In recent times the Roman
Catholic Archbishop for Chicago
has been making his personal and ecclesial views about the GLTB community
rather well known. First let me say that
as the pastoral leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, he has the
right and obligation to advocate the ecclesiology and pastoral positions of his jurisdiction
and in doing so, I shall respect and defend his right to do so on behalf of his
jurisdiction.
What I am willing to take issue
with on this matter is the assertion or implication that the views being
expressed by the Cardinal Archbishop for the Roman jurisdiction reflects the
ecclesiology and pastoral theology of all catholic jurisdictions and of all who
hold and celebrate the catholic faith – for this is not so.
As Bishop for the Evangelical
Catholic Diocese of the Northwest, I respectfully wish to state that on the
matter of marriage equality, the Evangelical Catholic Church long-ago advocated
this matter as part of our commitment and fidelity to the precepts found in the
theology of Social Justice and Peace. In
addition, the Evangelical Catholic Church also committed itself to respecting
the dignity and rights of all members of the family of God in keeping with
Pauline theology.
I believe that it would be right
and just for me to say that our catholic jurisdiction declines to become
obsessed and neurotic with the concept of “pelvic theology,” nor would I or our
jurisdiction attempt to infer that our ecclesiology is binding upon members of
other catholic jurisdictions. The
inference of the Cardinal Archbishop for the Roman jurisdiction that all Catholics
living within the boundaries of his See and metropolitan domain are subject to
his dictate is ethically unacceptable.
The inference and dynamics of authority being advocated by the Cardinal
Archbishop is that all Catholics, regardless of their
jurisdictional membership, are subject to the dictates of the Roman jurisdiction. This is akin to China’s view of
Taiwan. It is the political view of
China that there can only be ONE China and the people of Taiwan are part of
China and the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago is applying this philosophy to
advocate that all Catholics can only be part of the Roman jurisdiction and that
there can never be any valid celebration or expression of the catholic faith outside of it.
The public statements by the
Cardinal Archbishop expressing his views and the views of his jurisdiction
regarding equality and human rights has become much more that his demands for universal
compliance to the ecclesiology of his jurisdiction. It has placed an unfair burden upon other
catholic jurisdiction who are perceived as to sharing his view and the views of
his jurisdiction. As the Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the
Northwest I must protect my community from this.
There are many avenues of commonality
that is shared by each of the catholic jurisdictions. Sadly on the matter of human rights and
equality our two jurisdictions travel different roads. I would recommend that as the Cardinal
Archbishop of Chicago
continues to speak his views and the views of his jurisdiction on this subject
that he clarifies that he is speaking only for himself and his jurisdiction and
not for other catholic jurisdictions.
We respectfully remind all that
we are not an ecclesial Taiwan .
