MSC Lay Council, Vatican Response on Blessing Same-Sex Unions.

The communication that the Lay Council sent to the Tri-Generalate, MSC, OLSH, MSC Sisters, on the CDF statement.  From the General Secretary, Alison McKenzie.

Special Easter greetings to our dear friends.

This email is to update you on our response as the International Council of the Chevalier Laity to the recent statement on blessing homosexual relationships. The statement has been the cause of distress to the members of the Council and we consider one of our responsibilities as a Lay Council is to discuss and possibly, to respond to issues such as this that affect our evangelising mission.  

From a western perspective, we agreed that the recent statement was unnecessary and divisive and created a distraction from our core message offering hope in these troubled and difficult times.  It does not reflect the cultural and social shifts in attitudes and understanding of human sexuality that are occurring in the west and does not reflect a consistent ethic of love. But, we also realise that the developed world is not the whole world and that we must speak prudently, mindful of the attitudes in other places where our laity are present.

We agreed to encourage, where appropriate, our National Co-ordinators to support Bishops and others who were speaking a more loving response in their regions. As a Lay Council, we have a clear vision for the laity to be a group that is not simply inwardly focussed on personal spirituality, but rather, to be people who see that the journey to their own hearts and the  Heart of Christ always calls us out into the world in which we live. We hope that this focus will draw us to be people who can engage deeply with the ills of our times and places.