Although the Vatican has never accepted any of the arguments offered by those who wish to change Catholic policy on homosexuality, it did make a number of statements throughout the 1970s which were regarded as significant. Although they of course reaffirmed the traditional teachings, they also began to stake out new ground. Under Pope John Paul II, however, matters began to change.
His first major statement on homosexuality was not made until 1986 but it marked a significant departure from the hopeful changes which had begun to mark the previous years. Issued on October 31, 1986, by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith (the new name for the Inquisition), it expressed traditional teachings in very harsh and uncompromising language. According to his “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons,”
- Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder. Therefore special concern and pastoral attention should be directed to those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not.
The key here was the phrase “objective disorder” — the Vatican had not used such language before and it outraged many. Another important factor was that the letter was written in English rather than the traditional Latin or Italian. This meant that it was aimed at American Catholics in particular and as such was a direct rebuke to the growing liberalism in the United States. It did not have the affect which was intended. After this letter, American Catholic support for the Vatican’s position dropped from around 68 percent to 58 percent.
The Vatican attack on homosexuals in the United States continued five years later when, in 1992, gay rights initiatives began to appear on ballots in several states. A directive to the bishops, entitled “Some Considerations Concerning the Catholic Response to Legislative Proposals on the Non-Discrimination of Homosexual Persons” was issued, declaring:
- Recently, legislation had been proposed in some American states which would make discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation illegal. ... Such initiatives, even where they seem more directed toward support of basic civil rights than condonement of homosexual activity or a homosexual lifestyle, may in fact have a negative impact on the family and society... Even when the practice of homosexuality may seriously threaten the lives and well-being of a large number of people, its advocates remain undeterred and refuse to consider the magnitude of the risks involved.
- It is deplorable that gays have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from Catholics wherever it occurs. It reveals a kind of disregard for others which endangers the most fundamental principles of a healthy society. The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in word, in action, and in law. But the proper reaction to crimes committed against homosexual persons should not be to claim that the homosexual condition is not disordered.
- When such a claim is made and when homosexual activity is consequently condoned, or when civil legislation is introduced to protect behavior to which no one has any conceivable right, neither the Catholic Church nor society at large should be surprised when other distorted notions and practices gain ground, and irrational and violent reactions increase.
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