Administration Of Genesis 1:27 today

Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic resource that offers news, essays, resources and community for LGBTQ Catholics, their families and friends, and those who minister to them in the Catholic church worldwide, has recently published some articles that may help us see that God’s plan for human sexuality is more than we may have previously considered.

Listening and care

Father Charles Bouchard, O.P., Dominican friar and the senior director of theology and sponsorship at the Catholic Health Association of the United States, suggests that the U.S.C.C.B.’s Administrative Committee may have wanted to say as little as possible. They urge that we employ “all appropriate resources to mitigate the suffering of those who struggle with gender incongruence.” This tells us to focus on what we can do for trans patients. 

We can listen, we can promote scientific research, we can provide pastoral and spiritual care and we can care for families. (It is noteworthy that the document uses the term “gender incongruence” while other parts of the Note seem to suggest that it is not a real medical condition that requires intervention.) 

Trans people are teaching us that human sexuality is more varied and complex than we might feel comfortable admitting. The bishops’ Note may open the door for serious discussions of the questions transgender experience raises. It may help us see that God’s plan for human sexuality is not entirely binary after all. Maybe we will discover that God is glorified by creation in more ways than we thought possible. (Bouchard, 2023)

Father Richard J. Clifford, S.J. , a leading Old Testament scholar, founding dean of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and the former dean of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology from 1983 to 1987, concludes that the expectation that this single verse (Genesis 1:27) can adjudicate modern controversies about gender is thoroughly misguided. There is no hint that the ancient author knew anything about the modern issue of gender identity. And the text gives no hint either. To use “male and female he created them” against (or for) contemporary discussions of gender is to read into the biblical text rather than read the biblical text.

Genesis 1 responds to the community’s doubts about their future by showing how God arranged that all animate beings would continue through their offspring. The text does this, in a strikingly original way, by affirming that God implanted in every living creature a seed (in Hebrew, zera‘) from which future generations will come. The word “seed” appears six times in the text, all occurrences referring to plant and animal life in Genesis 1.

God’s generous commitment to support human life is the proper context for interpreting “male and female he created them.”

For humans, however, the text uses an alternate expression to make the same point, “male and female he created them.” “Male and female” thus means that humans, by divine will, share the life-potency of other life forms on earth. God’s generous commitment to support human life is the proper context for interpreting “male and female he created them.”

In its context, it means that human beings have the same “seed mechanism” that assures them they will continue by begetting descendants to replace the generations that have gone before. Genesis 1:27 assures every human being, not only Israel, that God has implanted in them the means for continuing the future existence of the human race. (Clifford, 2023)

Pope Francis, in the encyclical “Laudato Si”, urges us to adopt a kinship relationship with nature.

Preference for Kinship

Our scientific study helps us to better understand the complex and wonderful role we have in the understanding and supporting all of Creation.

References

Bouchard, C. (2023, April 24). Catholic ethicist on U.S. bishops' directive: Transgender people teach us that human sexuality is "varied and complex". Outreach.faith. Retrieved June 25, 2023, from https://outreach.faith/2023/04/catholic-ethicist-on-bishops-directive-transgender-people-teach-us-that-human-sexuality-is-varied-and-complex/ 

Clifford, R. J. (2023, June 25). Richard J. Clifford, S.J.: Using "Male and female he created them" to adjudicate gender controversies is "thoroughly misguided". Outreach.faith. Retrieved June 25, 2023, from https://outreach.faith/2023/06/richard-j-clifford-s-j-using-male-and-female-he-created-them-to-adjudicate-gender-identity-controversies-is-thoroughly-misguided/ 

Support for LGBTQ youth

 Support for The Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to explicitly prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in the United States Congress is coming more from Democrats than Republicans.

A place for all

 

Different assessments of the legislation exist  among Catholic bishops and theologians. Joshua J. McElwee reports Pope Francis' famous remarks in a 2013 press conference "Who am I to judge?" were discussed in an interview of the Pope in July 2015, by Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli. Francis' reply appears in his book “The Name of God is Mercy.”

 

"On that occasion I said this: If a person is gay and seeks out the Lord and is willing, who am I to judge that person?" the pope says. "I was paraphrasing by heart the Catechism of the Catholic Church where it says that these people should be treated with delicacy and not be marginalized." "I am glad that we are talking about 'homosexual people' because before all else comes the individual person, in his wholeness and dignity," he continues. "And people should not be defined only by their sexual tendencies: let us not forget that God loves all his creatures and we are destined to receive his infinite love."1

In April 2019, John Gehring asked why were the Bishops so quick to oppose LGBTQ Protections when congressional Democrats introduced The Equality Act? The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops quickly opposed the measure. In a letter to Congress, the chairmen of three USCCB committees denounced the proposed bill, claiming that “rather than offering meaningful protections for individuals,” it “would impose sweeping regulations to the detriment of society as a whole.”

 Douglas Laycock, a University of Virginia professor and scholar of religious-liberty law, thinks we have reached a stalemate in trying to strike a balance between respect for religious freedom and LGBTQ equality. Religious institutions that see a threat to their conscience rights and LGBTQ advocacy groups have become “deeply intolerant and have no respect for the rights of the other side,” Laycock says. “Both sides are dug in.” The Catholic Church and other religious institutions that hold traditional beliefs about marriage and sexuality are facing what Laycock calls “unprecedented demands” to provide birth control and other services. “There is no precedent in American history for asking our largest religious groups to violate central tenets of their faith,” Laycock says. At the same time, he notes, religious individuals and faith-based institutions have often overreached in making religious-liberty claims. A reasonable accommodation of religious-conscience concerns in a diverse public square, Laycock argues, is different from an absolutist understanding of religious liberty that has no limits. He says that so-called First Amendment Defense Acts pushed by conservative lawmakers go too far in “creating a total carve out” for religious exemptions, even when the government fails to articulate a compelling interest. He sees the opposite problem with the Equality Act: a lack of any accommodations for religious groups. “The demand for religious exemptions is proper, and there are none in this bill,” he says. But Lisa Fullam, a professor of moral theology in the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University, argues those religious exemptions are at the heart of the problem. “The bishops seem to want to carve out space for Catholic institutions to practice exactly the kind of discrimination the Catechism forbids, and use shaky justifications to that end,” Fullam says. “It would seem obvious that the bishops would support this legislation since the Catechism explicitly rejects any form of ‘unjust discrimination’ against LGBT people.”2

In Louisville, Kentucky, women religious have signed on to a bishops’ statement supporting LGBTQ youth. Six women religious communities and a federation of congregations of women religious have added their support to a statement signed by bishops supporting LGBTQ youth. In January, "God Is on Your Side: A Statement from Catholic Bishops on Protecting LGBT Youth" was released on the website of the Tyler Clementi Foundation, a group that fights anti-LGBTQ bullying in schools and faith communities. Ten bishops, an archbishop and a cardinal have signed the statement as of Feb. 12. The staff at the schools sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, Kentucky, wanted to start an outreach program for LGBTQ students at the high school and asked the sisters if they had a statement in support.

 

"While we had general statements in support of all life, we did not have a specific statement," Ursuline Sr. Jean Anne Zappa, president of the community, wrote in a statement to Global Sisters Report. "We thought it was important to help those students and wanted to support the staff pastorally." The congregation's communications director, Kathy Williams, was aware of the "God Is on Your Side" effort, so the sisters crafted a statement in support. "We respect the intrinsic dignity of all human life, including the lives of LGBT youth, who face many challenges, including bullying, harassment and violence, as well as being at higher risk for suicide," the Ursulines' statement reads. "As followers of Christ, we are called to welcome and defend those on the margins, especially those whom society rejects. ... LGBT youth are children of God, created by God and loved by God. We stand in solidarity with them."3

The conviction of Pope Francis that God is mercy resonates with our experience of Love that is unconditional and calls us to protect the well being and the dignity of all especially the marginalized and persecuted.

 

References

 

1	(2016, January 10). Francis explains 'who am I to judge?' | National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-explains-who-am-i-judge
2	(2019, April 8). The Wrong Message | Commonweal Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/wrong-message
3	(2021, February 12). Women religious sign on to bishops' statement supporting LGBTQ .... Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/news/news/women-religious-sign-bishops-statement-supporting-lgbtq-youth

 

Cooperation and Culture Wars

 

The inauguration of the 46th President of the United States and the second Catholic to be elected to that position has also highlighted tension within the US Catholic Church between liberal and conservative bishops on how to advance a consistent ethic of life emphasis to shape political policy.

 

The road of the culture wars

 

  A recent editorial in the National Catholic Reporter expressed the opinion that it is time for the Vatican to investigate the US bishops' conference. It is time for Pope Francis to order an apostolic visitation to investigate what has gone wrong with an organization that began during World War I as a model of cooperation and national audacity and is now a symbol of division and national embarrassment.

On Jan. 20, when the nation inaugurated Joseph Biden as the 46th president, the same Archbishop Jose Gomez issued a 1,250-word statement. After dispensing with congratulatory remarks, it promised there will be areas of "strong opposition" from the bishops toward the Biden administration. It then identified at least six issues of disagreement, expounding on them at length. If the intention was to somehow shame the country's second Catholic president for his political positions, it is perhaps a consolation that the shaming didn't quite hit the intended target. Instead, thanks to an unprecedented public rebuke by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, Gomez was outed as bypassing normal conference procedures and not having given other prelates time to review his message to Biden. "Ill-considered," Cupich called Gomez's statement. A fit summary for the entire misbegotten operation of the U.S. bishops' conference.1 

The Tyler Clementi Foundation has published a statement from some Catholic Bishops in the United States on protecting LGBT Youth. They place the statement in accord with the Gospels, that show Jesus Christ taught love, mercy and welcome for all people, especially for those who felt persecuted or marginalized in any way. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that LGBT people are to be treated with “respect, compassion and sensitivity.”

 

All people of goodwill should help, support, and defend LGBT youth; who attempt suicide at much higher rates than their straight counterparts; who are often homeless because of families who reject them; who are rejected, bullied and harassed; and who are the target of violent acts at alarming rates. The Catholic Church values the God-given dignity of all human life and we take this opportunity to say to our LGBT friends, especially young people, that we stand with you and oppose any form of violence, bullying or harassment directed at you. Most of all, know that God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.2

Madeleine Davison reports in the National Catholic Reporter that Catholic Bishops have signed dueling statements on LGBTQ people.

Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of the Catholic LGBTQ advocacy organization DignityUSA, was pleased that a group of Catholic bishops were willing to sign the statement. "Given that this statement asks for nothing more than human dignity, I would hope that more bishops would add their names," she said... In order to fully support LGBTQ youth, she said, church leaders must attend to the youth's "need not to hear themselves preached about in negative terms, need to not be excluded from Catholic education programs, [and the] need for parents to feel that they can love and support their kids just as they are." The other statement, released Jan. 22 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expresses "concerns" with President Joe Biden's decision to extend existing federal protections against sex discrimination to include LGBTQ people.3 

Fran Ferder, a Franciscan sister and a clinical psychologist, and Fr. John Heagle, chair of the Gospel Nonviolence Working Group for AUSCP (the Association of United States Catholic Priests), offer a psychological analysis, in the National Catholic Reporter of the president and his supporters who conned Catholics to the extent that nearly 57% of white Catholics voted for Trump in this last election.

The Second Vatican Council ended more than 50 years ago, but the institutional church in the U.S. has failed to create a communication network to implement its vision and practice. Instead, the bishops have, by the failure of initiative and imagination, allowed EWTN to become the voice of Catholicism. The worldwide reach of EWTN evolved from pre-Vatican II traditional piety to advocating for right-wing partisan politics. EWTN anchor Raymond Arroyo is a frequent guest on Laura Ingram's Fox News program. Is this really how the church intends to evangelize our culture?… Despite their polite rhetoric, the U.S. bishops, as a group, have not affirmed the prophetic vision and pastoral practice of Francis. If anything, they have passively resisted it and, at times, actively rejected it. This, in turn, has given encouragement for right-wing Catholic movements to become more vocal in their opposition to Francis. Timothy Busch, the Napa Institute, the Knights of Columbus, William Barr, Steve Bannon and the Federalist Society now lead the lay resistance to Francis and the opposition to finishing the work of Vatican II.4 

In the National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters offers the opinion that on abortion, both Biden and the pro-life movement lack moral consistency. His view is that principles of all kinds, including those drawn from our religious beliefs, must be applied to concrete political and legal circumstances with prudence. We all choose some elements from our patrimony and not others. It is complicated, and different issues require greater or lesser degrees of morally acceptable policy alternatives.

The leaders of the movement do not see this because they are too busy walking to the bank. As my colleague Tom Roberts recently noted: Tens of millions of dollars, in some cases hundreds of millions, annually pour into organizations, extreme left and extreme right, intent on maintaining their pro-abortion and pro-life positions without compromise. What exists is the equivalent of a far-flung and deeply funded industry — the lobbying organizations themselves and the attendant universe of lobbyists for hire, consultants, advertising specialists, pollsters and digital specialists that make up the infrastructure for the endless war. Something in the culture will need to change before attitudes change, and attitudes need to change before the politics will change. I have no idea what that cultural change will be. As I noted in June, I used to think American society would rediscover its need for solidarity if we faced a horrible and indiscriminate threat, "something like a pandemic." Well, here we are… There needs to be some consistency about the invocation of religious sources. It is fine to have a liberal political expression of Catholic faith as it is fine to have a conservative political expression, but surely the presence of the faith element should cause a person to occasionally challenge their party, and it seems they only challenge their church...I tremble for our country when I think of how God and history will judge us for getting the abortion issue so wrong, for failing to craft and support a feminism that cherishes each and every human life. I tremble, too, when I contemplate the backlash that awaits on the morrow of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe or Casey.5 

Rebecca Bratten Weiss, writing in the National Catholic Reporter, advocates that Pro-life and pro-choice Catholics should work together with President Biden to reduce abortion demand. Catholics who uphold magisterial teachings on morality ought to find common cause with pro-choice advocates because of our many shared goals of eliminating poverty, fighting structural racism, working for peace and protecting the environment.

the policies promoted by the Democratic Party are demonstrated to work to reduce abortion — as 48 years of culture war and misguided legislation from the right have not. And it is a mistake for pro-life Catholics to treat pro-choice concerns about personal privacy and bodily autonomy as irrelevant. Yes, we want a culture in which women choose life. Do we want one in which they are coerced into doing so? What kind of moral landscape would that be? I think Biden should articulate a consistent life ethic acknowledging the seriousness of the church's teaching on abortion — which he personally accepts — while also acknowledging the concerns of pro-choice leaders, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, who are motivated by genuine moral seriousness as well. He should pursue policies that are demonstrated, historically and globally, to reduce abortion, and call upon citizens to support these policies that will safeguard both the sanctity of life and the dignity of human choice. Rather than threatening women with punishment or placing them in impossible positions, we need to work collectively for a truly just society in which women are not driven to abortion because of fear, poverty or abuse.6 

The Catholic News Agency reports that Denver Archbishop Aquila challenges 'pro-choice' Catholics to test their conscience. The archbishop further added that some consciences are erroneous or even dead to the truth. He said, when one believes to be following their conscience, they should put it to the test and question whether it is consistent with Church teachings.

“Our consciences must be formed according to the Gospel and according to the teachings of the Church. We must listen to that, and then our works will become good, and they will bring light,” he said. The archbishop said Catholics should preach the Gospel of Life with clarity, mercy, and love but they should not be apathetic to or supportive of the evils of abortion. He encouraged Catholics to show kindness to abortion advocates, especially women who have terminated a pregnancy, and to pray for a greater conversion to life. “Let us first pray for the conversion of our country and for the conversion especially of Catholics who take a so-called pro-choice position,” he said.7

 

Pope Francis has commented on the indifference and “throw-away” attitude in our society. Efforts by bishops, conservative and liberal, in the Church to transform these morally and spiritually harmful trends, in accord with Jesus' teaching, will foster cooperation in addressing all of the anti-life action in our world.

 

References

1	(2021, January 28). Editorial: It's time for the Vatican to investigate the US bishops .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/editorial-its-time-vatican-investigate-us-bishops-conference
2	(n.d.). God Is On Your Side: A Statement from Catholic Bishops on .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://tylerclementi.org/catholicbishopsstatement/
3	(2021, January 25). Bishops sign dueling statements on LGBTQ people | National .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/bishops-sign-dueling-statements-lgbtq-people
4	(2021, January 14). How Catholics got conned by Donald Trump | National Catholic .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/how-catholics-got-conned-donald-trump
5	(n.d.). On abortion, both Biden and the pro-life movement lack moral .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/abortion-both-biden-and-pro-life-movement-lack-moral-consistency
6	(n.d.). Pro-life and pro-choice Catholics should work together — with .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/pro-life-and-pro-choice-catholics-should-work-together-president-biden-reduce-abortion
7	(2021, January 28). Denver archbishop challenges 'pro-choice' Catholics to test their .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/denver-archbishop-challenges-pro-choice-catholics-to-test-their-conscience-70430