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In his recent article ‘Where are the Simple Faithful’? Fr Anthony Archer wrote recently (May 1975) for New Blackfriars : ‘Opening the Church has allowed all sorts of groups to find their inspiration within the Church, for the gospel is a very potent source of new ideas’ (p. 203).
Anyone sufficiently in touch with the actual range of such post- Vatican II Catholic pluralism is aware of the fact that a growing Catholic gay movement is finding its place too on the scene. Impulses of the past few years have been particularly strong in Holland but perhaps even more so in America and Australia, where dignity and acceptance movements have recently joined hands to form an international fellowship of self-accepting gay women and men who profess openly their homosexuality and their Catholicism.
These groups are not so much interested in debate with what they refer to as straight-society. Primarily they are interested in reaching other Catholic homosexuals with their message of self-acceptance and their positive evaluation of responsible sexual relations between gay persons. The very label ‘gay’ is preferred to ‘homosexual’ since it implies explicit awareness of and positive willingness to accept oneself thankfully for what one is, rather than to go on bemoaning one’s fate as second-class citizens in a world of straight values and oppression.
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- Copyright © 1975 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers
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1 ‘The ‘Open Deur’ in Amsterdam is a Roman Catholic centre run by Dr M. Gott‐schalk. The work done there and by those connected with it is well known in Holland and highly thought of by those who value the spirit of the endeavour. The ‘Pastorale werkgroep Homofilie’ in Berg en Dal is an ecumenical group comprised of Catholic priests and Protestant ministers dedicated to a ministry among and for gay people. It too is well known and highly valued.
2 At the time of my writing this article (June 1975) DIGNITY has 33 local chapters in American cities across the entire continent. The national headquarters are located in Boston: 755 Boylston St., Room 514, Boston, MA. There are currently three new chapters in the process of formation. ACCEPTANCE has local chapters in Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. The address of the chapter in Canberra is: P.O. Box 381, Dickson 2602, A.C.T., Australia.
3 E.g., The Dutch Catechism: ‘Lack of frank discussion has allowed a number of opinions to be formed about them which are unjust when applied generally, because those who have such inclinations in fact are often hard‐working and honourable people. It is not the fault of the individual if he or she is not attracted to the other sex. The causes of homosexuality are unknown. In their human isolation, they look for friendship. But even where they find true and loyal responses, the perfect fulfilment of their human longings is not granted them. Ultimately all homosexual (or rather, homo‐erotic) tendencies come up against the discovery that the sexual in man can only find its natural fulfilmentas may be deduced from human structurein the other sex'. A New Catechism, London, 1967, pp. 384–385.
4 Abrahamitic minority' is the general term used by Archbishop Helder Camara (Recife, Brazil) for all groups oppressed by society at large. The term appears frequently in his book Espiral de Violencia (Ediciones Sigueme, Salamanca, 1970)Google Scholar.
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