Gay Vatican official who ‘came out’ may influence Synod in a way he didn’t expect—or want
Msgr. Krzystof Charamsa evidently thought that he was advancing
the homosexual cause by coming out as gay on the eve of the Synod of
Bishops. I think he miscalculated badly.
The Vatican quickly dismissed Msgr. Charamsa from his post at
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). He had anticipated that,
and said he was willing to accept it for the good of the cause. “I’m prepared
to pay the consequences, but it’s time the Church opened its eyes, and realized
that offering gay believers total abstinence from a life of love is
inhuman.”
Sure, the Polish priest captured the headlines. When an official
of the Roman Curia proudly announces that he has a homosexual lover, he’s will
draw plenty of publicity. Given the sympathies of the mass media, most of that
publicity will be favorable.
But Msgr. Charamsa said that he wanted to influence the Synod by
his announcement; he wanted to impress upon the bishops that homosexual love
“must be nourished by the Church.” Is that the lesson that bishops will learn
from his shocking announcement?
By making his shocking announcement, Msgr. Charamsa alerted the
Catholic world to the fact that he—an official at the CDF, which handles
questions of doctrine; and a theology instructor at two pontifical
institutions—actively opposes the teachings of the Church. For years he has
been working inside the Vatican, not to defend Church teaching but to change
it. He has been, in effect, a double agent.
After Pope Benedict XVI resigned, and through the first few
months of the current pontificate, there was a great deal of talk in Rome about
an alleged “gay lobby” at the Vatican. Discussion of that topic gradually died
down; now it has resumed. How can an active homosexual, with a gay lover and an
animus against Church teaching, thrive within the Roman Curia? Msgr. Charamsa’s
press conference has given new life to that discussion.
During the next three weeks, whenever the subject of
homosexuality is discussed at the Synod, bishops will naturally think about the
Charamsa scandal. They will wonder once again about the influence of a “gay
lobby,” and wonder whether that lobby is working with the Synod itself. They
might even ask themselves how much damage the lobby has already done.
This article was originally published on CatholicCulture.org and is re-published with permission.
