Is a homosexual couple who makes a civil union for the catholic church in a situation of sin?

Reflections* by Father Louis J. Cameli published on the website of the weekly Jesuit America (United States) on April 14, 2021, freely translated by Giacomo Tessaro, part two

Is it important to ask: are two people who have contracted a homosexual marriage in an objectively sinful situation? Not necessarily. I began to analyze this question several years ago, before the homosexual marriage was legalized in many places.

Two people of the same sex can want to enter into a pact and share important elements for a stable life together, such as the company and mutual support, including spiritual accompaniment.

This decision should arise from the sincere desire to avoid a promiscuous and not very healthy lifestyle. In this relationship there may be or not there is a sexual component, which can also vanish over time.

In our moral tradition it is the sexual component that is problematic in the relationship between two men or two women, not the relationship itself. Sexual activity, however, is not a necessary, essential or universally present component of a homosexual marriage. The fact that two people are civilly recognized as a homosexual couple does not automatically mean that the two partners live in a state of serious sin: their marriage can be the result of the decision to do the best possible thing at some point in their life.

This requires an explanation. The options, for two people of the same sex who want to sanction their relationship with a pact, who can also be an intimate friendship, to enjoy legal and social protection, and also of the possibility that their relationship is publicly recognized, are rather limited.

In our culture, and in our legal system, the path of "homosexual marriage" is usually and in practice the only way, for a couple of the same sex, to achieve all this.

From a pastoral point of view we must suppose (unless there are clear signs of the opposite) that those who approach the Holy Communion do so with good intentions, who have made an examination of consciousness and who want to sincerely participate in the sacrament.

These are also the assumptions that we always make [we priests] when we distribute the Eucharist: we are not investigating the situation of each person. We cannot automatically extrapolate the state of serious manifest sin from a homosexual marriage, for which the sacrament must be denied; In fact, if we take into consideration the need to give a close interpretation of a given restriction of sacramental law, then the minister seems to be obliged, according to justice, to grant the Eucharist to the person in question.

The danger of the scandal

But resolving an individual situation does not solve all the problems open in the ecclesial community: for example, there is the danger of scandal and equivocal about the doctrine on marriage and sexuality. Admitting to Holy Communion The people who have contract homosexual marriage is not and must not be a sign of a possible revision of the doctrine.

In addition, the people in question must be in order, like all Catholics, in order to be able to receive the Eucharist worthily: they must have a firm faith in the sacrament, a correct intention, be free from serious sins and observe the Eucharistic fast.

When a person who has contracted homosexual marriage receives holy communion, there will be parishioners who will not see the thing well; The shepherd must then remind them to avoid out of place and not very merciful judgments. The clear words of Jesus come to mind: “Do not judge and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be sentenced " (Luke 6:37).

The scandal, of course, has many faces: many young people, but not only, sometimes remain scandalized when they see a number of catholics whose life is in contradiction with important elements of The gospel, but then they see that sacramental sanctions are applied only in presence of issues related to sexuality and politics. A correct and impartial sacramental practice can prevent this type of scandal.

Reaffirming a community that must not judge in a hard and reckless way is important, but it is not enough. The formation of a community requires a clear and complete presentation of the Catholic doctrine on marriage and human sexuality, and in this context the words of Pope Francis on the catechesis of young people are to be applied to the whole Church: "To avoid any deviated interpretation, I remember that in no way the Church must give up proposing the full ideal of marriage, the project of God in all its greatness ..." (Amoris laetitia no. 307).

Pastorally agile

The truth of the Gospel and our lives in Christ remains as a stable point of reference; Ours, however, is a time of great cultural and social changes. Putting the perennial truths together with today's fluid realities is a great challenge. Here we are not talking about categories, but of live and real human beings, which we should learn to know, and this requires pastoral agility that is at the same time faithful to tradition and prudent in the concrete application.

To a certain extent, this has always been true, but today much more. In this historical moment we have to make us doubly available towards the Holy Spirit, the only one who can guide and head us. The spirit allows us to walk together on the path of the disciple, of synodality, discernment, accompaniment and integration.

A synodal path that will allow us to avoid the standard responses of many priests more or less willing to grant communion to everyone, and can help us face the challenges that await us with firm faith and generous availability towards the real needs of men and women today.

* The biblical passage is taken from the Bible of Jerusalem/CEI.

** Father Louis J. Cameli is a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and delegate of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich for training and mission.

Original text: Priests should think twice before denying Communion to Catholics in same-Sex unions.