Pope Francis...Butting In AGAIN!

 I heard/read the news about Pope Francis and his admonition to priests not to bless same sex unions. 

As a gay man who was brought up Catholic and who suffered many childhood indignities as well as the unbearable guilt trip laid upon me by my religion, I did not have much of a reaction to the report.

My reaction was more like "Oh, well." and "There's no news there." 

Because, with some understanding of Catholic dogma and theology, I realize that nothing has changed with Pope Francis even though some of his statements have had the conservatives riled since his election. 

He, like many moderate and progressive Catholic clerics, is caught between the Rock of Dogma and the softer place of compassion. 

The dichotomy is telling however: in this convoluted theology I can have gay sex, confess and be forgiven, but if I live in a loving relationship with another man, I am living in sin and cannot be absolved until I cease my sinful life. This would apply to straight Catholics having heterosex vs living in sin as well, but of course they are more easily forgiven and tolerated because THEY are NORMAL.

While I often play the apologist for the Church, especially on such LGBT news blogs like "Joe.My.God." where the anti-Catholic sentiment is vocal and often viscous, in practice, the Church is mostly irrelevant to my current life. 

Yes, there are elements that I still find lovely and nostalgic like the Ave Maria and Gregorian Chant and the smell of Church incense, but the Church’s inability to integrate scientific knowledge and insights about human sexuality has relegated it to a pre-Galileon era. 

So, it will likely take another 350 years for the Church to sort it all out.(https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13618460-600-vatican-admits-galileo-was-right/)

Obviously, I don't have time to wait it out. I will trust that my truth is as immutable as any.

I would add that I have, at times, envied the straight boys who take for granted their position of unconditional acceptance by the church and society. I've talked about all that in my memoir, of course. (Did You Ever See A Horse Go By?) Much easier to be, to grow up, Catholic when your very IDENTITY is not in question as being intrinsically disordered which is like having an incurable disease, only worse.

But somehow, I got over it. Mostly. See the memoir again for details.

But now, in old age, comes another "stigma" if I can call it that: not being in the "grandfather" club. So many of my neighbors and age-mates talk about their grandchildren with pride. And of course Italian families thrive on the breath and width of their family trees and how many of several generations are seated around the table at Sunday dinner. 

So, when you get to the bottom line, the Church, marriage, Italian families, sex: it's all about baby-making, isn't it? 

We gays are outsiders. And I guess that's OK.