Within the context of the Synod on Synodality, the Jesuits hosted an event Oct. 8 in which a group of LGBTQ-identifying people (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and queer) shared their testimonies and requested greater participation in the ecclesial community.
Verschueren expressed to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, his “moral support” for the event, although he said he did not attend it.
Referring to the members of this group, he said in a conversation with ACI Prensa that “their gender identity was not a moral choice” and claimed that “they were born that way.”
He also reiterated that “they are equally called and loved by Our Lord and Savior, and invited to follow him” and added that “it’s good to hear them give their witness.”
Panel titled ‘What Is the Experience of LGBTQ Catholics?’
The event, titled “What Is the Experience of LGBTQ Catholics?”, was organized by America Media and the pro-LGBT group Outreach, whose founder is Jesuit Father James Martin, who is participating in the Synod on Synodality by appointment of Pope Francis.
The event was opened by Father Antoine Kerhuel, secretary of the Society of Jesus, in the hall of the General Curia, located on the busy Borgo Santo Spirito street very close to the Vatican.
Moderated by Martin, the panel included other guests such as Christopher Vella from the LGBT Catholic organization Drachma in Malta. “Let us allow love to express itself,” Vella urged.
Also participating was Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean activist, abuse victim, and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, who condemned the support that some Church leaders “have given to controversial laws that stigmatize LGBTQ people, especially in places like Uganda.”
Janet Obeney-Williams, a lesbian who lives with another woman in London and was married to her in a civil ceremony, also spoke.
A retired doctor, Obeney-Williams recounted her “conversion” to Catholicism following the welcoming words of Pope Francis.
Several prelates and cardinals also took part, including the Jesuit bishop of Hong Kong and delegate to the synod, Cardinal Stephen Chow, who led an opening prayer for the event, which read in part:
“O Holy Spirit, send us your guiding light of truth, so that our ignorance and prejudices can melt away through this synodal encounter, and a new morn marked by mutual respect and empathic understanding can take shape in our Church for our LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers, as well as for ourselves and our Church as a whole,” the cardinal prayed.
Joanita Warry Ssenfuka, a lesbian Catholic from Uganda who heads the organization Freedom and Roam Uganda, said that Jesus’ message “was one of love” and urged Church leaders “to see LGBT Catholics as human beings and not as the sum of their sins.”
Ahead of the synod, both Martin and Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, spiritual assistant at the synod and cardinal-designate, published personal reflections on pastoral approaches for Catholics who experience same-sex attraction.
Over the years, critics have accused Martin of rejecting Catholic teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual acts, but he has insisted that he does not reject Church teaching.
The Church’s consistent teaching on homosexuality is outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in Nos. 2357 and 2358, which state that while people with homosexual tendencies must be welcomed “with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved.”
Who is Father Johan Verschueren, SJ?
Verschueren studied botany at the Catholic University of Louvain and later philosophy in Paris. He taught for two years at the Centre for Research and Promotion of the Peasantry in Peru.
He also studied theology at the Catholic University of Louvain from 1991 to 1995 and was superior of the Jesuits in the European Region of the Netherlands.
Since February 2020, he has been general counsellor and delegate for the Interprovincial Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome.
Verschueren was also the superior of Father Marko Rupnik, a well-known Jesuit accused of committing sexual abuse and whose case is being investigated by the Vatican.