Catholicism

Ciaran · 03-05-2013, 03:33 PM

I thought I'd update this thread again with some reflections from here in London.

Firstly, a wider issue impacting the Roman Catholic church here in the UK and that is the resignation last week of Cardinal Keith O'Brien. O'Brien was the most senior Catholic here in UK and was to be the only UK representative who was going to be able to vote in upcoming papal conclave.

His resignation was forced through by the Vatican following allegations from four priests that he had engaged with them in sexual activity - and some suggestions that he had used undue influence in this regard. After initially refuting the allegations, he has now admitted that his sexual conduct has at times "fallen beneath the standards expected of me".

As an outspoken opponent of LGBT marriage and having made numerous homophobic pronouncements through his tenure, the hypocracy was glaring. Yet there is also something incredibly sad about it all - a man potentially so untrue to himself that any legacy of his life was all about a lie.

On more local matters, our LGBT Catholic community here in London had its first service in our Farm Street church on Sunday. Until now, we've had our own standalone service, for LGBT folk and friends and families but that was recently brought to an end by the Archbishop of London.

Instead, he suggested that we should integrate with the wider Roman Catholic community here in London - of course, most of us already do at other times of worship anyway. There was a fear from many of us that this was a deliberate attempt to marginalise us and to make us invisible within the London Catholic community. Many of us have been cynical.

We are now worshiping at Farm Street in London's Mayfair. It's a truly beautiful church:

http://www.panoramicstudio.co.uk/church/

The church was packed on Sunday evening - standing room only in fact. At first, I felt a sense of isolation and loneliness - it all seemed somewhat foreign to me, many strange faces and the lack of common welcome I had been used to at our "Soho Masses".

It all seemed a bit too stilted also .... and initially, as I looked around, I saw only strangers. Then, one-by-one, I saw that there were many of us LGBT Catholics who'd made the journey from our old church to this one. We exist.

So far, the non-LGBT parishioners have been incredibly welcoming to us, as have the priests of the parish. Furthermore, after Sunday's service, the Archbishop of London held a reception for us and, whilst I didn't stay for this, he apparently engaged in an open, honest and constructive debate. It's the first time that openly LGBT Catholics here in the UK have had such direct engagement with such a senior representative of the Church. That's got to be encouraging.

So where to from here? I don't know but, for me, the words of Yves Congar, a Dominican theological, resonate ..... in particular, to paraphrase, that our lives and our faiths are characterised by journeys and that we should never think we've arrived as our lives are nomadic and we never really know our ultimate destination. I'm on that journey.

03-05-2013, 03:33 PM	#30
Ciaran Member How Do You Identify?: Altocalciphilic Preferred Pronoun?: Papa Smurf Relationship Status: Curmudgeonous spinster Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: London (but from Belfast) Posts: 678 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 471 Thanked 3,654 Times in 602 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	I thought I'd update this thread again with some reflections from here in London. Firstly, a wider issue impacting the Roman Catholic church here in the UK and that is the resignation last week of Cardinal Keith O'Brien. O'Brien was the most senior Catholic here in UK and was to be the only UK representative who was going to be able to vote in upcoming papal conclave. His resignation was forced through by the Vatican following allegations from four priests that he had engaged with them in sexual activity - and some suggestions that he had used undue influence in this regard. After initially refuting the allegations, he has now admitted that his sexual conduct has at times "fallen beneath the standards expected of me". As an outspoken opponent of LGBT marriage and having made numerous homophobic pronouncements through his tenure, the hypocracy was glaring. Yet there is also something incredibly sad about it all - a man potentially so untrue to himself that any legacy of his life was all about a lie. On more local matters, our LGBT Catholic community here in London had its first service in our Farm Street church on Sunday. Until now, we've had our own standalone service, for LGBT folk and friends and families but that was recently brought to an end by the Archbishop of London. Instead, he suggested that we should integrate with the wider Roman Catholic community here in London - of course, most of us already do at other times of worship anyway. There was a fear from many of us that this was a deliberate attempt to marginalise us and to make us invisible within the London Catholic community. Many of us have been cynical. We are now worshiping at Farm Street in London's Mayfair. It's a truly beautiful church: http://www.panoramicstudio.co.uk/church/ The church was packed on Sunday evening - standing room only in fact. At first, I felt a sense of isolation and loneliness - it all seemed somewhat foreign to me, many strange faces and the lack of common welcome I had been used to at our "Soho Masses". It all seemed a bit too stilted also .... and initially, as I looked around, I saw only strangers. Then, one-by-one, I saw that there were many of us LGBT Catholics who'd made the journey from our old church to this one. We exist. So far, the non-LGBT parishioners have been incredibly welcoming to us, as have the priests of the parish. Furthermore, after Sunday's service, the Archbishop of London held a reception for us and, whilst I didn't stay for this, he apparently engaged in an open, honest and constructive debate. It's the first time that openly LGBT Catholics here in the UK have had such direct engagement with such a senior representative of the Church. That's got to be encouraging. So where to from here? I don't know but, for me, the words of Yves Congar, a Dominican theological, resonate ..... in particular, to paraphrase, that our lives and our faiths are characterised by journeys and that we should never think we've arrived as our lives are nomadic and we never really know our ultimate destination. I'm on that journey.