According to a recent N.Y. Times story, a Jesuit theologian has been condemned for these and other pro-sex views of Catholic doctrine.
The theologian, Daniel C. Maguire, teaches religious ethics at Marquette University, a Jesuit institution in Milwaukee. He is a 75-year-old former priest and a prolific writer, educated at the prestigious Gregorian University in Rome, who has been challenging Catholic teaching on sexuality for years.
One of the two pamphlets in question is available free on-line, A Catholic Defense of Same Sex Marriage, which includes, of course, a defense of same-sex sex.
The Catholic Church is beginning to rediscover what it once knew; that not all persons are heterosexual, that many people are homosexual and that this is just fine. In the past, the Church accepted homosexuality more openly and even had liturgies to celebrate same sex unions. There was a recognition that different sexual orientations are clearly part of God's plan for creation-some people are heterosexual and some are homosexual-this is the way God made us and we have no right to criticize God.
The basic issue is can there be multiple Catholic views. The bishops and the pope say that there is only one Catholic view—theirs. As a Hitler Youth, pope Ratzinger was taught that homosexuality was bad. Hitler sent gay people to concentration camps. Ratzinger’s position hasn’t changed, except Ratzinger sends gay people to hell.
Maguire argues that to condemn homosexuality is as silly, but more harmful, than condemning the eating of shellfish. He cites other theologians who agree that gay sex is ok.
The Catholic Church directly contributes to the suicides of gay youth every day by teaching that gay sex gets hell. Professor Maguire states what is obvious to us gay people, that anti-gay prejudice is a sin.
In addition to teaching, Maguire runs a group called The Religious Consultation-on population, reproductive health, and ethics. Their home page is here.
Jesuit Watch congratulates the Society of Jesus for its continued support of Professor Maguire’s academic freedom.
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