LGBT+ Catholics Westminster welcome Synod working document

LGBT+ Catholics Westminster has welcomed the long-awaited Working Document (Instrumentum laboris) for the October 2023 Synodal Assembly, the continuing Synodal Journey to 2024 and beyond.

"This is a Synodal document like no other, putting before the whole Church many more questions that pre-set answers," said Ruby Almeida, LGBT+ Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council's Chairperson.

We are pleased that LGBT+ Catholics' concerns have been noted in two explicit references in the document's five Work-sheets, as well as implicit connections made in many other sections:

'B1.2 a) the final documents of the Continental Assemblies often mention those who do not feel accepted in the Church, such as the divorced and remarried, people in polygamous marriages, or LGBTQ+ Catholics'

and

'B1.2.6) How can we create spaces where those who feel hurt by the Church and unwelcomed by the community feel recognised, received, free to ask questions and not judged? In the light of the Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, what concrete steps are needed to welcome those who feel excluded from the Church because of their status or sexuality (for example, remarried divorcees, people in polygamous marriages, LGBTQ+ people, etc.)?'

We note that in other Sections repentance is sought, not only for the global catastrophe of sexual abuse, but also the 'abuse of conscience' - this is a wound which many LGBT+ Catholics, parents and families, among others, have endured:

"In many regions, the Churches are deeply affected by the crisis caused by various forms of abuse, including sexual abuse and the abuse of power, conscience and money. These are open wounds, the consequences of which have yet to be fully addressed. To the penitence it owes to victims and survivors for the suffering it has caused, the Church must add a growing and intensified commitment to conversion and reform in order to prevent similar situations from happening again in the future." (The Foreword, No. 4)

It is disappointing that the European Continental Synodal Assembly's rich call for 'radical inclusion', affirmation, and welcoming has not been echoed specifically in the 2023 Working Document, even though there is a call for the Church to "stand alongside the most marginalised in public debate, lending a voice to their cause and denouncing situations of injustice and discrimination whilst seeking to avoid complicity with those responsible for injustice." This has special relevance given the oppressive legislation now enacted in Uganda, even seemingly supported by its Catholic Bishops.

Nevertheless, LGBT+ Catholics Westminster will respond to the call to press forward on the Synodal pathway, discerning and reflecting upon the Working Document. We will join with others in a Discernment Day, Saturday, 15 July 2023, "Becoming a Synodal Church" at the London Jesuit Centre, 114 Mount Street, London W1K 3AH. Further details: lgbtcatholicswestminster@gmail.com

The LGBT+ Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council is mandated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols to develop pastoral support for LGBT+ Catholics, parents and families in Westminster Diocese and based at Farm Street Jesuit Church, Mayfair, London.