Should gay men be able to take communion?

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Hi, I saw this article when I was reading online, its about a guy being denied communion by the priest because he lives together with his boyfriend. Can a priest do that?

Should gay men be able to take communion?
A Dutch Prince of the Carnival was snubbed by the Catholic Church recently when a priest refused to grant him holy communion because he lives together with his boyfriend.

Link: weblogs.nrc.nl/discussion/2010/02/26/should-gay-men-be-able-to-take-communion/
 
A person with homosexual tendencies …who lives as a Christian (as a Catholic) can of course receive Holy Communion…

but not if they are “acting on such…living in a way contrary to the Faith”…just like others who live in objectively gravely sinful situations (boyfriends living with girlfriends etc) …they should not receive.
 
Holy Communion is available to all sinners who repent, who are baptised, and who are in a state of grace. Bank robbers who openly continue to rob banks are not repentant, and also cannot receive Holy Communion.
 
soulhunter182 said:
Hi, I saw this article when I was reading online, its about a guy being denied communion by the priest because he lives together with his boyfriend. Can a priest do that?

Should gay men be able to take communion?
A Dutch Prince of the Carnival was snubbed by the Catholic Church recently when a priest refused to grant him holy communion because he lives together with his boyfriend.

Link: weblogs.nrc.nl/discussion/2010/02/26/should-gay-men-be-able-to-take-communion/
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I think if a gay person is living with another gay person, people and priests assume they are living unchastely, so yes, I believe Communion can be refused. But I also think if the priest knows a heterosexual couple is cohabitating, that also should be the case.

However, if a person is known to be gay, and is known to be living a chaste life alone without a parter he definitely should be able to receive Communion.

I think that everyone should know the state of their soul, and the teachings of the Church. If there is any doubt that they are in Mortal sin, they shouldn’t receive Communion until they go to Confession. In the case of co-habitating couples, gay or unmarried heterosexual, they need to change their lifestyle first.
 
No one living in sin - man, woman, or child - should receive communion. That said, many sins are not readily apparent to others, so we must police ourselves. A person engaged in fornication or adultery of any kind shouldn’t receive communion. It may be that the gay person–openly living a sinful lifestyle–is the only one the priest knows about and notices. But the next man in line, who is sleeping with his girlfriend, should also not receive communion.

Someone attracted to the same sex, but who does not act on those attractions, is not living in sexual sin. Just as the man who is attracted to women, but is not sleeping with anyone but his wife is not living in sexual sin. They may both still be liars, thieves, or murderers and as such STILL shouldn’t receive communion.

If we all took our own sin seriously and didn’t present ourselves for communion when in a state of mortal sin (or even long-nurtured venial sin), we wouldn’t be so busy noticing or caring what everyone else was doing.
 
utah_rose said:
I think if a gay person is living with another gay person, people and priests assume they are living unchastely, so yes, I believe Communion can be refused. But I also think if the priest knows a heterosexual couple is cohabitating, that also should be the case.

However, if a person is known to be gay, and is known to be living a chaste life alone without a parter he definitely should be able to receive Communion.

I think that everyone should know the state of their soul, and the teachings of the Church. If there is any doubt that they are in Mortal sin, they shouldn’t receive Communion until they go to Confession. In the case of co-habitating couples, gay or unmarried heterosexual, they need to change their lifestyle first.
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Just a follow up though. If a priest knew this person to be gay and living with his boyfriend. The priest would not know if they are living a chaste lifestyle or not right? what if they were and the priest assumes that they weren’t and due to this was refused communion?
 
soulhunter182 said:
Just a follow up though. If a priest knew this person to be gay and living with his boyfriend. The priest would not know if they are living a chaste lifestyle or not right? what if they were and the priest assumes that they weren’t and due to this was refused communion?
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I leave the refusing Communion to the Church…Canon Law etc…

But as to going to communion…no they should not. The very fact that a person has this difficulty “has a boyfriend”…let alone living with them…is already beyond what should happen…(one should not live with ones boyfriend even if one is a she! and go to Communion)

Just like if I as a married man where to have “girlfriend” on the side…even if we did nothing more than “go for a date to the movies” …I can not have a “girlfriend” I am married…(and one can add that I rent an apartment with her and live together when I am away there on business trips…even without doing anything else…it is contrary to my chastity and can be cause for scandal etc)

A person can not have a “boyfriend” of the same sex…in that sort of “relationship” sense.
 
soulhunter182 said:
Hi, I saw this article when I was reading online, its about a guy being denied communion by the priest because he lives together with his boyfriend. Can a priest do that?

That’s a cannon law matter, but yes, there are situations where Catholics can be denied the reception of the Eucharist.
Should gay men be able to take communion?

Sure, if they’re not in a state of mortal sin, just like the rest of us.

A Dutch Prince of the Carnival was snubbed by the Catholic Church recently when a priest refused to grant him holy communion because he lives together with his boyfriend.

Link: weblogs.nrc.nl/discussion/2010/02/26/should-gay-men-be-able-to-take-communion/
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Note the following from the article:

“The big question is whether the church will then refuse offer the wafer and a sip of wine to any, or all, of its new visitors.”

Clearly the author doesn’t understand the significance of the refusal.
 
soulhunter182 said:
Hi, I saw this article when I was reading online, its about a guy being denied communion by the priest because he lives together with his boyfriend. Can a priest do that?
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Yes, a priest can do that.
soulhunter182 said:
Should gay men be able to take communion?
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This question has been improperly framed. Having same sex attraction does not bar a person from communion.

There are requirements that all Catholics must meet in order to receive communion. A person with same sex attraction certainly can receive communion if they meet the requirements that we all must meet.

A person actively engaging in a gravely sinful activity may not, regardless of what that activity is. Homosexual sex is one such activity, but there are certainly many others. Divorce and remarriage, fornication, adultery, abortion, etc.
 
1ke said:
Yes, a priest can do that.

This question has been improperly framed. Having same sex attraction does not bar a person from communion.

There are requirements that all Catholics must meet in order to receive communion. A person with same sex attraction certainly can receive communion if they meet the requirements that we all must meet.

A person actively engaging in a gravely sinful activity may not, regardless of what that activity is. Homosexual sex is one such activity, but there are certainly many others. Divorce and remarriage, fornication, adultery, abortion, etc.
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You’re entirely correct.

That means, as a note to the OP, that if a priest knows that a heterosexual person is openly fornicating or committing adultery, he can refuse communion as well.

It is not the homosexual (or heterosexual) inclination which is sinful, but the actions which can be sinful.

A homosexual man or woman living a chaste life and otherwise in a state of grace (and of course, Catholic) may receive communion in the Catholic Church. Same for a heterosexual man or woman.

We know that sadly some people do sin, and manage to ‘hide’ the sin and take anyway, in which case they are ‘eating and drinking condemnation on themselves’ --commiting further serious sin which one day they will answer to God for. So we should indeed as good Catholics who love our fellow Catholics be doing as much as possible to help people know what is ‘sin’ and try to help them keep from sinning.
 
soulhunter182 said:
Just a follow up though. If a priest knew this person to be gay and living with his boyfriend. The priest would not know if they are living a chaste lifestyle or not right? what if they were and the priest assumes that they weren’t and due to this was refused communion?
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I responded on your other thread re this article but wanted to respond to the above. THIS is why you should go talk to your parish priest about your choice to live a Godly life. 🙂
 
Unfortunately this is the battleground. The homosexuals actively wants not their sexual orientation, but their their lifestyle to be accepted by everyone, including the Catholic Church.

Sexual desire for any other person than ones spouse is inclination for sin. Living it out, either with the opposite sex or with the same sex is grave sin.

The church always denied communion for those who openly lived in sin.

Most of those people in the past have decency not to come to the table of the Lord. Some homosexuals apparently, at least according to the article, have no decency, and do not honor the religious freedom of the Catholic Church, want to force their will on her.

In the near future the Church will be persecuted by them.
 
This is a really good article from an old issue of This Rock magazine. It’s written by a gay man. I feel as though I’d like to print it out and reformat it as a tract and leave them all over a local resort this summer. It’s awfully hard for someone who isn’t homosexual to be taken seriously when making the case for chastity. This man does it so well because he speaks from his own experience.
catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9407fea1.asp
 
I think the matter goes deeper than that. Living the Christian life certainly includes receiving Communion, but it involved following Christ and acting as Jesus did. How can someone claim to love God and his or her neighbor and persist in serious sin and disobedience to the commands of God? The Eucharist is a sign of our unity with God and our unity with one another. When we sin we are not in unity, and that is why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The problem with the current political debate on homosexuality is that one side is attempting to make the choice of sin a legitimate lifestyle choice and such a thing defies logic. The Church is not confused. We acknowledge our sin, we do not attempt to redefine it to appease our own misguided immorality. We all sin. Homosexuality is not the only kind of sin by far, but it is and has always been a sin to perform any sexual act outside of a marriage covenant between a man and a woman. God defines human sexuality and humanity must live within the parameters of God’s will or suffer the consequences of separation from God. So then no one can take communion who is not in unity with God and with the Catholic church, and that would include anyone who is unrepentant of any kind of sexual sin.
 
soulhunter182 said:
Hi, I saw this article when I was reading online, its about a guy being denied communion by the priest because he lives together with his boyfriend. Can a priest do that?

Should gay men be able to take communion?
A Dutch Prince of the Carnival was snubbed by the Catholic Church recently when a priest refused to grant him holy communion because he lives together with his boyfriend.
Click to expand...
soulhunter182 said:
If a priest knew this person to be gay and living with his boyfriend. The priest would not know if they are living a chaste lifestyle or not right? what if they were and the priest assumes that they weren’t and due to this was refused communion?
Click to expand...
Holy Communion is reserved to Catholics in a state of grace. If a man has a boyfriend, that is manifest grave sin and would be scandalous for him to be given and receive Holy Communion. More clearly, it is not chaste for a man to have a “boyfriend”. Men may be roommates without sin, but the boyfriend relationship is inherently disordered and sinful.
 
Hi All,

a newbie here…and am glad to find a Catholic thread which addresses gay issues. i was baptised in Apri 2011 and am striving to live as a chaste gay. had seen a french priest for my first confession and think i’m gonna to see him again:crying:

its not easy to be chaste:imsorry:
 
If the priest knew that a person was in a state of mortal sin and gave them the sacrament then they would be committing a grave and mortal sin. The Eucharist is divine and nothing unholy or unsanctified should touch it.

If any person who is in a state of mortal sin, or who is not Catholic and in a state of grace takes of this holy sacrament, they incur the wrath of God and commit a grevious insult upon the body and blood of Christ, and a grievious spiritual injury to their souls. In fact the book of Corinthians states that many are physically sick and have even died because they ate of the sacrament unworthily.

We should all tremble and fear, especially the clergy, for all our sakes, to ensure that crimes and indifferences toward the Holy Sacrament are not committed.
 
Singapore_Nick said:
Hi All,

a newbie here…and am glad to find a Catholic thread which addresses gay issues. i was baptised in Apri 2011 and am striving to live as a chaste gay. had seen a french priest for my first confession and think i’m gonna to see him again:crying:

its not easy to be chaste:imsorry:
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Dear Brother, may God bless you and strengthen you!
 
I have come a long way when it comes to homosexuality.

Growing up, I considered homosexuality to be wrong. From about 10 years ago, I began to believe there was nothing wrong with it.

Now, after becoming interested in Catholicism, I understand same sex attraction is disordered, that we should not discriminate against people with SSAs, that we should love them, but they are to live chaste lives.

Okay fine.

However, with all due respect, this seems like forked tongue doctrine.

We are told we are called to live chastely. How many Catholic heterosexual couples are chaste? Not a lot. They sure take communion though.

So how does it make sense to say, hey, some of us have SSA’s. You can be a vital part of the church community, but you must stay chaste forever! Whereas heterosexuals are told to stay chaste until married.

So a homosexual has the option of either marrying a woman or staying chaste forever.

This to me is the same as saying homosexuality is a sin, as it used to be described.

The only reason I can see for the Church clarifying its stance is to 1) make sure overly zealous Catholics don’t go around beating up gay people; 2) to protect itself as much as possible from lawsuits.

Edited to add: What is chaste? If a heterosexual couple does nothing sexually except for closed-mouth kisses on the lips, I’m pretty sure they would be considered chaste in their dating and could take communion.

Can a homosexual couple date in such a chaste manner? Can one even be a homosexual couple?

The truth is, no one wants to see homosexuals dating no matter how chaste.

Then why not just call homosexuality a sin and be done with it.
 
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