceses have received
more than 12,000 claims of abuse against Roman
Catholic priests since 1950. Separately, the president of
the bishop's conference, Bishop William Skylstad of
Spokane, Wash., urged national policymakers to leave
behind the campaign season's ''shrill and shallow
debate'' over Iraq and help end sectarian violence in the country.
The gathering runs through Thursday, but the
bishops are conducting more business than usual behind
closed doors. Public sessions will end Tuesday.
(Rachel Zoll, AP)
