The Pope has given gay couples hope.. and I pray it will spark a revolution of love in the Catholic Church
Lawyer Nicholas Scullion left the Catholic Church when he met his husband and realised their marriage would never be recognised by his religion.
The 45-year-old managing director of his family’s legal firm married Antonio, 33, in August last year and the pair are now members of the Episcopal Church.
Nicholas, from Glasgow, said he was deeply moved by Pope Francis’s backing of same-sex unions after the pontiff spoke out last week in support of the
LGBT community.
Here, he tells how the Church could be a source of hope if the Pope would give his blessing to gay marriage.
When I heard Pope Francis’s comments on same-sex unions, I was very moved.
When I was younger, I was told by a bishop that it was just not possible for people of the same sex to be in love with each other. Gay sex was perverted and immoral, so gay people could only experience lust.
I was condemned to either a life of sin or one of sacrificial sadness.
Did God want a life of sadness for me? Of course he didn’t, so that meant my gay thoughts must be coming from the devil.
Terrified, I put them in a box and prayed that they would go away. They didn’t.
However, I enjoyed going to church and got a lot from my faith. I see the positive impact that faith can have on people, especially at difficult times.
As a gay Catholic, I was lucky to find love and acceptance from my family and friends, many of whom are or were Catholic.
The same was true from the Catholic faith community and priests, but there was always the big obstacle that comes from the “love the sinner, hate the sin” mantra.
I just about managed to live with it and could be accepted as long as I kept quiet. Things changed when I met my husband Antonio.
He gave me the courage to realise that I was not going to wait for acceptance. I don’t need approval, I am already accepted and loved by God.
I chose to leave the Catholic Church to enable my marriage, because our love, my husband and our union would not be recognised by the Church I used to serve.
I became fed up of being told that my husband and I were mentally ill, disordered or worse and that the Church “cannot support the acceptance of objectively immoral relationships”.
I know that the love which my husband and I have is not immoral. We are both loved by
God and finding each other has been God’s blessing.
We have been welcomed into the Episcopal Church and I find the love and acceptance awesome.
I welcome this statement by Pope Francis. It is a small but necessary step in the right direction. I despair at the comments
and actions of cruel clergy who are happy to destroy lives, break up families and dilute people’s self-worth by their obsession with sex, sexuality, power and control. It’s time they focused on the gospel message of love.
I fear that unless Pope Francis has the strength and courage to go further and commit to acceptance, love and inclusivity, the Church that I used to be a part of and served for so many years will wither and die in my lifetime.
This is an opportunity for the Church to become more loving and less judgmental. It can start by
I don’t need approval, I am already accepted by God
calling the civil union by its proper name – marriage. My marriage is just as wonderful, loving and challenging as any marriage between a man and a woman.
It could trigger a much-needed revolution in the Catholic Church which could then become a source of hope.
This would bring a welcome renewal of faith and love, at the time when we, as a people, need it most.