LOCAL REACTION:

Some clergy and gay-rights advocates welcome the pope’s surprise remarks on the subject of homosexuality and the church.

Catholic liberals and those supportive of a ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics hailed Pope Francis, who on Monday shocked the world when he addressed homosexuality.

“Who am I to judge?” the pontiff said when asked about a gay lobby in the Vatican.

“When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby,” he said. “If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him?” the pope said. “They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency (to being gay) is not the problem. ... They’re our brothers.”

The remark took most observers by surprise.

“I am glad that the leader of the Roman church has finally come to agree with millions of other Roman Catholics around the world,” said the Rev. Vernon Meyer, a former Catholic priest who left the church, in part, because of its position on gay people.

“I would caution against too much optimism, because the 30 years of repressive rule by (previous popes) has created a culture of bishops and priests, many severely closeted and repressed, who act out of their own fears with continuing harsh and repressive policies,” added Meyer, a pastor at Sun Lakes United Church of Christ.

Meyer’s position matches that of many Catholics: The words are fine, but action needs to follow.

Meyer said the pope’s words “will not affect anything, because church policy is not made by an off-the-cuff news conference on an airplane.”

Conservative news outlets hastened to note that the pope’s statement did not disagree with official church policy. The church’s catechism says the Bible “presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, (and that) tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law.”

“The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible,” the catechism continues. “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

No priests were available from the Diocese of Phoenix to discuss the pope’s remarks. Several were on vacation, and several others did not return calls.

Rob DeFrancesco, communications director, provided a statement from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted.

“Pope Francis’ remarks reiterate Catholic teaching that the church is open to all people, including those with same-sex attractions, but homosexual activity is contrary to the Gospel of Christ — just as all sexual activity out- side of marriage would be. A priest must be able to live a healthy, celibate lifestyle, whether or not he has ever experienced same-sex attractions,” the statement read.

The bishop’s statement added: “I also take this opportunity to emphasize that people with same-sex attractions deserve compassion, respect and sensitivity, and that every sign of unjust discrimination must be avoided.”

Kevin Clarke, associate editor of the Jesuit magazine America, said there was more to the pope’s words than a simple reiteration of Catholic teaching.

“They certainly signal a shift in tone from Rome on gay and lesbians,” he wrote.

He added, “What startles may be the spectacle of a pope saying anything out loud on the matter and stressing the importance of church teaching on the human dignity of gay and lesbian people.”

The Rev. Chris Carpenter, a former Roman Catholic pastor in Phoenix, said the pope’s remarks must be understood in a broader context of reaching out to the poor, the alienated and the marginalized people in society.

“Just for a pope to use the word ‘gay,’ and use it in a non-judgmental way, is a cultural shift,” said Carpenter, who serves as a bishop in the Reformed Catholic Church, a liberal offshoot from the Roman church.

Mark Elliott Newman, president of Dignity/Arizona, an organization of gay Catholics, said that he welcomes the pope’s remarks as a “first step” but regrets that the pope still considers “all homosexual acts as sinful.”

Newman, who leads a different offshoot of the Roman church called the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch, added that the Dignity organization, which is not welcome in Roman Catholic churches, affirms “that as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, we can express our sexuality in a manner that is consonant with Christ’s teaching.”

The officially approved Catholic ministry to gay people, called Courage, has two chapters in the Phoenix area. No representative of either chapter replied to requests for comment.

The pope’s message reverberated beyond the Roman Catholic Church.

Dave Ragan, a clergy member in the United Church of Christ and senior vice president for resident services at the Beatitudes Campus, a retirement home in Phoenix, has been a leader in an effort to get more churches to accept gay members.

“I am both stunned and heartened by the compassion the pope might be showing when it comes to God’s children who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender,” he said. “It has been sorely missing with devastating effects on the lives of millions — even us nonCatholics.”