A new chill for Catholics.

A new chill for Catholics

In a harsh move the Vatican rebukes a nun and a priest for their gay ministry

Two years ago U.S. Catholic bishops issued a pastoral letter in which they called on parents to love and respect their gay children. The unexpectedly liberal statement seemed to indicate a small but important thaw in the Catholic Church's hardline stance regarding homosexuality. But the thaw ended on a hot day in May when the Vatican reprimanded two of the foremost ministers to gay and lesbian Catholics because of their "ambiguous positions on homosexuality."

In a move that signals the Vatican's unwillingness to tolerate even the appearance of wavering on church teaching, Father Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick, who founded New Ways Ministry in 1977, were permanently barred from doing any outreach to gay and lesbian Catholics. In a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, Nugent and Gramick were chastised for activities that have "caused confusion among the Catholic people and have harmed the community of the Church."

Nugent said the four-year investigation was meant to stop his and Gramick's work. "As we began to realize that nothing was satisfying them, we realized that no matter what we said, the goal was to stop the ministry," he said.

The Vatican's action was a stern reminder to American Catholics--and bishops--of how far they can go when it comes to gay issues. "It seems to contradict what the U.S. bishops have been saying about pastoral ministries to gay and lesbian people and their families," said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways. "Sister Jeannine and Father Nugent were in line with the American bishops, but it seems the Vatican was not happy with that approach."

Indeed, the rebuke was notable for its harshness. Signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation, and approved by Pope John Paul II, the notification takes Nugent and Gramick to task for promoting "errors and ambiguities" about homosexuality, which the document said was unfair to "persons who are struggling with homosexuality."

"It's pretty severe," said Charles Cox, executive director of Dignity/USA, an organization for gay Catholics. "It can't get much more severe than that." The only other steps the Vatican could have taken to censure Nugent and Gramick would have been to have them expelled from their religious orders and excommunicated. "The punishment doesn't fit the crime," Nugent said.

Cox said that the notification was comparable to the infamous "Halloween letter" issued by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1986, in which the Vatican condemned homosexuality in forceful terms. That letter used the same language used to reprimand Gramick and Nugent, with Ratzinger stressing the church's "definitive and unchangeable" belief in "the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts and the objective disorder of the homosexual inclination." Nugent and Gramick both refused to assent to that doctrine during the investigation.

The Vatican's edict may have a chilling affect on gay and lesbian outreach programs in about 30 Catholic dioceses across the country. "This is going to put them in a very difficult position," Cox said. "What happened to Bob and Jeannine sends a very clear signal: You need to run a very tight ship and be absolutely clear about church teaching." Cox said the action has both angered and motivated members of Dignity, which was scheduled to hold its biennial convention in Denver on August 5-8.

New Ways hopes public outrage will persuade American bishops to seek to overturn the decision. "I think that when the U.S. bishops begin to hear how angry this has made the church in America, they are going to have to start to listen," DeBernardo said.

Pax Christi, a Catholic group dedicated to nonviolence, sent a letter to Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, head of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, urging him to appeal the ban.

While DeBernardo admitted that the decision was "very disheartening," he remains hopeful that the church will eventually change. "It's difficult to see the hand of God at work in the Vatican's decision," DeBernardo said. "But in some ways it's a blessing in disguise that this issue has raised the visibility of gay and lesbian issues in the church."