On Monday, October 13th, Catholic bishops and the pope released a preliminary document that seems more liberal than any document or statement before. The document exemplifies openness to homosexuals, accepting the lives of many modern­day Catholics. The message, however, was not a clear­cut welcome to the LGBT community. There is much debate over the true meaning and whether or not it is revolutionary.

Basically, the document states that both the Church and Catholics should be more welcoming of the LGBT community because its members have “gifts and qualities” to offer the religious society, and these people should not be shunned for how they identify themselves. On one hand, many people view this as a definitive statement that the Church is ready to accept homosexual people into its doors. This idea is supported by the fact that the pope would not release such a controversial statement if he were not prepared to take a stance on the issue.

On the other hand, conservatives believe that this isn’t a major change at all. They think that the Church is merely advising people not to turn away the LGBT community, but rather welcome them with open arms, only so that they can repent and learn to change. Maria Medise, a coordinator of a pro­life group, was appalled that people would even think that the Church would accept homosexuals, rhetorically asking “Will those parents now have to tell their children that the Vatican teaches that there are positive and constructive aspects to these [homosexual] mortal sins? This approach destroys grace in souls” (Fox News). Her frustration with the news was extremely insensitive and would hopefully not reflect the bishops’ views. Unfortunately, the radicality of Medise’s outburst is closer to the truth than the more liberal idea that the Church was making a big change.

The Church evidently underestimated the effect of their word choice, and the bishops decided to water down the statement on Thursday. They simply altered the English version of the document, as though it was a simple translation mistake, but this is doubtful. The Vatican changed a section of the document from “welcoming homosexual persons” to “providing for homosexual persons.” It is odd, though, that the Italian version remains the same. Although the alteration stymies the rising hopes of more liberal Catholics, it still hints that the Church is beginning to recognise the concept of equality.