For those who left an addiction to sexual sin, the papal comments feel like a rejection of their return to the Catholic teachings on chastity.
“I have worked so hard to change myself and become a different person from what I was,” said Fernandez. “I worked hard to change my values. All of a sudden, I felt like the Church was saying, ‘No, that’s okay. It’s fine. You could have stayed as you were.’ I felt totally lost and had flashbacks to all the things I used to do. But I also had flashbacks to all of the praying I had done, and all the spiritual things I had done in the last year. Was all that I did for nothing?”
For Darrow, the papal comments seem to lack any recognition of his and others’ struggles.
“Pope Francis should understand the huge sacrifice that my brothers and sisters (with same-sex attraction who are living chastity) are making for God,” said Darrow. “When we have conferences for the Courage apostolate, some of the wonderful speakers look out on us and say, ‘You are the last wall that hasn’t caved in. You are making an amazing sacrifice to be chaste.’ Pope Francis’ comments seem to imply that our sacrifice is for no reason at all. It seems that no one cares to reach out to us and even most Catholics don’t get it.”
The confusion that the papal comments have created are what bothers Evans the most.