Soulforce and the Catholic Church

Soulforce and the Catholic Church

Introduction
Over the past few decades, the world has mounted sharper and sharper attacks against the Christian understanding of human sexuality. And due both to ignorance of the real reasons for Christian teaching, and to a desire to avoid the self-sacrifice that is required for living the Gospel, many Christians have conformed themselves to the world’s understanding of sex and its place in human life, and promoted that fallen vision within the Christian community.

Faced with these dramatic departures from the Gospel’s view of human sexuality, there is an acute need today for prophetic leadership that can assert the truth of the Gospel with grace and love. Such preaching must read the signs of the times and respond in a way which can be understood by those “people of good will” who truly desire to seek the truth.

During the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Washington, DC, from November 9-13, 2003, an organization called Soulforce will be protesting the Church’s teachings about homosexual acts and same-sex attracted men and women. Soulforce will likely get a lot of attention, because homosexuality has been much in the news lately. This protest therefore demands from Catholics a thoughtful, clearly articulated response, rooted in the love that is revealed by the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Love and Responsibility, Karol Wojtyła (now Pope John Paul II) wrote: “Although it is easy to draw up a set of rules for Catholics in the sector of ‘sexual’ morality the need to validate these rules makes itself felt at every step. For the rules often run up against greater difficulties in practice than in theory, and the spiritual advisor, who is concerned above all with the practical, must seek ways of justifying them. For his task is not only to command or forbid, but to justify, to interpret, to explain.”

The following reflections are intended to give a Catholic perspective on Soulforce; and to help justify, interpret, and explain the Gospel’s teaching about the truth and meaning of human sexuality and its application to same-sex attraction and homosexual activity.

About the Author
Ron Belgau has traveled throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle and as far away as New York and San Diego speaking about chastity to both Protestant and Catholic audiences. He has also appeared on Catholic radio and been published in the New Oxford Review. He has a degree in Comparative Literature, with a focus on ancient Greek language and literature.
He has been active in Courage for several years; served on the Steering Committee for the Archdiocese of Seattle’s outreach to same-sex attracted men and women; volunteered in AIDS ministry; and served on the Steering Committee for Bridges Across the Divide, an organization which promotes respectful dialogue between those who disagree on moral issues surrounding homosexuality.
For those who are interested, he will be speaking November 30, 2003 at the Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury in Chicago.

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