The Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach Chicago ( AGLO ) has sent a correspondence to Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, after being informed that the Catholic Medical Association ( CMA ) will hold its annual conference here in Chicago. But what concerns AGLO is a document developed by CMA entitled "Homosexuality and Hope" and the association's "Open Letter to the Bishops."
According to AGLO board members in their written communication, the tone of Homosexuality and Hope is in stark contrast with contemporary behavioral scientific research and official policy statements of major mental health organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Association of Marital and Family Therapists and the American Counseling Association.
More important, it goes against the past 27 years of Catholic teaching on human sexuality about homosexual persons.
Homosexuality and Hope denies that homosexuality exists and proposes that it is instead a psychological illness than can be cured. And while the American Psychiatric Association, in 1973, removed homosexuality from their list of mental disorders, CMA appears to be promoting an alternative view. And, they insist that their approach is the only appropriate Catholic one to follow.
"The statement is an affront and a challenge to the human dignity of gay persons and thus the gay community at-large," said Louis Raia, AGLO co-director. "It challenges our right to exist as human beings by stating that homosexuality is curable and or preventable...their word.
"In their statement there's a section entitled 'Not Born That Way,' which is counter-intuitive to all of the statements made by the psychiatric and psychological associations. This is a tremendous step backwards on something that was essentially dealt with 30 years ago by mental health professionals. At that time, the conclusion and the statement position was that homosexuality is not an illness."
CMA's 71st Annual Meeting, which invites Catholic physicians of the U.S. and Canada, will be held on the campus of Loyola University from Thursday, Oct. 10 through Saturday, Oct. 12.
Officials from Loyola say they are not co-sponsors of the conference, but have made the space available for rent, like they would any other organization.
Still AGLO believes it was a wrong decision by Loyola officials.
"CMA's statement not only affects the Catholic community, but the GLBT community at-large," Raia said. "We're talking about several highly influential people who are coming to this conference, including Bishop Jerome Listecki, our liaison to the Cardinal and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The CMA has already distributed the statement. We're trying to preempt the influence of this group on the church hierarchy because we feel it's a human-rights issue."
CATHOLIC FROM COVER
An excerpt from the "Open Letter to the Bishops" reads:
"Many have pointed out that solving the problem of sexual abuse by clergy will necessarily involve addressing the problem of same-sex attraction ( SSA or homosexuality ) among priests … As the revelations of abuse have become public it has become increasingly clear that almost all the victims are adolescent males, not prepubescent boys. The problem of priest with same-sex attractions molesting adolescents or children must be addressed if future scandals are to be avoided."
The letter goes on to say that the problems of homosexuality in the priesthood have been proven to be due to emotional wounds. And it adds that these emotional wounds that have caused same-sex attraction can be healed if people bring the power of faith into the healing process.
"That just flies in the face of APA statements and the general position of mental health professionals," Raia said. "Our resources at AGLO are limited, so we need everyone in or who supports the GLBT community to send letters to the Cardinal and voice their concerns."
AGLO ( www.aglochicago.org ) is a recognized ministry of the Catholic Church under the auspices of the archdiocese, organized 14 years ago in Chicago. Their mission is to minister to the GLBT community. But in its short history, AGLO has rarely tended to make political statements. That was, in the past, the normal practice of the group Dignity--from which AGLO members separated.
"Dignity tended to be more political--AGLO's members have a wide range of personal feelings and political views," Raia said. "But we realize that this is an important political move we're making. It's our second time doing something like this--the first had to do with the scapegoating of gay priests during the church scandal. We felt it was important to separate the issue of pedophilia and gay priests and point out that one does not necessarily follow the other."
AGLO is not a small group. In fact they have a membership of more than 500 and are one of the largest GLBT religious groups in the city. They hold regular worship services every Sunday night at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on Belmont Avenue, drawing between 250 and 300 people each week.
And now, according to Raia, they are prepared to take a stand for human dignity.
