Pope Francis has made headline after headline for personally reaching
out through letters and phone calls to people who have written to him,
and speaking pastorally with them.
The Italian newspaper La Repubblica
now reports that the pope sent a handwritten reply to a group of gay
and lesbian Catholics in Italy, and the original letter may have
prompted the pope's recent warm remarks on gay people.
Here is New Ways Ministry's translation of the La Repubblica report:
Pen and paper. Among the many revolutions made by Pope Bergoglio, in
addition to phone calls home to ordinary people ... there is also the
"post effect," the mountain of letters delivered every day at his
residence in Santa Marta, and sent directly to him. ...
Some people think it may have been one of these "messages in a
bottle" that inspired the breakthrough of Bergoglio about gays. A letter
sent in June to the pope by various Italian gay Catholics ... where
gays and lesbians asked Francis to be recognized as people and not as a
"category" and called for openness and dialogue on the part of the
Church, recalling that the closure "always feeds homophobia."
Further information comes from America magazine, which only
weeks ago carried a groundbreaking interview with Francis where his
remarks on homosexuality were positive and welcoming.
That publication
reports on the Italian group, Kairos of Florence:
A leader of the impromptu committee said as gay
Catholics they had in the past written to other members of the church
leadership in Italy and had always before been rewarded with silence. …
The Kairos group said they also received a letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State, which informed them that Pope Francis "really enjoyed" their letter to him and the way it was written, calling it an act of "spontaneous confidence."
One Kairos leader said Pope Francis had also
assured the group of his blessing, something they could not before have
imagined happening. The members of Kairos have decided to keep the rest
of the message of both letters private.
When New Ways Ministry led a pilgrimage to Italy in 2011, the Kairos
group met with our American travelers to share stories and perspectives.
Francis DeBernardo, our executive director, is contacting them
currently to learn more about this papal letter.
While the contents of the pope's letter remain private, truly as if
between a pastor and the people he serves, there are broader lessons for
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and ally Catholic community in
this experience.
First, the wisdom that relational encounters with people are the most
effective form of advocacy is relevant even for the pope. If La Repubblica's
conjecture is correct that the personal letter from Kairos of Florence
led to Francis' "Who am I to judge?" and other comments that have
greatly shifted the church's tone on LGBT issues, then everyone should
be writing letters to Rome. New Ways Ministry wrote a letter to Francis,
telling him about the goodness and holiness of Catholic LGBT people and
pastoral outreach to them here in the U.S. Would you consider writing
your own thoughts to him?
Second, if reaching out to the pope is effective, perhaps it is time
for Catholics to reach out to their local church leaders, namely priests
and bishops. Sharing personal stories to replace philosophical
constructs with human faces and relationships might lead to further
conversions.
Francis' pen-and-paper revolution is truly radical, and transforms
hierarchy into personal relationships. It offers each of us a moment to
speak to the pope and bishops as if they are our own parish priests.
As
the gay and lesbian Catholics of Florence did with their experiences,
this is an opportunity to offer our joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties
about those matters closest to us.
Putting pen to paper is a simple
act, but allows each of us to join Francis in answering God's call to
rebuild the church.
If you write to Francis or local church leaders,
please let us know.
Here's the mailing address:
His Holiness, Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City