Once upon a time medical and clerical textbooks moved into Latin when discussing sex and especially what has been called homosexuality. I guess the idea was to protect the innocent faithful laity from picking up ideas.
The practise has more or less disappeared but some versions of it, where euphemisms appear instead of plain speaking, linger on. In this week's Tablet there is a sad little story about a 26 year old gay man in a civil partnership getting elected to a parish council somewhere outside Vienna. The Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, Dominican, clever and once considered a possible pope, had his spokesman tell us that active homosexuality is a grave sin.
I just want to think for a moment on what means "active homosexuality". Are we talking sex here, in who does what to whom? or are we talking "lifestyle" in the current patois? If we are talking sex is this a reference to anal sex? I think we should be told. If it is that ano-receptive sex deemed to be less of a grave sin. I think we should know. If it is the case that anal sex is always and everywhere out of court do we need to get on and tell heterosexual couples this as well. One final forensic point: does there have to be oral, anal, vaginal penetration for it to be deemed sex (as in the Clinton get out?).
Even though the Archbishop of Vienna is probably a nice man he really does need to spell out what he means by having words like "grave" sin used without clarity as to the meaning. To repeat if he is talking about sex then I think he should say so. Otherwise, we are left with vagaries like "lifestyle" which usually ends of meaning shopping at Waitrose and living in a minimalist house and having copies of gay novels, DVDs and newspapers actually visible in front of visitors,
In some cultures - more informed by misogyny than theology - "active" homosexuality seems to be much more acceptable than "passive" homosexuality, perhaps the Archbishop is trying to challenge this. But if "active" homosexuality is a "grave" sin he might helpfully advise those who might only want to indulge in "mild" sins as to what they should stick to.
ReplyDeleteI don't shop at Waitrose and my house is a mess - does that mean I'm not actively homosexual and therefore acceptable to the Archbishop?
ReplyDeleteI suspect archbishop isn't bothered about the sex - his church has an infamously lax view on buggery.
ReplyDeleteIt is much more likely to be money related. The grave sin of the gay lifestyle is that (although extravagant in many ways), the pink pounds all end up in the coffers of lutheran designers from nordic lands.
We won't see gay marriage in catholic churches until the vatican is furnished by Ikea.