Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons on the recent
homophilic actions of the German bishops. The USCCB should not follow suit,
which denies the reality of the disorder.
By Rick
FitzgibbonsSUNDAY, MAY 17 2015
Recent statements by the
German and the Swiss Bishops’ conferences, in anticipation of the next Synod on
the Family, show them going soft on same-sex unions. The Germans issueda statement for the upcoming Synod on the Family in October that asserted alleged
discoveries: “in the human sciences (medicine, psychology), namely that sexual
orientation is a disposition that is not selected by the individual and that it
is unchangeable. It is therefore confusing for the questionnaire [for the
upcoming Synod] to speak of ‘homosexual tendencies,’ and this is considered to
be discriminatory.”
As the highly respected Vatican reporter Sandro Magister has described the
situation: “Not only do the German bishops approve of giving absolution and
communion to the divorced and remarried, but they also express the hope that
civil second marriages be blessed in church, that Eucharistic communion also be
given to non-Catholic spouses, that the goodness of homosexual relationships
and same-sex unions be recognized.”
Such unions, the German bishops have explained, will now, except in extreme
cases, not be an obstacle to employment by the Church in Germany. It’s not
difficult to detect that pressures to fall into line with this new sexual
ethic, subtle and not so subtle, are being exerted on the Church everywhere.
But the German bishops’ claims do not faithfully reflect psychological and
medical science on the origins of same-sex attractions. Catholic bishops should
not only resist pressures to conform, but should be promoting the benefits of
treatment, as well as participation in the Church’s Courage apostolate. A 2006
statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recommended treatment
and spiritual direction for those with same-sex attractions (SSA). Perhaps it’s
time for an update: beginning with the scientific data about the serious
medical and psychiatric risks to those in same-sex unions, and the severe
dangers to the psychological development of youth who are deliberately deprived
of a father or a mother as a result of being raised in same-sex household.
One of the most extensive studies of same-sex couples found that only seven
of the 156 couples studied had a completely exclusive sexual relationship, and
that the majority of relationships lasted less than five years. Couples whose
relationship lasted longer incorporated some provision for outside sexual
activity. The authors found that the “single most important factor that keeps
couples together past the 10-year mark is the lack of possessiveness” – a
rationalization to minimize the emotional pain of being victimized by repeated
infidelity.
A 2011 Danish study found that the age-adjusted suicide risk for same-sex
men in registered domestic partnerships was nearly eight times greater than the
suicide risk for men in a heterosexual marriage.
Two systematic reviews were conducted of 47 studies examining interpersonal
partner violence (IPV) among men in SSA relationships. As one concluded, “The
emergent evidence reviewed here demonstrates that IPV – psychological,
physical, and sexual – occurs in male-male partnerships at alarming rates.”
Cdl. Reinhard Marx, chairman
of the German Bishops’ Conference, chats with Cdl. Walter Kasper
Two 2015 studies found that
emotional problems were twice as prevalent in 512 children raised with same-sex
parents. Another researcher found that, compared with traditional married
households, children being raised by same-sex couples were 35 percent less
likely to make normal progress through school.
A 2013 Canadian study analyzed data from a very large population-based
sample. It discovered that children of gay and lesbian couples are only about
65 percent as likely to have graduated from high school as are the children of
married, opposite-sex couples. The girls struggle more than the boys. Daughters
of lesbian “parents” displayed dramatically lower graduation rates.
Contrary to widespread propaganda, there have been reports for several
decades, from both patients or clients and therapists, of professionally
assisted change in unwanted SSA. The professionals used a wide variety of
treatment protocols spanning the various schools of psychotherapy. Contrary to
widespread assumptions, there is no scientific proof of harm from
professionally assisted change of unwanted SSA.
Some clients receiving professional care for unwanted SSA have reported
“complete” change, and others “no” change. Still, many clients have reported
achieving sustained, satisfying, and meaningful shifts in the direction and
intensity of their sexual attractions, fantasy, and arousal, as well as in
their behavior and sexual orientation identity.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1986 Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of
Homosexual Persons, asked the bishops throughout the world to “support, with the means at
their disposal, the development of appropriate forms of pastoral care for
homosexual persons.” Such care “would include the
assistance of the psychological, sociological and medical sciences, in full
accord with the teaching of the Church.” [emphasis added]
A doctoral research study of members of the Catholic spiritual support
group Courage demonstrates its effectiveness in helping those with SSA. (SSA
respondents have more mental health distress than does the general population.)
Those SSA respondents who were more chaste had improvement in their overall
mental health. Authentic spirituality is also correlated to increased mental
health. Positive correlations are also found between chastity, religious
participation, and self-reported measures of happiness.
In my professional experience of almost forty years working with priests, a
major psychological and spiritual obstacle to embracing and preaching the
Church’s truth about human sexuality and homosexuality has been their failure
to teach the Church’s truth about contraception proclaimed in Humane Vitae. Ignoring God’s created order is bound to produce further problem
areas.
The Synod Fathers and bishops’ conferences need to be brought up to date on
the psychological and medical science related to homosexuality. The Catholic
Medical Association of the United States and the Courage apostolate provide
such much-needed education in association with other international Catholic
medical associations.
One valuable resource that has been translated into a number of languages
is the Catholic Medical Association’s publication, Homosexuality and Hope (second edition in press). But there is
much more as well – if our Catholic leaders really want to know the truth about
these matters.
http://www.thecatholicthing.org/2015/05/17/bishops-need-science-not-gay-propaganda/
About Rick Fitzgibbons
Rick Fitzgibbons is one of the
contributors to Homosexuality and Hope, second edition, of the Catholic Medical
Association, www.cathmed.org.
- Bishops Need
Science, Not Gay Propaganda -
Sunday, May 17 2015
- Contraception’s
Cascading Rampage - Thursday, January
29 2015
Image: Cdl. Reinhard Marx, chairman of the German
Bishops’ Conference, chats with Cdl. Walter Kasper
“The Catholic Thing is a kind
of little miracle that ripples out to touch lives in powerful ways.”
– Archbishop Charles Chaput
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