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Statement of Jeannine Gramick, SSND,
Regarding the Notification of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
I am anguished and deeply troubled that the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith [CDF] has decided that I should be permanently prohibited from
any pastoral work with lesbian or gay persons or their parents. Many of my
friends, colleagues, and sisters are hurt, bewildered, and deeply pained
by the action of the CDF. This statement is intended to clarify my
situation for them and for the whole Catholic community, which I dearly love.
I have felt called to lesbian and gay ministry since 1971 when I met a
gay man during my graduate school days at the University of Pennsylvania.
His question, "What is the Church doing for my gay brothers and sisters,"
became God's invitation to me to help correct the injustices of our society and
Church toward this excluded group of people. It changed the entire
direction of my life. The severe judgment of the CDF brings me to a new moment in
my life regarding this ministry.
I strongly believe in the need for authority and I respect those
entrusted with exercising it. At the same time, my experience in this
investigation was that justice was not served because of a lack of fair and open
procedures. The People of God deserve impartial hearings and trials for any accused.
There is a conflict of interest when any agency fulfills the roles of
prosecutor, jury, and judge in the same case, as happened with the
Vatican investigation of my ministry.
What began as an inquiry about my public statements and writings on
homosexuality became, in the end, an interrogation about my inner
personal beliefs on the subject. My personal beliefs had earlier been avoided in
the Vatican Commission hearings when Cardinal Adam Maida, the Commission
Chair, inquired about them but then quickly acknowledged, "Maybe that's not a
fair question."
I stand ready to proclaim my assent to all the core beliefs of our
faith. Beyond this, my status as a vowed religious and as a public pastoral
minister should not deprive me of the right which every believer has to maintain
the privacy of her internal conscience in matters which are not central to
our faith. To intrude, uninvited, into the sanctuary of another's conscience
is both disrespectful and wrong.
I have refrained from making public statements of my personal views
about homosexual behavior and homosexual orientation because these are the
areas of contention between the Magisterium and lesbian/gay Catholics. As a
bridge-builder, I have tried to keep my personal views on contentious
issues as far as possible in the background. I have tried to follow the late
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin's model of seeking common ground.
I have tried to present the teachings of the Magisterium in a
responsible and respectful way. These are contained primarily in the book, Voices of
Hope: A Collection of Positive Catholic Writings on Gay and Lesbian Issues. At
the same time, I have tried to present the concerns and views of lesbian and
gay Catholics, which are contained primarily in the book, Building Bridges:
Gay and Lesbian Reality and the Catholic Church. My hope has been, and still
is, to stand as a mediator.
An emphasis on the teaching about homosexual acts and orientation which
obscures our Church's teaching about the human dignity of lesbian and
gay persons and their rights as baptized Christians misses the fundamental
message of Jesus' Gospel of love and compassion. The Church's teaching
about the immorality of violence, prejudice, and discrimination, and about the
human, civil and ecclesial rights of lesbian and gay people is far more
important to the lived reality of homosexual and heterosexual people
than any statement about homosexual activity or orientation.
Those who minister today to the divorced and remarried are not expected
to constantly proclaim the immorality of divorce and remarriage. Hospital
chaplains are not expected to constantly proclaim the immorality of
neglecting and endangering one's health. Those in prison ministry are
not expected to constantly proclaim the immorality of criminal acts.
Military chaplains are not expected to constantly proclaim the immorality of war.
The expectations of those in lesbian and gay ministry should be similar.
Wouldn't Catholics feel proud if Church leaders condemned anti-gay
violence each time they mention homosexuality, instead of mentioning homosexual
acts as they usually do? Wouldn't lesbian and gay Catholics feel the
beginning of reconciliation in this year of jubilee if we, as a Church, asked
forgiveness from our lesbian sisters and gay brothers for our silence and complicity
in the face of their oppression?
I am concerned that lesbian and gay Catholics and their families will be
angered by this action of the CDF. To them, I say Use your anger creatively. Don't leave the Church. It is your
spiritual home. The People of God are welcoming you into our parishes.
They are coming to see that the whole community is diminished when we exclude
lesbian and gay persons from the table of Eucharist and dialogue.
Believe what our U.S. bishops said in their pastoral message, Always Our
Children: "In you God's love is revealed."
I have learned and received much from lesbian and gay Catholics. I am
especially thankful for the gift of helping me to accept diversity. St.
Paul's image of the Church as the Body of Christ has become very
tangible in my life: "If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if
it were only an ear, how could it smell? As it is, however, God put every
different part in the body just as God wanted it to be" (1 Cor. 17-18).
I am profoundly grateful to the Congregation of the School Sisters of
Notre Dame, and to the Baltimore Province in particular. Their advocacy of
this ministry for more than two decades, especially when it was new in the
Church, has been a witness to their commitment to Jesus' Way to comfort and
liberate the oppressed and marginalized of this world.
I am now faced with a decision of whether or not to accept the outcome
of a process that I believe was fundamentally unfair. I still feel called by
God to lesbian and gay ministry. I also feel called to serve the People of
God as a loyal member of the School Sister of Notre Dame in the Catholic
Church. Thus, the censure from the Vatican presents a dilemma for me.
On July 14, 1999, I canceled my ministerial commitments for one month so
that I can take the needed time to discern where God is calling me in the
future. In God's mysterious way, I believe that this time of trial will be the
occasion of many graces. We are assured that "For those who love God,
all things work together unto good" (Romans 8:28). I ask for your prayers.
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