Hiring & Firing LGBT Catholics | National Catholic Reporter

Hiring & Firing LGBT Catholics | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: That the Church can fire ministers, including music ministers, is beyond legal dispute and no lawyer would litigate that.  Snark about post-Vatican II liberals aside, music is a very visible ministry - and if not the legal case for the firing is sketchy at best. The remarks that all people who believe are entitled to be treated with dignity by the Church are troubling - as he is essentially saying that dignity (and therefore truth) is relative to membership.  The Church must respect the dignity of all, including those within its ranks that disagree with it.  Otherwise, the Church is essentially an authoritarianism with legal sanction - which would make Hossanna Tabor a wrong decision, respecting religious power rather than religious freedom.  Indeed, had the Church respected the points made by Luthur as a counter-witness to its wrongful actions, he would be listed among the saints rather than a cause for hundreds of years of intersectarian strife - including violence in the name of God - which is a blasphemy.



As to the truth of what the Church did, its is absolutely wrong.  No question at all.  The only Gospel witness against homosexuality is against pederastry - the sexual leading astry of children (some authoritarians claim doctrinal heresy was the issue Jesus was addressing, but then he would have been guilty since in the eyes of the Sanhedran, he was a heretic and a blasphemer).  Those who condoned child sexual abuse should reflect on that, especially if they are uncharitable to gay marrieds - for charity must be given to all (says the Samaritan Romany).  Of course, in this case, charity and justice will be demanded not by gay couples (except for some gay priests who leave in pairs to get married) but by their families who want to put on a gay wedding, including a wedding Mass.  They will ultimately win.



This will happen soon given the propensity of Catholic voters to vote like the rest of the population (no more Catholic electoral ghetto) - and assuming this similarity applies to identity politics issues, like gay rights and marriage.  The doctrinal reality is that, in the Catholic Church, marriage is not a magic act - it is a sacrament performed by the couple with the priest as the optional witess for God and the community.  Furhter, there is no prohibition on marriage based on fecundity, only functionality. The traditionalist objection is ultimately based on the sex acts gays engage in - and that objection is basically worthy of sixth grader (ewww, icky).  Sexual aversion is not an indicator of moral reprobation - it is itself a sin of the flesh to be overcome with faith.  Those who announce that faith are to be commended, not fired - regardless of the legal protections of the Church.