Mike Lesperance is a gay Catholic who withdrew from the Church when he heard a priest pray for "good homosexuals, those who do not yield to their abominable inclinations." He now attends a Methodist church in Washington, DC, that is accepting of his sexuality.
"My anger at the Pope has receded, probably because I don't take the Catholic church as seriously as I used to; I understand that there is room for differing opinions within the Church. My childlike concept of the Church -- a community-based institution ministered on a local level -- was hardly facile. The Church is made up of its many parts, from the courageous Jesuit Greg Brown, fighting ghetto rot in East L.A., to the brilliant scholar-priest Tim Healy, reviving the New York City Public Library, and even extending to John Paul's obvious compassion for AIDS patients. Such acts continue to transcend the often frosty rhetoric from the Vatican. I understand that a person can be Catholic and still disagree with Catholic dogma, be it on homosexuality, the role of women in the Church or abortion. I remain a Catholic. I have never been rebaptized elsewhere or even strongly considered it. In fact, I quietly, often clandestinely, attend mass on the high holidays.
"Because of my appreciation of the role of tradition in the Church, I understand the Pope's position, and I have a wider perspective on his appeal. But if I admire John Paul as a man of conviction, I disagree with his holdings. If I still pray for him, I wish for his message to fail."
How do you feel about the Pope?
