This is a topic that human nature makes uncomfortable and that modern media distorts in so many ways. With the recent news of the State of New York's legalization of marriage-like unions between two people of the same sex, and a photo I saw of two TV drama characters at their lesbian wedding, coupled with President Obama's promotion of the "It Gets Better" campaign, people today need an authoritative source to speak out on the ultimate truth of the matter, taking into account the manner in which our contemporary audience receives teachings regarding homosexuality.
I recently received, by email from an Oblate priest, an article entitled "I am Not Gay . . . I am David." This article has a refreshing, realistic view on the topic of homosexuality today. It discusses the problem of our modern vocabulary that creates an essential identity of persons with a same-sex attraction with various terms, such as "gay," "lesbian," "homosexual," "transgender," and so on. It highlights the fact that emotionally and psychologically, the labeling of these terms does a tremendous injustice to the persons who are referred to in these terms, denying in a sense the fact that they are human beings and persons of great dignity.
What the Catholic Church has tried to teach is that the faithful should have the attitude of repugnance for sin itself (actions that are immoral due to a violation of natural law, the virtues, and the Commandments of God), but the utmost love for every person, regardless of what they have done. This love that we have for each other comes from the fact that God created every person who exists (from the moment of their conception) out of love, and our loving each other is a response to that Divine Initiative.
Understanding this general teaching in the context of the issue of homosexuality, we must work to reaffirm the dignity of those persons we may meet who are attracted to other persons of their sex, while helping them to understand the moral violation that is a sexual response to that attraction. This is the activity that the Catholic Church condemns as being fundamentally (naturally) disordered. And this is an ancient problem, most notably highlighted in the condemnation of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities in which sexual activity among persons of the same sex was rampant and in which warnings against such crimes went unheeded.
The campaign of many contemporary groups to reduce bullying and oppression of persons who have same-sex attractions, especially those who exhibit such a disposition, is a distorted movement. The "It Gets Better" campaign focuses on enduring the trial of schoolyard bullying of a "homosexual child" in order to meet a loving life partner and subsequently live a "great life." A series of video testimonies from prominent speakers and activists who support the social freedom for those who have same-sex attractions to manifest this attraction sexually and legally have highlighted these points. Another series of videos made by employees of the Federal Government over the last couple years follows the same trend, trying to convince people (especially youth) that it is possible to lead a "normal" life, manifesting their same-sex attraction.
What makes these campaigns effective and appealing is their generalization of terms and their use of terms that are well-accepted and valued in our society. The study of communication calls them "God terms" because as we have total faith in God, so we have a strong acceptance and adherence to these terms. Terms like "rights," "human nature," "freedom," "choice," and "personal identity" are abused to represent things that are fundamentally and naturally a violation of personal freedom, identity, and choice. We are made to feel bad for those people who are bullied on these pretexts, which is, in fact, justified. Proponents of these campaigns rightly point out that the high suicide rates among oppressed same-sex attracted youth are alarming and should be prevented. We should have compassion for oppression of human persons who find themselves in a particular situation such as this. This is the only benefit of the campaign. This compassion, however, must be elevated in the context of eternal salvation, and while we love and value the infinite worth of each human person before the eyes of God, we must help that person to achieve salvation by living a life that is pleasing to that same God.
The culture of death that has engulfed American society in so many ways and shows itself in many other parts of the world involves this issue of the promotion of active homosexual lifestyles, in addition to the devaluation of life in the womb and of the elderly or suffering. How timely it is that today is the feast day of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan friar who was martyred in a Nazi death camp in 1941 and whom the Church has named patron of the Pro-Life Movement, and who is also my Confirmation patron saint. Let us ask his powerful intercession for a dramatic conversion around the world to the deepest understanding of the truth on this issue. Let us ask that, in his words, the world may be won for the Immaculata, his endearing name for Mary the Mother of God, "as soon as possible, as soon as possible, as soon as possible!"
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
