Ron Belgau has been published in such diverse outlets as Oasis Magazine, Notre Dame Magazine, and the New Oxford Review (where a letter to the editor called his “approach to the difficult question of how orthodox Catholics ought to respond to persons afflicted with same-sex attraction disorders... simply the most thoughtful and thought-provoking I have yet encountered!”). He has also appeared on Catholic radio and spoken on chastity and Catholic teaching throughout the country. He has a degree in Comparative Literature with a specialization in ancient Greek language and literature.

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. 

Starting in 1999, an organization called Soulforce has been protesting during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops meetings in Washington, DC, attacking the Church’s teachings about homosexual acts and same-sex attracted men and women.  This year, Soulforce is expanding its campaign against the Catholic Church and Catholic teaching, planning protest vigils at chanceries around the country. Soulforce will likely get a lot of attention, because the debate over the Federal Marriage Amendment makes homosexuality a hot news item.  These protests 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. 

• Pro-Gay Groups Plan Action at Bishops’ Conference
• Chastity and Freedom
• Soulforce and the “Long and Arduous Quest after Truth”
• Mel White and Mahatma Gandhi on Sexual Purity
• A Catholic Response to Prejudice against Homosexual Persons
• Background:  Soulforce Protesters at 2002 US Bishops Meeting

Copyright © 2003-2004 by Ron Belgau