Invasion of the Body
Snatchers-or in this case, an Invasion into the Body of Christ
In the 1954 movie,
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, plant spores fall from space and grow into
large seedpods capable of assimilating the characteristics of humans devoid of
human emotion. The latest decree by the
Bishop of Illinois serves as an Invasion into the Body of Christ, by attempting
to assimilate the characteristics of Catholic teaching, when in reality this
instruction displaces our call to transforming humanity’s culture and societies. The teaching
therefore is hierarchical, but not catholic and causes harms the
LGBTQ and religious community.
Illinois Bishop Thomas
Paprocki has issued his “Same-Sex
Marriage Policies Decree 6-12-2017 which is his guideline regarding the
treatment of lesbian and gay ministers in church life. New Ways Ministry
summarized in their blog, that the
Bishop is now calling
pastors to refuse to bury people in same sex marriages.
Briefly, the bishop
instructs church leaders that same-gendered people who are married should:
·
Be
refused communion, because their relationships are immoral and against nature
·
Be
refused a funeral in the Catholic Church because it gives public scandal.
·
Be
refused employment in public liturgical ministry as readers, Eucharistic
ministers or music ministers
·
Be
refused admission into the Rite of Christian Initiation unless they leave the
relationship
He goes on to say:
·
No church
worker, acting in any professional capacity can participate in same-gender
weddings
·
Church
personnel are forbidden to bless these marriages.
·
If same gendered
children are presented for the Sacraments of Initiation, due digression is
needed, especially if it is a public baptism.
·
That children
can be admitted to Catholic
schools if they agree to the Family School Agreement
The blog notes this
invasive teaching is growing in the dioceses of Philadelphia, Newark, Detroit .
They have similar guidelines regarding communion and liturgical ministries, but
the Illinois decree advances to funeral rites and punishment for pastoral
ministers.
A teaching like this
appeals to a cultural bias against a people, and promotes confusion among
Catholics as this is one not shared by the conference of Catholic bishops, the Vatican
or 63%
of white Catholic laity in the US…yet promulgated by a few.
These policies
demonstrate a leadership removed from pastoring toward cultural dictatorial
rule. Using their position to promote an
unjust politic in the name of our religion, feeds into the present government’s
determination to undue the civil and human rights earned by the LGBTQ
community. It offers justification of a
rising elitist group seen as superior and more worthy in the eyes of God. This teaching alone is idolatrous because it does
not reflect a movement toward the gospel ideals.
Most Catholics ignore
or run away when these invasions occur, but in our time, one group resists-The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and Roman Womenpriests USA. Our goal is to transform the Catholic Church by
creating inclusive structures that will renew the church. As validly ordained women, we RESIST the
invasion of these discriminatory policies into our communities and institutions–and
stand in opposition to any teaching that interjects biased cultural and
societal divisions in the name of God. In
our Inclusive Catholic Communities, we validly marry, bury, offer sacraments
and pray with any and all in need. We
preach, teach and deliver a gospel of good news. We encourage others to RESIST,
because programs and policies like this constitute a cultural invasion into the
Body of Christ. What divides the body makes
us all sick.
As ordained clergy we
stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
We join all people as we continue to instruct our hierarchical leaders promoting
divisions to cease and desist. If wee believe
we are equal in the sight of God, our Church structures must be designed to
give witness to that equality. The LGBTQ
community is supported and welcomed…this is a Catholic value.
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