LGBTQ Outreach A Bust

You are not signed in as a Premium user; you are viewing the free version of this program. Premium users have access to full-length programs with limited commercials and receive a 10% discount in the store! Sign up for only one day for the low cost of $1.99. Click the button below.

See All Plans

LOS ANGELES, September 21, 2015 (ChurchMilitant.com) - Holy Name of Mary parish in San Dimas in the archdiocese of Los Angeles is rolling out a new LGBTQ outreach program called No Barriers to Christ. The inaugural meeting, starting at 9:00 a.m. at the parish hall this Saturday, will feature a special presentation by the producer of the online video series LGBTQ Catholics on the Jesuit-run IN Network.

It's expected that No Barriers in Christ will not be promoting the perennial Catholic teaching on homosexual acts. Excerpts from the video Who are We to Judge — Gay Catholics show interviews of two prominent Jesuits: Fr. James Martin, editor for America magazine, and Fr. Matt Malone, president and editor-in-chief of America Media, the publisher of the magazine.

The video includes such commentary as the following:

• "One of the big misconceptions about the Catholic Church is that it's anti-gay. I think that's a very selective reading of the Catechism."
• "A reason why I think a lot of gay and lesbian people feel unwelcome in the Church has less to do with the formal teaching of the Church and more to do with the informal bigotries among Catholic Christians."
• "Many LGBT people have very deep spiritual lives and are Christians."
• "Catholic Christians can send a message that somehow homosexuality and Christian discipleship are inherently incompatible."
• "The idea that someone come out ... and be honest and transparent and open about the way God created them, I think it’s terrific."
• "If a spiritual director is gay it doesn't matter that they're homosexual, it matters that they brought people to God through prayer."
• "I think Catholics can see the beauty of the Holy Spirit working through these people."

The video series promotes the idea, contrary to Church teaching, that same-sex attracted people can be good Catholics while engaging in homosexual acts. The video attempts to justify this by maintaining that homosexuals are born that way, and since everyone is made in the image and likeness of God, the video claims, their actions are not sinful. Both the Jesuits of IN Network and the pastor of Holy Name of Mary parish, Fr. Rich Danyluk, maintain this position.

Father Danyluk wrote in last Sunday's parish bulletin:

The news is not that we are worse than we think, it is that we are better than we think, and better than we deserve to be. ... We are cast from a perfect die and the imprint is on us. Here are a few ways in which we accept ourselves in the moment just as we are: CHOOSE to stop negative messages; GROUND ourselves in the love of being a Beloved of God; STAY PRESENT to the moment and focus your attention on what is in front of you; UNCLUTTER, uncomplicate and simplify our lives. Stuff is a poor substitute for love; BE HONEST in all affairs; OFFER others and ourselves grace, forgiveness and mercy; NAME and embrace our basic goodness and the goodness in others.

In all the commentary, there is no obvious call for the acknowledgement of sin or the necessity of conversion. The Church teaches that although those who suffer from same-sex attraction should be treated with compassion, the attraction itself is "objectively disordered," and same-sex acts are "acts of grave depravity" and "intrinsically disordered." This language is conspicuously missing in Fr. Danyluk's commentary as well as in the "Catholic" video series.

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.

We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.