To: Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Catholic Bishop of Springfield, Illinois and Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Bishop Paprocki: Make a place at the table for gay and lesbian couples.
Do not ban gay and lesbian couples from Church life.
I agree with what Fr. Stephen Humphrey, a priest of over 50 years, said in an e-mail to Bishop Paprocki:
When Pope Francis stated "who am I to judge", it seems that you have risen up as one who feels he can do the job for him.
Your words of exclusion add to the abuse of those who are LBGT. As a church that should be a place of refuge, our harsh words open the door to those who would abuse these children of God. "Even a bishop says we can exclude these folks from the common human decency."
The Christ I know, who welcomed the sinner, the outcast, the least, is not the Christ I find in your lawyer-like statements. Of course Jesus and lawyers never did see things the same way.
Pope Francis urged us to smell like the sheep, I don't think you can do that sitting in the safety of an office and not being with those we are called to serve. Many folks are leaving the church over such proclamations and many of our young people find excluding their friends to be a scandal.
The measure we use to measure others will be used to measure us. That should keep us up at night.
I am one of those who hope for more from our leaders.
Peace and Good,
Father Stephen J Humphrey, Retired
Why is this important?
This is an issue of consistency, as noted by Fr. James Martin, S.J. on his Facebook page: If bishops ban members of same-sex marriages from receiving a Catholic funeral, they also have to be consistent... Moreover, they must ban anyone who does not care for the poor, or care for the environment, and anyone who supports torture, for those are church teachings too. More basically, they must ban people who are not loving, not forgiving and not merciful, for these represent the teachings of Jesus Christ, the most fundamental of all church teachings. To focus only on LGBT people, without a similar focus on the moral and sexual behavior of straight people is, in the words of the Catechism, a "sign of unjust discrimination" (2358) (https://www.facebook.com/FrJamesMartin/posts/10154522014756496).