Though the church has made some progress in accepting the fact that not all persons find themselves called to a life-long, heterosexual union, it has still done very little to foster the acceptance of persons with alternative sexual orientations as dignified members of the church and society. The task of educating the faithful to respect all human persons who do not conform to one’s own personal expectations, especially when those persons are living honorable lives, is yet to begin in the majority of Catholic parishes.
The preceding statement was made by an international group of Catholic theologians in response to the Vatican's recent appeal for lay Catholics to make their views about issues of contraception, same-sex marriage, and divorce in preparation for the upcoming Synod on the Family. The statement may be found at the website of John Wijngaards's Catholic Research Centre.
See also Joshua McElwee's report today about this statement at National Catholic Reporter.
To repeat the theologians: The Catholic church "has still done very little to foster the acceptance of persons with alternative sexual orientations as dignified members of the church and society."
And stunts like the one Bishop Paprocki pulled yesterday, as his brother bishops across the U.S. sat by in total silence, don't help in the least.