This past Saturday, Polish-born Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa made public that he is gay and that he has a partner. In the video that I viewed, he was bursting with joy as he spoke about the love that he had come to know in his partner.
Msgr. Charamsa is not just any priest. He has served at the Vatican since 2003 as an official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and has been teaching theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. His announcement was a direct challenge by an insider to the culture of secrecy that pervades the institutional Roman Catholic Church.
For a long time institutional Catholic Church leaders, knowingly or not, have fostered an atmosphere of secrecy and denial in dealing with LGBT people and issues. This environment affects more than clergy. An informal don't-ask-don't-tell policy for LGBT lay employees has been commonplace for many years. While this situation has allowed many talented people to serve in church ministries, it has also exacted a price from these same people, including self-loathing, denial, fear, and missed opportunities for human love.
In this context, I see Msgr. Charamsa's public statement as courageous and visionary. It challenges the dehumanizing treatment of gay priests as well as LGBT employees and members. The Vatican spokesperson confirmed Msgr. Charamsa's own admission that there will certainly be consequences for his career in Catholic church ministry, but I admire him for challenging the church to open its eyes, to acknowledge LGBT people in its midst, and to affirm them in their identity.
Msgr. Charamsa's announcement resonated strongly with my own experience as a lay Roman Catholic gay man who had served for many years in public ministry. I understand well that coming out in a culture of secrecy can be very painful and has consequences.
In 2013, after marrying my partner Ray, I was dismissed from my ministry as a parish music director and gave up my position as President and CEO of a national organization of Catholic church musicians. The ranks of clergy and lay ministers in the Roman Catholic Church are full of people like me, many of them fearful of being exposed and of losing not only their jobs, but also the ministry and the church that they love. The culture of secrecy keeps many of them shrouded in fear, and now prevents some from exercising their civil right to marry their long-time partners.
As it turned out for me, the blessings following dismissal and loss have far outweighed the pain. I am deeply grateful to have been called to ministry by another Christian community that has embraced and affirmed Ray and me as a married same-sex couple. In my ministry at National City Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), I am free to serve as the person that God created me to be, liberated from the shackles of denial and fear.
I hope that as Msgr. Charamsa's story continues to unfold, he will find even deeper joy in his freedom to love and that he will be embraced by communities that will welcome him and his gifts for ministry.