Summary
Msgr. Charles J. Scicluna, secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith in the Catholic Church, has published a pastoral letter titled “Pastoral Companioning LGBT Persons” that has been widely disseminated by Fr. James Martin on social media. The document addresses the Church’s ambiguous approach to addressing issues related to homosexuality and identifies potential theological flaws within it. Scicluna’s letter is seen as problematic because he adopts an ideological acronym (LGBT) for people instead of their condition as children of God, thereby reducing them. He also places homosexual inclination at the center of spiritual life rather than grace and free response to God’s call, diluting the Gospel message in favor of a specific cultural perspective. Scicluna’s position is criticized for potentially legitimizing a non-Christian conceptual framework. The letter reflects concerns over what is perceived as an institutional distance between people with homosexual inclinations and the Church itself.
Key Topics
LGBTQ, Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, Church anthropology
