Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput has struck again.
This week, the leader of the local Catholic Church issued a decree that sexually active gays are not entitled to receive Holy Communion, nor to serve in leadership roles within the church, including as Eucharistic ministers, lectors, teachers or on parish councils. The exclusionary ban also extends to people who have been remarried and did not have their first marriage annulled by the church, and to cohabitating unmarried couples.
Chaput’s guidance was issued in response to a papal document on family, and is thought to be the first response of its kind by a bishop.
At a time when church doors are already being shuttered by dwindling funds and shrinking congregations, and when churches are confronting mounting sex-abuse lawsuits, Chaput is taking it one step further and nailing those doors shut.
While Pope Francis can’t exactly be called LGBT-affirming, he has made more strides to extend an olive branch to LGBT Catholics than any other pope in history. But Chaput is seemingly working to counter the bit of hope instilled by LGBT and progressive Catholics by Francis.
Even if Chaput doesn’t care that his approach to leadership is disheartening for countless Catholics, you’d think he would at least see the financial and structural damage that continued exclusionary practices have on a flailing institution. While many gays, divorced people or cohabitating couples have already left the church, those who haven’t may now be compelled to find faith communities who accept them — bringing their weekly donations with them.
In his writing, Chaput noted that the policies are rooted in “hard teachings.” Based on Chaput’s history — which has included lobbying against a bill to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to seek justice and in favor of ejecting a toddler of lesbian parents from a Catholic school — it’s doubtful he found this position a hard one to take.