ROME — A group of LGBTQ+ Catholics met with Pope Francis at the Vatican this weekend, asking him to agree to “gender-affirming care,” including sex-reassignment surgery.
The nearly 90-minute meeting was mediated by Sister Janine Gramic, an American nun who was disciplined by the Vatican in 1999 for problematic “errors and ambiguities” in her pastoral approach to homosexuality.
That year, the Vatican Congregation for the Faith (CDF) was permanently established. prohibited Reverend Gramick is involved in gay pastoral work and co-founded New Ways Ministries with Father Robert Nugent. New Ways Ministries is supposedly a “Catholic” apostolate to LGBTQ+ people.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declares that “the positions advanced by Sister Janine Gramick and Father Robert Nugent regarding the inherent evil of homosexual acts and the objective impairment of homosexual tendencies are doctrinally unacceptable, in the interests of Catholics.'' “because they do not faithfully convey the clear and abiding teaching of the Catholic Church in this area,'' the text declares.
In promoting a meeting with the pope this weekend, the Congregation for New Paths said Francis would meet with “a diverse group of transgender, intersex, and allied Catholics, including doctors who provide gender transition care.” said.
“The group called on Pope Francis to end the church's passive approach to gender-diverse people and encourage church leaders to listen more carefully to the lives and beliefs of LGBTQ+ people.” Report from the same group on October 12th. release said.
According to the document, the Gramic sisters organized the meeting after reading that the Vatican still condemns “medical care for transgender people,” including the administration of puberty blockers and sex-reassignment surgeries. .
“Pope Francis reached out to us in hopes of hearing directly from transgender and intersex Catholics and those who support them. The Pope enthusiastically accepted the opportunity,” the text reads. be.
“We are grateful to Pope Francis for his willingness to listen to the experiences of intersex and transgender people,” Gramic said. “Only by listening to the stories of these people, and those who care for and care for them, will the Church be able to fully hear the voice of the Holy Spirit calling Catholic communities to rise above the old disease. ” – informed teaching and practice. ”
In a 1999 document condemning Father Nugent and Sister Gramic's LGBTQ+ ministry, the Vatican noted that “the promotion of error and ambiguity is inconsistent with the Christian attitude of true respect and compassion.” did.
People struggling with homosexuality “have the same right as everyone else to receive the true teachings of the Church from those who serve them,” the report said.
U.S. bishops refuse to allow New Ways Ministries to call itself a “Catholic” organization.
In 2010, Cardinal Francis George, then president of the United States Conference of Bishops (USCCB), statement This raises serious questions about New Ways Ministries' “adherence to the Church's teachings on homosexuality.”
“No one should be misled by the claim that New Way Ministries offers an authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching and authentic Catholic pastoral practice,” Cardinal George wrote. “Claiming that they are Catholic only confuses the faithful regarding the Church's true teaching and ministry regarding people with homosexual tendencies.”
“Like other groups that claim to be Catholic but deny central aspects of the Church’s teachings,” the cardinal declared, “New Way Ministries receives no recognition or approval from the Catholic Church.” “I want to make it clear that I cannot speak on behalf of the Catholic Church.” Catholics of the United States. ”
