In 2005, the world said farewell to Pope John Paul II and a new guy was chosen to look pretty in white. Now when Benedict XVI was elected it had been a pretty drunken week and I was recovering from the celebrations a friend of mine held for the wedding of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. We'd been to Windsor for the day, got a quick handshake with the bride and groom and then we returned to Kennington for a 2 day bender in which we drank everything but Mr Sheen. I stayed on a few days and as we enjoyed a cinzano and prepared for 'Flog It', the BBC announced white smoke had been seen coming out of the Vatican. My first thought was that someone had left their rock cakes in too long but the bells confirmed that the world had a new Pope, "Habeamus Papam" as the Latins have it. Maybe it was the spirit of the occassion, maybe it was the half bottle we'd downed but when we were introduced to Joseph Ratzinger we immediately started clapping and went on an hour-long session of handing out compliments to someone we'd only just been introduced to. In 2008, I can safely say that the compliments I handed out to the German Shepherd ("Look at his lovely little hat" not withstanding) were booze induced because during his papacy we have seen the Catholic Church simply reinforce it's hypocrisy.
My relationship with the Catholic Church is a rocky one. When I was about 13, I discovered the joys of Catholicism and I truly threw myself into it with heart and soul. I decided I would become a priest, more than that I wanted to be a Saint and I was absolutely determined to live by the rules of the Church. I attended Mass every single day before school at the local convent and I prayed the rosary religiously (no pun intended) with a very sincere belief that this was going to get me to heaven. Fast forward a few years and I accepted my homosexuality. I decided that I had to learn to live as a gay catholic and so after my weekly class of religious instruction on the RCIA scheme, I told the priest that I wanted more information on gay catholic organisations. The upshot of it was that he told me I was going to hell, the Church doesn't support any aspect of the gay lifestyle and that he would retract his letter to the Bishop recommending me for baptism.
Fast forward again to the 20 year old me and you find me converting to Judaism. I'm extremely comfortable in the local Jewish community who are accepting, welcoming and laid back when it comes to matters of sexuality, so I've switched off from the homophobia that is inherent in Catholicism. Homophobia is bad enough anywhere but when it's institutionalised and enforced in an organisation that has such a prevalence of gay priests and when there's no legitimate backing for the claims that homosexuality is an evil preference, it becomes intolerable. The Pope is currently on a visit to the United States, a country that has yet to bring in civil partnerships and that still has "Don't ask, don't tell" as a military policy which for those who don't know is the
dictat that gays can't openly serve in the American military. The Pope has apologised for the sexual abuse of minors in the American Catholic church and he's spoken of his great shame over the whole issue of paedophile priests. I applaud his comments but where is his apology to the LGBT community for his continued hypocrisy and double standards on homosexuality? Where is his great shame over that?
The Catholic Church's ruling on being gay comes from this little gem from the Torah; "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is an abomination". In the same chapter (Leviticus), the kosher dietary laws are clearly spelled out. Catholics in 2008 are still told that being gay is an abomination yet the Pope sits down to roast pork on a Saturday. If the Church still holds to the laws of Torah, then why do the Kosher laws not apply to Catholics? Why do they not apply to any Christian who uses Leviticus as a justification for the exclusion and condemnation of gay people? At no point in the New Testament does Christ say that gay people should be treated any differently to heterosexuals, indeed, his main message was to "Love thy neighbour as thyself". Well, a gay man is a Catholic's neighbour and the contempt the Catholic Church has for homosexuals clearly goes against the teachings of their prophet. You could play devil's advocate and say that Liberal Jewish communities are also hypocritical because of their acceptance of gay people despite Torah telling them to do otherwise but that's a matter for another time.
I respect every man's right to believe in his own God and to practise his own faith but what I don't respect and can never accept is the DIY religion that is Roman Catholicism. The institutional bigotry that it holds so dear is offensive and totally unacceptable in this modern age. It's also deeply hypocritical and needs just as big a change in Church policy as the neglect of dealing with sexual abuse because when the Church excludes anyone it directly contradicts the teachings of the man they call God. That to me is 100% ridiculous and any religious community that has that in it's foundations is headed for a fall. I am in no way suggesting that two men should be allowed to fuck each other on the altar on Palm Sunday, what I'm suggesting is that two men in a loving relationship should be allowed to stand side by side at the communion rail and be treated no differently to the man and woman behind them. The Pope could be going to the United States with a message to Mr Bush to end the homophobia inherent in his government but instead, the Pope is as big a hypocrite as Bush and that's why this papal visit will only be anything but a farce. Keep it glam gals. xXx
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