Bishops’ conferences were tasked with collecting comments and sending them to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which produced a report for the Vatican. The bishops wrote that Catholics have brought political divisions into the pews.
The polarization also has affected the church hierarchy, with the divisions among bishops — and sometimes between bishops and the pope — becoming “a source of grave scandal,” it stated. “This perceived lack of unity within the hierarchy seems to, in turn, justify division at the local level.”The report emphasized calls by many Catholics for the church to become a more welcoming and open space.
The question of LGBTQ Catholics was especially troubling, with “practically all” consultations stating that the lack of welcome was at least in part responsible for the hemorrhage of young people from the church. The church condemns homosexual acts as a sin and considers gay individuals “intrinsically disordered.”“The hope for a welcoming Church expressed itself clearly with the desire to accompany with authenticity LGBTQ+ persons and their families,” the summary stated.
The divisions and politics tearing at the Catholic Church in the United States are taking place against the backdrop of “the still unfolding effects of the sexual abuse crisis,” the report said.
“The synodal consultations around the enduring wounds caused by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the pandemic, polarization, and marginalization have exposed a deep hunger for healing and the strong desire for communion, community, and a sense of belonging and being united,” the bishops wrote. The U.S. bishops’ summary, along with those of hundreds of bishops’ conferences around the world, are being studied at the Vatican, which will release a document in the coming weeks to guide the discussions of faith groups and organizations divided into seven “continental groups.”
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