Bay Windows - April 7, 2005
Ethan Jacobs, ejacobs@baywindows.com.

October 5, 1979: In a speech to bishops from every American diocese, held at Chicago's Quigley South Seminary, the pope praised the bishops for preaching that gay sex was inherently sinful. Citing a letter that the American bishops had released two years prior supporting many of the church's socially conservative views, the pope said, "As 'men with the message of truth and the power of God,' as authentic teachers of God's law and as compassionate pastors you also rightly stated: 'Homosexual activity . . . as distinguished from homosexual orientation, is morally wrong.'"

September 6, 1983: Speaking before 25 American bishops at an audience at the Vatican, the pope argued that both gay sex and premarital sex are incompatible "with God's plan for human love." According to the New York Times, church sources believed that the pope was targeting elements of the American church that held liberal views on sexuality issues. This speech foreshadowed the pope's later efforts to squash any debate within the church on GLBT issues.

December 1, 1983: The Vatican releases its official sex education pamphlet, "Educational Guidance in Human Love," which calls homosexuality both a "disorder" and a "social maladaptation." The document's vision of sex education for gay and lesbian people is a stern warning not to have any. The Vatican's guide also lists several potential causes for homosexuality: "lack of affection, immaturity, obsessive impulses, seduction, social isolation and other types of frustration, depravation in dress, license in shows and publications."

July 25, 1986: The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, acting with the approval of the pope, stripped the Rev. Charles Curran, a tenured theology professor at Washington's Catholic University, of the right to teach theology for his dissent from the Vatican on a number of issues, including his stance on gay relationships. According to the Washington Post, Curran argued, "homosexual acts in the context of a loving relationship striving for permanence can in a certain sense be objectively morally acceptable." Curran also differed from the Vatican on issues pertaining to abortion and sex outside of marriage. Both the faculty of the Catholic University School of Religion as well as the Catholic Theological Society supported Curran's right to dissent, but the Vatican steamrolled over the opposing views.

The week of September 6, 1986: Seattle Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen announced in a letter sent to priests that the pope had stripped him of authority in five areas, including issues relating to gay and lesbian people, and assigned that authority to an auxiliary bishop with close ties to the Vatican. Hunthausen provoked the ire of the pope in part by allowing the gay Catholic group Dignity to hold Mass in his cathedral. After receiving petitions from priests, nuns and lay people, the Vatican restored Hunthausen's authority in 1987 but placed him under review for two years to ensure that he toed the party line on gay and other issues.

October 30, 1986: Just in time for Halloween, the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith releases the "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons," which warns bishops against being misled by the "deceitful propaganda" of gay activists. Stepping up the rhetoric a notch from previous statements, the document argues that even an "inclination" to homosexuality bordered on the level of "an intrinsic moral evil." In reference to the AIDS crisis the Congregation laments that gay activists continue their push for equality in spite of evidence that "homosexuality may seriously threaten the lives and well-being of a large number of people." The Congregation also blames gay activists for anti-gay hate crimes, arguing that while such crimes are lamentable, "when civil legislation is introduced to protect behavior to which no one has any conceivable right [one should not be surprised when] irrational and violent reactions increase."

September 10, 1987: While flying toward the United States for his second visit during his Papacy, the pope actually said something positive and heartwarming to a group of reporters about the gay community. In response to the controversy over the Vatican's October 1986 letter to bishops on gay and lesbian people (see above), the pope said, "They are not outcasts, the homosexuals. Like all people who suffer, they are inside the church. No, not inside the church, in the heart of the church." Then, in an effort to dash any goodwill among GLBT people, the pope said that as part of the church's response to the AIDS epidemic, the church "is doing all that is possible to heal and especially prevent the moral background to the disease," which reporters took to be a reference to homosexuality.

September 18, 1987: While visiting with AIDS patients at San Francisco's Mission Delores Basilica, the pope stowed away the anti-gay rhetoric long enough to make a heartfelt and moving statement about people living with AIDS. He said, "God loves you all, without distinction, without limit."

December 26. 1988: Keeping up his compassionate streak, the pope called on scientists to find a cure for AIDS and offered hope to people living with the disease during his traditional holiday prayer at St. Peter's Basilica. He said: "These words are addressed above all to the victims of AIDS, called to face the challenge not only of the sickness but also the mistrust of a fearful society that instinctively turns away from them... I invite everyone to take up the tragic burden of these brethren of ours . . . I exhort scientists and researchers to increase their efforts to find an effective treatment."

November 16, 1989: The good will couldn't last. Speaking at a Vatican conference on AIDS, the pope argued that "abuse of sexuality" was one of the causes of AIDS, a remark that many interpreted to refer to homosexuality. The pope also placed himself firmly in the camp of those who opposed promoting safer sex and condom use, saying that it was immoral to promote AIDS prevention strategies "based on recourse to means and remedies that violate the authentic sense of human sexuality."

July 23, 1992: Shoring up its reputation as the scariest wing of the Vatican, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document arguing in favor of the right to discriminate against gay and lesbian people in employment, housing and adoption of children. The document, called "Some Considerations Concerning the Response to Legislative Proposals on the Non-Discrimination of Homosexual Persons," was allegedly aimed at North American bishops working to stake out a position on anti-discrimination legislation. According to the document: "Sexual orientation does not constitute a quality comparable to race, ethnic background, etc. in respect to non-discrimination. Unlike these, homosexual orientation is an objective disorder."

November 16, 1992: The Vatican releases its 676-page Catechism of the Catholic Church, the first major compendium of Catholic belief issued since the 1566 Council of Trent. Gay and lesbian people get a special mention in the new book, and for those Catholics who haven't been paying attention the book restates the well-worn argument that gay and lesbian people should be treated with compassion but that they should abstain from sex.

February 23, 1994: In the wake of a European Parliament non-binding resolution in favor of same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples, the Pope issued a 100-page letter to Catholics on family values. Ratcheting up the rhetoric, the Pope argued that same-sex marriage was not merely sinful but potentially dangerous: "Other interpersonal unions [beyond heterosexual marriage] which do not fulfill the above conditions cannot be recognized, despite certain growing trends which represent a serious threat to the future of the family and society itself." Three days prior to releasing the letter the Pope told worshippers at the Vatican's Sunday service that the European Parliament resolution "inappropriately confer[ed] an institutional value on deviant behavior."

December 21, 1995: The Vatican published a guide for parents on their child's sex education. In addition to restating the church's condemnation of gay sex, the 66-page booklet, called "Human Sexuality: Truth and Significance," also argues against teaching anything about safer sex to prevent the spread of AIDS. The book reads in part that parents should "refuse the promotion of so-called 'safe sex,' or 'safer sex,' a dangerous and immoral policy based on the illusory theory that a condom can provide sufficient protection against AIDS."

July 21, 1998: Cardinal Edward Cassidy, the pope's envoy to the Anglican Communion (whose U.S. branch is the Episcopal Church), warned attendees at the Anglican's Lambeth Conference in Canterbury that relationships between the two denominations would be strained if the Anglicans either allowed gay and lesbian people to marry or enter the priesthood. He said that unity between the two denominations would be ruptured if the Anglican bishops promoted "diversity and differences which cannot be reconciled with the Christian Gospel."

The week of October 8, 1998: The pope canceled a trip to Sweden to meet with that country's Archbishop Karl-Gustav Hammar; the pope was reportedly angry about an art exhibition going on at the time in Uppsala's Lutheran Cathedral featuring photographs depicting Christ surrounded by gay men. Hammar also alienated the pope by welcoming gay and lesbian people into the church and ordaining them as ministers, even when they were living with same-sex partners.

July 13, 1999: The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rules that the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick must end their ministry to gay and lesbian people. Nugent and Gramick's New Life Ministry, which encouraged gay and lesbian Catholics to remain in the church, had been the subject of a 12-year investigation, and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Congregation argued that the two had misled people into thinking that the Vatican might change their position on homosexuality. Ratzinger declared that Nugent and Gramick "are permanently prohibited from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons."

July 9, 2000: The pope condemned the World Pride event held in Rome, which was held in the city the same year as the Catholic Church's Grand Jubilee of the year 2000. He said: "In the name of the Church of Rome, I cannot not express bitterness for the affront to the Grand Jubilee of the year 2000 and for the offense to the Christian values of a city that is so dear to the hearts of Catholics across the world." For months before the Pride event the Vatican had lobbied unsuccessfully to keep the event out of Rome.

December 28, 2003: Following court decisions in favor of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts and Canada, the Pope issued a public condemnation of same-sex marriage. "In our times, a misunderstood sense of rights has sometimes disturbed the nature of the family institution and conjugal bond itself," the Pope said.

January 17, 2003: The Vatican issued a document calling on Catholic elected officials to legislate according to Catholic doctrine on same-sex marriage, abortion and other issues. The document, called "Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life," argued that same-sex relationships can in "no way be placed on the same level as marriage, nor receive legal recognition as such." In the United States the pressure of the Catholic Church was felt most notably by Sen. John Kerry in his unsuccessful bid to unseat President Bush.

July 31, 2003: The Pope continued his streak of interceding in American and European politics, issuing a 12-page document calling Catholic legislators who vote in favor of same-sex marriage, rights for same-sex couples or gay adoption rights "gravely immoral." The document argues, "There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.... Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law." The release of the document coincided with President Bush's statements that his administration was working to ensure that same-sex couples not be allowed to marry.

October 4, 2003: The pope told Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, that the August selection of V. Gene Robinson as Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire threatened to cause a strain in the relationship between the two denominations. Without mentioning Robinson specifically, he said: "As we give thanks for the progress that has already been made, we must also recognize that new and serious difficulties have arisen on the path to unity."

September 5, 2004: The pope told Canada's ambassador to the Vatican that Prime Minister Paul Martin should abandon his efforts to legalize same-sex marriage. He argued, "Any attempts to change the meaning of the word 'spouse' contradicts right reason: Legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, cannot be applied to unions between persons of the same sex without creating a false understanding of the nature of marriage."

February 22, 2005: The Pope releases his last book, Memory and Identity, which includes the most virulent anti-gay language of his tenure. He argues that the legal push for same-sex marriage is motivated by a sinister agenda (he's obviously never met Annie Goodridge). According to the Pope's new book: "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if [the movement for same-sex marriage] is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man."

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Sources for this piece were drawn from Lexis-Nexis and include The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen, The Times-Picayune, The Guardian, and the Associated Press.

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