Monsignor Krzystof Charamsa
Vatican spokesperson
Fr. Federico Lombardi called the priest's actions "very serious and
irresponsible" because they made a "pointed statement" as the Synod was
beginning, reported Vatican
Radio. Others, however, have welcomed Monsignor Charasma's
integrity and openness precisely because it shakes the church's conscience while
criticizing the Vatican
A few more
details and commentaries have emerged about the gay priest serving at
the Vatican priest who came out this past
weekend
Monsignor
Krzystof Charamsa announced he was gay and partnered last week just days before
the Synod of Bishops kicked off in Rome
"[He] was
motivated to make his sexual orientation public by hate mail that he received
after publicly criticizing a right-wing Polish priest who is strongly anti-gay
in the Catholic weekly Tygodnik
Powszechny.
The 43-year
old priest said he hoped to be "a Christian voice" influencing the Synod on
Marriage and Family [which began yesterday] as it discusses LGBT pastoral care
among other topics related to family life.
Charamsa, a
theologian for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, assistant to the
International Theological Commission, and professor at several pontifical
universities in Rome , initially came out in interviews published in
Italy and Poland
" 'Do not apologize for what you are,' he said in comments meant for the LGBT community, 'because you’re full members of the community, and in the case of the baptized, of the Church. [You’re part of a] civilized community, and the Church doesn’t have the moral right to deny your right to love and get married.' "
The priest,
who has not been laicized although this decision remains in his bishop's hands,
said the decision to come out was "a very personal, difficult, and tough" one
because the Catholic Church is homophobic. For this reason, he also said LGBT
Catholics should fight for their "dignity and right to happiness" when the
Church persecutes them.
Charasma's
announcement led to his immediate dismissal from both the CDF and university
faculties.The priest acknowledged these potential sanctions in the Irish
Times, but was clear he could not
remain silent:
" 'I am ready to pay the consequences of this but the moment has come for the Church to open its eyes to gay believers and to understand that the solution which it offers to gays, namely total abstinence from a love life, is simply inhuman' . . ."Monsignor Charamsa said on Saturday there was a day when 'something breaks inside you', adding that God guided him to this decision, 'which should be the most simple for any homosexual'."He said: 'It seems to me that, in the Church, we don’t know homosexuality because we don’t know homosexuals, yet we have them all over the place. With my story I want to shake the conscience of the Church a bit.' "
Francis
DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, told The
Independent:
"Charamsa now joins the long list of people fired from jobs in Catholic institutions because of LGBT issues. It is unfortunate that Church leaders did not see this as an opportunity for further dialogue with someone they have known and trusted."
You can read
New Ways Ministry's full statement applauding Charamsa's courage and honesty here.
Michael Bayly,
who blogs at The Wild
Reed, commented on Charamsa's
firing:
"I remind myself that expulsion is often the cost of true discipleship."
Before
Charasma's announcement theologian Mary Hunt penned an op-ed in The Baltimore
Sun noting that a large number of
closeted gay men are involved in church decisions which harm LGBT
people:
"Finally, it is time to end the gay charade in the Roman Catholic Church. The sea of men in every church and papal meeting during thevisit underscored a homosocial power structure. It is an open secret that a high percentage of clergy and religious leaders are same-sex loving people, whether sexually active or not. For those same men to collude in anti-LGBTIQ efforts, including legislation and theology, is morally repugnant." U.S.
Monsignor
Charamsa's coming out and dismissal come in a charged week for LGBT Catholics
news, as reports surfaced about Pope Francis' encounter with
Kim Davis and a same-sex
couple. Even with those items swirling, the gay priest's
announcement cut through and made headlines -- a testament, I think, to the
power that such a revelation has to move people and potentially effect change in
the church.
--Bob Shine,
New Ways Ministry
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