Whose approval do we need? Or want?

Depending on who you are and what your belief system is, you might be excited to find out the Catholic Pope has now declared that some gay people’s relationships are worthy of being blessed by the church. This is in response to some conservative Bishops who wanted to know the church’s current position on this issue. Originally, the Pope said all non-heterosexual people and relationships are sinful. A few years later he moved to the position that even though being non-heterosexual is still a sin, Catholics should show love and respect to gay people. Now he says some relationships can be blessed although he didn’t say what the criteria for being blessed is.

As explained in this article in the Washington Post, this issue, as well as the one about ordaining women as priests, have come to the forefront because of the liberal moves being made by the Catholic Church in Germany.

Some Catholic gays are, of course, very happy to hear the church is moving closer to accepting them as God/dess created them. As a recovered Catholic, I want to reach out and say it’s time for people to pay less attention to the Pope and more attention to their hearts. Yes, it is important what the pope says publicly because he is seen as a leader for many people around the world.

However, it is important to remember how the church has changed positions on many things over the years. An example is not eating meat on Fridays. When I was growing up, you didn’t dare eat meat on Friday – it was considered a mortal sin and you could go to hell for this. Today: no problem. The language Mass is celebrated in moved from Latin to the local language. The altar was turned from facing away from people to facing the congregation.

The church finally stood against slavery under Pope Leo XIII, a 20^th century pope. In 1995 the church finally moved against the death penalty. And in 2007, they got rid of Limbo, the place innocent babies and Protestants went when they died. (I never could accept that my little Protestant girlfriend who lived across the street from my family would go to Limbo rather than heaven, so this was welcome news for me.)

My point is this. No church or religious teaching has the final word on who is and is not a sinner, who will or won’t go to “heaven.” Organizations and religions are slow to change and usually, just like governments, they won’t change until most of the population changes first. Don’t let religious teachers make you feel good or bad about who you are. As the current popular saying goes, “You do you.”

In your heart, you know what is and isn’t right. Stand firm in the knowledge you have and don’t let other people make the decision for you. Christian churches are supposed to follow the teachings of Jesus who said the one commandment is “Love one another as I have loved you.” Period. Full Stop.

Eventually, the Catholic church as well as others will understand and accept this teaching. Eventually women will be ordained as priests, too. Organizations such as the Catholic church are just very slow at making changes. In the meantime, no matter what makes you different from the norm, celebrate who you are and do your part to educate those who are dragging their feet.

Living in grace and ease,

Krysta