Will the Catholics be waving their rainbow flags?
The Catholic Church once again is the talk of the religious world this week. Many people in the LGBT community were astonished and even excited by the potential of a significant change of attitude within the Church following a proposal by the Synod. This draft featured inclusive language that appeared to finally show gay and lesbian people as equal.
However, surprise surprise, news has just been released that the big gay welcome flag will not be flying high in the Vatican after all.
Interestingly it was Pope Francis who was in support of a change. The hard lined bishops took a stand and decided they were not in favour of this initial proposal. In the end the document published no longer uses welcoming and encouraging language, but rather simply includes that anti-gay discrimination needs to be “avoided”. In reality the document has now remained as it was and the positive whispers have been silenced once again.
At the same time in the US a study by the Pew Center has been revealed showing that 85% of young Catholics support the gay and lesbian community. So whilst the Synod appears to be stuck in its historic robes, the young are clearly moving with the times and realising with significance that we are all the same.