I am homosexual. Can I receive the sacraments?

Text published on the website of Devenir Un En Christ, french catholic association for homosexual christians, free translation by Giuliano and Giovanna del davide Group parma

The problem of the sacraments re -emerged on the occasion of the Synod for the family. In the West, access to the communion of divorced and civilly remarried people is perceived as an important question. Access to the Sacraments can also be a problem for homosexual people: some see each other refuse acquittal since their life situation does not correspond to the doctrine of the Church; Difficulties can be found even when baptism or confirmation is asked; There are those who ask themselves if they can still receive communion considering what is experiencing.

In accessing the sacraments there is a personal dimension and a community and ecclesial dimension. Receiving a sacrament is a personal and free action, to which nobody can be forced. It is also an action that enrolls the Catholic in a community: it is always in the Church that a sacrament is received. Between these two dimensions there is a relationship most of the time dynamic: there is an idea and the church's proposal opens in horizons beyond what was imagined.

But when this relationship concretizes in the impossibility of the realization of the personal initiative, what to do? Whenever possible, dialogue will be privileged: we meet, talk, you share to understand and go on. Those who have received the task of discerning from the Church will try to know who makes the request, beyond the simple questions of form or conformity to the laws of the Church.

Since if the Church has reflected on the objective conditions that can prevent access to the sacraments, a refusal cannot be limited to verification of external compliance with the law. Is the life situation of the applicant in serious contradiction with the sacrament? What is the coherence of life with respect to the evangelical criteria of opening to God, of docility to the Holy Spirit, the service to others, the ties with the Christian community?

For his part, the one who asks for access to the sacrament, will take care to enter dialogue, even if he will be able to try a sense of injustice at the beginning to be "limited" because of his life state - for example when he lives in pairs with a person of the same sex. He will try to understand problematic issues. This process will represent for him a call to believe, to rely on - sometimes for a certain time. But God does not remain deaf when he is invoked with perseverance.

He will respond in one way or another. You can feel an authentic desire for forgiveness by God or communion to the body of Christ. And yet there is no right to the sacraments: in the face of love to the grace of God who manifest themselves in the sacraments, nothing can be demanded, nothing can be claimed. For their part, ecclesiastical managers who receive requests for sacrament must evaluate the stakes and measure the consequences of depriving some of the grace of the sacraments.

Currently in the Church there are two prevalent behaviors: there are those who believe that a relatively consistent life is necessary to give a sacrament with the rules of the Church and who believes that the sacraments constitute a healthy food that allows us to go on on the journey of God. In the event that a person decides not to approach the sacraments for loyalty to the recommendations of the Church, he will be able to find a consistency in this choice that will allow it to live in peace with his relationship with God.

But if this choice is the consequence of scruples that prevent him from being at peace, he will need to encourage this person to confront someone competent who can help you see clearly in itself. scruples Can be a symptom of something to be clarified for a more aware approach to God. Two notes to acquire a better perspective:

• It should be remembered that if the sacraments have an important function, they do not constitute the only way through which the grace of God arrives. Grace is given to us in listening to the Word, in prayer, in the opening to others ... the Spirit blows where he wants (Jn 3,8). Christian life is not completely conditioned by the sacraments and, according to the formula of San Tommaso d'Aquino, "God is not linked to the sacraments".
• During its history, the Church reflected on what seems necessary to it because the sacraments are received with a certain consistency and in the truth. Changes can be observed today: if baptism, in ancient times, was given only to adults, sometimes even at the time of death, today it is given to young children; In the same way, the anointing of the sick was given by death while nowadays it is administered in all cases of serious illness, as an effective support of God in facing the proof. The Church, led by the Holy Spirit, in depth incessantly the understanding of the mystery of God, which can lead to modifying certain practices in the administration of the sacraments.

Original text: Puis-Je recevoir les sacrements?