What Does Boris Johnsons Latest Wedding Have to Do With LGBTQ Catholics?
A bit more than appears at first glance, wrote one journalist and educator. Anger and confusion erupted last month when the British prime minister celebrated his third marriage at the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral in London (distinct from the more well-known Westminster Abbey, which is Anglican). Questions were raised about how someone who was divorced, and twice at that, could secure a Catholic wedding. Johnsons case does get into the weeds of canon law, though it seems valid, if unseemly, that he did marry (for more information on that, click here and here). The larger point in all this, according to Diarmuid Pepper at The Tablet, is that the church acknowledged with Johnson life is complex and not always straight forward, and therefore it responded by showing compassion and understanding to the newly-weds.  But this pastorally-oriented approach has left Pepper (and many other Catholics) wondering where such treatment is when it comes to LGBTQ Catholics. Pepper writes:  However, even though there was no bar to Johnson being married in a Catholic ceremony, [ the Scottish Catholic Tribunals Canon Paul] Gargaro says Johnsons treatment of women and fidelity does seem to leave a lot to be desired and he hoped the priest who presided over the wedding had proper marriage preparation for them in light of this. Canon Paul Gargaro says Johnsons treatment of women leaves a lot to be desired, yet his marriage goes off without a hitch. How hurtful this must be to LGBTQ Catholics, who are told that their relationship is so sinful that it cannot be blessed, even in private.  Pepper, referencing the Vaticans ban issued in March on blessing same-gender couples, continues:  Gay members of the Catholic Church exist and they want to be a part of the faithful. The Church must find a way to make room for their love and blessing same-sex civil-unions is a common-sense way to afford the dignity they deserve as members of the faith. . . Change is needed to treat the Churchs gay members with dignity, but also to keep abreast with changing times. . . If the Church can accommodate the wedding of Boris Johnson, whose treatment of women and fidelity leaves a lot to be desired, then it must find a way to accommodate committed relationships between its gay members.  The scandal here is not that church officials were able to be channels of Gods mercy to Boris Johnson, but that such care is not afforded to every Catholic who seeks the churchs witness to and blessing of their love. Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, June 8, 2021  Like this: Like Loading...