Berlin's Roman Catholic Cardinal Refuses recent Gay Award ...

Cardinal Woelki?s refusal of a pro-gay award sends out sad message

Abigail Frymann ?19 October 2012, 9:00

Any church leader will be torn between reaching out to his flock pastorally and teaching holiness, either by word or example. Obviously in some ideal world we don?t yet live in, those two ideals are fused, but in the less than perfect here and now they often feel quite distinct.

On Monday we learned that the Cardinal Archbishop of Berlin had been nominated for a Respect Award by the Alliance Against Homophobia. Rainer Maria Woelki, at 55 the world?s youngest cardinal, was praised by the group for speaking out in favour of a ?new cooperation with homosexuals in society? and officially meeting the Association for Gays and Lesbians for talks. This, the alliance said, had ?broken the tension between his Church and gays and lesbians and had laid the foundations for further exchange and for a constructive dialogue?.

It was all going so well. So many ?gay issues? have become major battlefields with the Churches ? gay marriage, gay adoption, still, fundamentally, any kind of ?active? gay relationship. Here was a man leading the Catholic Church in Berlin, the third best gay-friendly destination in Europe according to the Lonely Planet website (after Brighton and Amsterdam). The city?s major, Klaus Wowereit, is openly gay. There is a Gay-Lesbian Street Fair every June. And in May this year at the big church festival Katholikentag the cardinal acknowledged that the Church saw the relationship between a man and a woman as the basis for creation, but added that it was time to think further about the Church?s attitude toward same-sex relationships.

?When two homosexuals take responsibility for one another, if they deal with each other in a faithful and long-term way, then you have to see it in the same way as heterosexual relationships?. His press spokesman, Stefan F?rner, stressed the cardinal was not alluding to marriage.

Accepting the spokesman?s caveat, the cardinal nevertheless gave the impression of being matter-of-fact rather than finger-wagging. And he was articulating the attitude many believers find themselves showing quite naturally towards their gay and lesbian friends.

And diplomatic bridge-building does not go amiss after the missile-throwing by various outspoken Scots hierarchy (and some confreres in the US and France) desperately trying to fend off initiatives to legalise gay marriage.

But as?The Tablet?was about to go to press on Wednesday, news came through that Woelki had declined the nomination. A colleague instantly said: ?I wondered who has rung him up??

Indeed, the cardinal said that as a Catholic Christian, respect for all human beings was a matter of course and he did not want to be rewarded for something that was a matter of course.

But clearly it?s not the case, otherwise the cardinal?s actions wouldn?t have got the anti-homophobia group so excited. The ?gay issue? is not going to go away and only time will tell how the Churches? fights over issues to do with homosexuality will look in hindsight. Yes it?s complicated, yes the pro-gay lobby can be aggressive (forcing the Christian B&B owners who turned away a gay couple to pay out ?3,600 in damages this week is harsh), but the Church trying to disassociate itself from gays serves no one. The dialogue the cardinal plays down as a matter of course is urgently needed.

Abigail Frymann is The Tablet?s Online and acting Foreign Editor

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Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, one of the younger Roman Catholic Cardinals, who is also the Archbishop of Berlin, has long been known to be open towards Gay relationships, as representing an authentic need for homosexuals who want to commit themselves to monogamous, faithful partnerships. While stopping short of advocating ?Gay Marriage?, the Cardinal Archbishop has maintained the respect of the LGBT community in Berlin, not least by his statement quoted in the above article, quoted here:

?When two homosexuals take responsibility for one another, if they deal with each other in a faithful and long-term way, then you have to see it in the same way as heterosexual relationships?. His press spokesman, Stefan F?rner, stressed the cardinal was not alluding to marriage.

In another press article, we see Cardinal Woelki?s affirming presence at the Katholickentag:

?And in May this year at the big church festival Katholikentag the cardinal acknowledged that the Church saw the relationship between a man and a woman as the basis for creation, but added that it was time to think further about the Church?s attitude toward same-sex relationships.?

One has to wonder at his recent refusal to accept an award made to him by the local group ?Alliance Against Homophobia? ? in acknowledgement of his openness to Gays in Germany. However, it is pretty clear that pressure has been applied from the Vatican ? in case the Roman Catholic Church should be seen, publicly, to be encouraging of Gay Relationships ? something that sits ill with the official party-line at the Vatican.

One could have hoped that the Cardinal?s acceptance of this humanitarian award would have helped in the stand-off between the Roman Catholic Church and the world-wide Gay community. Sadly, it seems that, under this Pope, this may not become a possibility.

Father Ron Smith, Christchurch, New Zealand

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About kiwianglo

Retired Anglican priest, living in Christchurch, New Zealand. Ardent supporter of LGBT Community, and blogger on 'Thinking Anglicans UK' site. Theology: liberal, Anglo-Catholic & traditional. regarding each person as an unique expression of Christ, and therefore lovable.

Source: http://kiwianglo.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/berlins-roman-catholic-cardinal-refuses-recent-gay-award/

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