Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Christians are always, in a sense, outsiders. We have the joy and privilege to be a leaven for good in society. That’s an exhilarating vocation. It means working for as much justice and virtue in human affairs as we can. We have a special obligation to serve the weak and the poor, and to treat even those who hate us with love.
But while we’re in the world and for the world, we’re never finally of the world. And we need to understand what that means.
Writing in the mid-first century to “all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” — and despite the dangers and frustrations he himself faced — St. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed …” (Rom 1:7, 16-17).
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Paul’s Letter to the Romans became a key text of the New Testament. The Church has always revered it as part of the inspired Word of God and incorporated it into her thought and practice. The books of Scripture, even when they’re morally demanding, are not shackles. They’re part of God’s story of love for humanity. They’re guide rails that lead us to real dignity and salvation.
That’s a good thing. Much of human history – far too much — is a record of our species’ capacity for self-harm. The Word of God is an expression of his mercy. It helps us to become the people of integrity God created us to be. As Paul reminds us, we’re “called to be saints.”
Sometimes Scripture’s lessons toward that end can be hard. But God cannot lie. His Word always speaks the truth. And the truth, as Jesus tells us in the Gospel, makes us free. This is why Christians must never be ashamed of God’s Word – even when it’s inconvenient.
Which brings us to the heart of my comments this week.
In Romans 1:21-27, speaking of the men and women of his time “who by their wickedness suppress the truth,” Paul wrote:
“… for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools….
“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.”
If reading that passage makes us uneasy, it should. Many of Paul’s Roman listeners had the same response. Jesus didn’t come to affirm us in our sins and destructive behaviors – whatever they might be — but to redeem us. Paul’s message was as resented in some quarters then as it is now. In an age of sexual confusion and disorder, calls to chastity are not just unwelcome. They’re despised. But that doesn’t diminish the truth of the words Paul wrote, or their urgency for our own time.
What we do with our bodies matters. Sex is linked intimately to human identity and purpose. If our lives have no higher meaning than what we invent for ourselves, then sex is just another kind of modeling clay. We can shape it any way we please. But if our lives do have a higher purpose – and as Christians, we find that purpose in the Word of God — then so does our sexuality.
Acting in ways that violate that purpose becomes a form of self-abuse; and not just self-abuse, but a source of confusion and suffering for the wider culture. The fact that an individual’s body might incline him or her to one sort of damaging sexual behavior, or to another very different sort, doesn’t change this.
This can be a difficult teaching. It’s easy to see why so many people try to finesse or soften or ignore Paul’s words. In a culture of conflict, accommodation is always the least painful path. But it leads nowhere. It inspires no one. “Fitting in” to a society of deeply dysfunctional sexuality results in the ruin that we see in so many other dying Christian communities.
In his recent book “Building a Bridge” (HarperOne), Father James Martin, S.J., calls the Church to a spirit of respect, compassion and sensitivity in dealing with persons with same-sex attraction. This is good advice. It makes obvious sense. He asks the same spirit from persons in the LGBT community when dealing with the Church. Father Martin is a man whose work I often admire. “Building a Bridge,” though brief, is written with skill and good will.
But what the text regrettably lacks is an engagement with the substance of what divides faithful Christians from those who see no sin in active same-sex relationships. The Church is not simply about unity – as valuable as that is – but about unity in God’s love rooted in truth.
If the Letter to the Romans is true, then persons in unchaste relationships (whether homosexual or heterosexual) need conversion, not merely affirmation. If the Letter to the Romans is false, then Christian teaching is not only wrong but a wicked lie. Dealing with this frankly is the only way an honest discussion can be had.
And that honesty is what makes another recent book – “Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay” by Daniel Mattson (Ignatius) – so extraordinarily moving and powerful. As Cardinal Robert Sarah writes in the Foreword, Mattson’s candor about his own homosexuality, his struggles and failures, and his gradual transformation in Jesus Christ “bears witness to the mercy and goodness of God, to the efficacy of his grace, and to the veracity of the teachings of his Church.”
In the words of Daniel Mattson himself:
“We cannot remain reluctant to speak about the beauty of the Church’s teaching on sexuality and sexual identity for fear that it will appear ‘unloving,’ ‘irrational,’ or ‘unreal.’ We need to love the world enough to speak about the Christian vision of sexual reality, confident that God’s creation of man as male and female is truly part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are called to proclaim to a lost and confused world.
“We need to be a light for the world and speak passionately about the richness of the Church’s understanding of human sexuality. We can’t place the Good News of the Church’s teaching on human sexuality under a bushel any longer, for the world desperately needs the truth we have (p. 123).”
Spoken from experience. Spoken from the heart. No one could name the truth more clearly.
You are a person according to the heart of Jesus! God bless you a million times! Wouldnt be wonderful if all preachers were truthful like you? The Church would then be just as Jesus meant it to be. May Our Lady protect you always.
I was waiting for the Archbishop to tell us how Jesus Christ was the source of all his pronouncements about sex but no…it’s that Paul yet again, telling me what he thinks Jesus Christ would say.
Fr. Martin does not condone sexual activity among gays. His book simply says what the Title is saying. He states that anything Gay, traditionally, is never spoken about in the Roman Catholic Church, the word Gay is not used in the pulpit, but Pope Francis has used this word. The Bishops of most Diocese do not address the existence of Gay Catholics, they are treated as a non entity. It has just happened this year that the existence of Gays in the Church is a current topic because of Fr. Martin’s book. Do you think a person would choose to be Gay, NO. . In order to be a true and faithful Catholic they must lead a chaste life, and this must be their cross to carry – valiently, – and yet they are hated and ignored by fellow Catholics and the Clergy. This is what the book points out. Why are they hated, one reason is that one gets an ugly feeling in their heart because it is assumed that gays are sinners, of that disgusting action. . Why do you assume that all Gay Catholic are sinning and not Chaste. Do you not believe they are truly practising Catholics. do not assume they are sinners. I’m sure Jesus welcomes a true chaste Gay person, after all they are created by God Himself.
Glad to see at least one Bishop willing to speak plainly and accept the fact that the Church cannot keep faithful to Herself and still be considered part of the wider ‘politically-correct’ society. As someone dealing with SSA, I can say that I have experienced more prejudice when coming out as Catholic than I ever have when people know of my orientation. I just wish the Church would get Her act together and speak clearly and with confidence of Her traditional teachings and with a unified voice from the top-down. This confusion allows people to cherry-pick what they want to believe and so the real support someone like me needs in the Church to live chastely is hard to find. With uncertainty and confusion from leaders in the Church, how much more difficult is the road to chastity, when you have that voice in the back of your head “if the Pope doesn’t really believe in the traditional teachings of the Church, why do you?”
The only hope I can see are the Traditional Latin Mass communities, joyful and large Catholic families, that worship, pray and live consistently. They are surprisingly accepting and tolerant, on average, and also give lots of support to those seeking escape from the depravities of the world.
Thank you for calling out Fr. Martin on this most polarizing issue in the world today. As an ordinary lay Catholic I have great concern for what is happening in the body of Christ and society at large, and I have been waiting for someone of your stature to speak up and set the record straight. I stand with you and Bishop Paprocki too, and we ordinary Catholics are looking for Bishop and Cardinal actions in defending the truths of the gospel and our canon law and catechism.
Thank you Archbishop Chaput. Truth with Love…just how Christ taught. I think I’m going to move to Philly.
Thank you Ab Chaput. We’re grateful for your courage. Yes; we will pray for you and (esp.) those clergy now being persecuted by Rome for speaking out against the idea that the Church should kneel to contemporary man’s dis-information – his confusion about right and wrong, truth or consequences. Where are the other Bishops? What do our pastors fear? Are they keeping the seas calm like ‘comfortable Christians’? Now there’s an oxymoron if ever there is one. Do they not remember Christ’s admonition about the consequences of leading God’s children astray?
Bishop Chaput I too am going to read your book for the second time. I thought I ordered two but I received four and expect two tomorrow. They are going back. I moved to Toms River but my heart is still in Philadelphia. I love your articles, keep them up. I am going to share this article with my friends in the Flame of Love. There are many philipine people here and they Love The Blessed Mother BUT the pastor tells me to wait. Please pray for me. I will pray for you every day. This is a great article. I am going to print it with your permission.
Dear Archbishop, thank you for the clarity and insights. Many within the Catholic pews may have difficulty evangelizing on the topic of chastity due to their own wounded and broken lives. Which is why my Pastor, Father Steven Mattson, brother of the author of the book you quote, is on a mission of inviting souls to deep spiritual healing which Jesus yearns to give. Once the repentant soul receives God’s Mercy, then from that encounter and strengthened by reception of the Eucharist, from that intimacy and unity we can reach out with hearts burning with love of neighbor. God Bless.
Thank you for bringing this up. It is important for people to know that the Catholic Church has guidelines for all people, whatever their sexual orientation. Thanks twice because Rom 1.26-32 is not in the lectionary or devotionals based on the lectionary so it is never read in Mass.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Archibishop Chaput for being the voice of Truth in this day and age when even Monsignors in the Vatican are entangled in this grave sin (Cfr. Monsignor Luigi Capozzi news)
Truly spoken through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Archbishop for the truth spoken in charity. At the root of our (society’s) problem is the make-pretend reality which we create for ourselves, a false reality which we create and then embrace as our god and its make-pretend kingdom. God calls us to His reality, an eternal reality of true love and true joy and true happiness for which he created and destines us. This reality requires a dying to the false god and false kingdom we create for ourselves. Ultimately, the god who is in charge of this make-pretend kingdom is us. We are the false idol living in our make pretend world, so many parallels with the Old Testament kings and historical emperors who created for themselves a reality which came crashing down upon them. If we only embraced the truth of God’s reality of true joy, we would reject all those we create for ourselves as so much vomit, but we are happy splashing around in it. “Create a clean heart in me, O God.”
Thank you Archbishop, I have read the book and agree with your review: Father Martin avoided the fundamental issue. Perhaps the book is intended as a conversation opener. Obviously there is a lot of pain on both sides. I have read Father Martin’s other books and have found him to be an excellent spiritual writer. I hope that he follows up with a more balanced reflection.
Christian Culture has been severely damaged by our failure to take seriously the prohibition of contraception in Humanae Vitae. Separating sex from procreation, opens the door to rampant promiscuity and “living together” before marriage, and ultimately to the lack or moral standing to oppose so-called homosexual “marriage”. Even Catholics project a view of tolerance for such things, and catisgate anyone who stands for traditional Christian teaching.