El instituto Wijngaards de investigación católica ha publicado un intersante informe académico acerca de las objeciones a las relaciones entre personas del mismo sexo. Os dejamos aquí
Este trabajo ha sido realizado por mucho teólogos, incluyendo algunos de GNRC, asociación internacional de católicos arcoiris, de la que Crismhom forma parte.
Nota de prensa de GNRC:
Ground-breaking new study annuls Christian homophobia as theologians appeal directly to Pope Francis: Announcing the launch of the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research’s: “Christian Objections to Same-Sex Relationships: An Academic Assessment”
Christian theologians and academics have joined forces to produce a new interdisciplinary and ground-breaking study that disproves Christian objections to same-sex relationships. We are calling for an urgent change in Roman Catholic teaching based on these academic findings which should serve as the final nail in the coffin of biblical and other arguments justifying homophobia.
The Wijngaards Institute’s study is being launched shortly after the recent statement from the Vatican doctrinal office – the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) – that upheld the ban on blessing same-sex unions stating: “You cannot bless sin”. This reinstated the decades-old papal teaching vilifying same-sex attraction as ‘disordered’, which has been causing untold harm worldwide. No kind words or “pastoral” gestures can heal that wound: only a change in teaching will. And in light of the deeply flawed arguments behind that stance, such a change is long overdue.
Pope Francis has often insisted on the need for church authorities to listen to Catholics in general, and theologians and other experts in particular. He has expressed both in words and deeds his preference for discussions of contentious theological issues to take place openly and frankly. And he has encouraged decisions about them to be taken democratically and in a decentralized manner, in synods and other representative church gatherings at every level of the Roman Catholic Church, from the ground up. Finally, he has repeatedly underlined the obligation to take the side of the marginalized and discriminated against.
We welcome such an attitude, and in that spirit, we present the main recommendation of our Academic Statement, backed by a research report and endorsed by more than sixty prominent scholars: that the competent authorities in the Catholic Church set up a transparent, independent consultation process on these findings.
The absolute condemnation of same-sex relationships as ‘intrinsically disordered’ is not shared by most Roman Catholics worldwide. But it is still papal teaching: all CDF documents only have authority because they are endorsed by the Pope.
Therefore, in virtue of Pope Francis’ position, and in light of his record of welcoming words and pastoral attitude towards gay people, he has a unique duty and responsibility to kick-start such an independent study to revisit the teaching he has inherited from his predecessors.
Supporting this call for change is the author of the foreword to our report – Rev. Dr Krzysztof Charamsa. As a former Official of the CDF, Dr Charamsa is well qualified to challenge their flawed theology and introduces this study as: “A message of hope in an hour of wavering certainties: This Academic Statement is a gift and a commitment to the Church. Theologians, aware of their scientific and Christian responsibility, address themselves to helping the judgment of the Church to mature… By presenting the progress of the humanities and biblical sciences, the signatories perform an act of intellectual honesty and trust in the Church.”
Another high-profile signatory of our academic Statement, Professor Mary McAleese, writes: “This internationalcollaborative research project is the first serious attempt to use the tools of interdisciplinary scholarship to challenge, probe and interrogate church teaching in the area of homosexuality. The People of God have needed this to help convince a blinkered magisterium to open its eyes and ears, to see and hear the damage inflicted on good people young and old by teachings that run counter to science and counter to the love of the Creator. The scholarly work of the Wijngaards Institute brings hope where it is needed”
The report itself is interdisciplinary with twenty academics contributing, including biblical scholars, theologians, ethicists, evolutionary biologists, and sociologists. The Academic Statement is a summary of the report’s findings and has been endorsed by a further 60 + academic scholars and translated into 10 languages, with more translations expected.
This is the first such collaborative study to bring together and assess the most recent peer-reviewed research on the biblical passages used to condemn same-sex relationships. While the report also examines scientific and sociological evidence, much of it is devoted to an up-to-date assessment of recent ground-breaking studies on the most important “clobber texts” in the Bible: Key discoveries include:
- Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 are popularly believed to be the most explicit and general condemnation of same-sex relationships. Our study can confirm that the traditional interpretation is based on a mistranslation. On the contrary, those verses only refer to specific kinds of male same-sex sexual activity (specifically, adultery and incest) and none condemns same-sex relationships in general. Indeed, the fact that the prohibition addressed a specific type of activity suggests same-sex relationships outside the forbidden category were viewed as permissible
- Also, Romans 1:26-27 is misinterpreted as new research has convincingly revealed
- There is no condemnation anywhere in the bible of female same-sex relationships, and of consensual and faithful same-sex relationships in general
- From the point of view of natural sciences, it can be affirmed that, homosexuality is a “natural variation within the range of human sexuality”
Links:
Background details about the study
Contacts:
Communications: Miriam Duignan T :+44 7970 926910 E: miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com
Principal author of the Report: Dr Luca Badini Confalonieri: T: + 44 7446 283699 E luca.badini@wijngaardsinstitute.com