Consummating love.

The church is lost in speculation about homosexual love and homosexual desire, but for me, it is a matter of radical simplicity. Can a Catholic who loves the church and is also in love with another of the same sex achieve physical and emotional consummation of that love? The church says no. A man may love another man but he cannot consummate that love. If I am to be received by the church as a communicant of my parish, I must be silent (the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops counsels those with "homosexual inclinations" not to discuss it publicly) and celibate; these are the only available alternatives to a life of "sin" and exclusion. For a homosexual who has found the beloved "other," this is an intolerable state of being. I would not be true to the depth of my love of the church if I did not hope that there might be further and courageous examination of homosexual love by the body of the faithful, homosexual and heterosexual. The church must find courage to bless those homosexual couples who affirm mutual fidelity, a common love, and the intention to build a life together in body and spirit till death parts them.

NED O'GORMAN

New York, N.Y.