
Pope apologizes for using slur while discussing gay clergy
Clip: 5/28/2024 | 5m 48sVideo has Closed Captions
Pope apologizes for using slur while discussing opposition to gay men in priesthood
Pope Francis issued a rare apology after word broke that he used a derogatory Italian slur referring to gay men while reaffirming his position against their admission to seminaries and priesthood. The Pope made the remark in a closed-door meeting with bishops. Reactions are divided over whether the slur was intentional or a linguistic gaffe. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Marianne Duddy-Burke.
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Pope apologizes for using slur while discussing gay clergy
Clip: 5/28/2024 | 5m 48sVideo has Closed Captions
Pope Francis issued a rare apology after word broke that he used a derogatory Italian slur referring to gay men while reaffirming his position against their admission to seminaries and priesthood. The Pope made the remark in a closed-door meeting with bishops. Reactions are divided over whether the slur was intentional or a linguistic gaffe. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Marianne Duddy-Burke.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGEOFF BENNETT: Pope Francis has issued a rare apology after word broke that he allegedly used an offensive and derogatory Italian slur referring to gay men, while reaffirming his position against their admission to seminaries and the priesthood.
The pope made the remark in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops last week.
Reactions have been divided over whether the pope's use of the slur was intentional or a linguistic gaffe.
To discuss the implications of this, we're joined by Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of Dignity USA.
It's an organization that focuses on LGBTQ rights and the Catholic Church.
Thank you for being with us.
MARIANNE DUDDY-BURKE, Executive Director, Dignity USA: Glad to be here.
GEOFF BENNETT: In issuing the apology, a Vatican spokesperson in a statement said: "The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others."
How does all of this strike you, the use of the word?
And we should note there's some debate about the intent, but also the underlying point that gay men shouldn't be allowed to train in seminaries as priests?
MARIANNE DUDDY-BURKE: Well, the reality is there are literally tens of thousands, if not millions, of gay men who are priests or gay men who are in seminaries training to be priests.
And our church and the service to the people of God that the church provides just could not happen without those who serve currently and without the priests, bishops, and perhaps even popes who were gay who have served our church in the past.
So the gays in the priesthood is a reality.
God calls whom God wants to call to ordained ministry and to other ministries in our church.
The fact that a slur was used, whether intentional or not, really points to the fact that our church is still conflicted to a great degree about the issues of gender and sexual orientation, whether in the priesthood or beyond.
And, sometimes, that just comes to the fore, as it did in this instance.
GEOFF BENNETT: And yet Pope Francis has done more than any pontiff to make the Catholic Church more inclusive to LGBTQ people, maybe not in terms of doctrine, but certainly in terms of tone, regarding the church's approach and attitude.
How do you reconcile all of that?
MARIANNE DUDDY-BURKE: Well, Geoff, I think the issue is that it is not reconcilable.
It's a fundamental conflict.
You cannot simultaneously want to welcome, affirm, and offer the full range of services to our church and at the same time uphold official teachings that say that we are fundamentally flawed in some way in terms of God's vision for humanity.
When you try and hold those two things together, it just doesn't work.
And I think that Pope Francis has become emblematic of the conflict that exists at every level of our church in every country where the church is present.
GEOFF BENNETT: Tell me more about that, because, as you were making that point, I was thinking of the pope allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, while making clear that the church still views marriage as the holy union of a man and a woman.
How does the church really navigate desire to be more welcoming while also hewing to traditional Catholic doctrine?
MARIANNE DUDDY-BURKE: Well, the church winds up tying itself in knots, to be honest, with these kinds of issues.
You may have seen the pope's recent clarification in a TV interview that he is not allowing the blessing of same-sex couples.
He is allowing the blessing of the individuals in that -- couples.
Now, most of us understand that is a distinction without a difference, right?
But in the Catholic Church, upholding that distinction still has some kind of theological importance.
The way that most Catholics live, certainly in this country and in many other places around the world, is that they recognize that the love that exists between two committed people of the same gender is just as holy, is just as sacred, and should be blessed in the same way that the love between a woman and a man who decide to make that kind of commitment.
GEOFF BENNETT: The United Methodist Church, as you well know, I'm sure, recently struck down their longstanding anti-LGBTQ policies.
The Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church have all removed their barriers to LGBTQ participation in the pulpit and at the altar.
Do you ever foresee the Catholic Church taking a similar step?
MARIANNE DUDDY-BURKE: Well, again, I think the reality is that most Catholics have already taken that step in their own consciousness.
What is missing is for the leadership of the church and the dogma of the church to change.
And we're seeing this ever-widening Gulf between the people of the church and its leadership.
And, in many cases, that is leading people to disaffiliate from the institutional church, even as they hold their faith and many of the primary teachings of Catholicism very dear.
GEOFF BENNETT: Marianne Duddy-Burke is executive director of Dignity USA.
Thanks so much for your insights and for your time this evening.
MARIANNE DUDDY-BURKE: Thanks for having me.
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