(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago wrote a column earlier this month for Fr. James Martin’s heterodox Outreach publication urging the faithful to “listen” to “LGBTQ Catholics.”
In the article, Cupich called for Catholics to “put aside preconceptions” about their LGBT brethren and instead engage in more “dialogue” and “listening” with them. The cardinal, who is the archbishop of Chicago, has long held pro-LGBT and other stances at odds with Church teaching.
Outreach operates under the auspices of the Jesuit-run America Media, which oversees the left-wing America Magazine. The group was founded by Fr. Martin, the heterodox Jesuit priest, and aims to become a global resource center “where church leaders, both clergy and lay, can encounter the LGBTQ faithful, in their ‘joys and hopes’ and ‘griefs and anxieties’ as well as engage in respectful dialogue.”
Cupich highlighted how former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria, called for U.S. bishops in 2021 to engage in dialogue with pro-abortion politicians before deciding whether or not to bar them from receiving Holy Communion. Cupich said the Church needs to do the same with “LGBT Catholics.”
“(W)e should listen to them rather than presume that we know how they understand church teaching, or that we know how they view carrying out the responsibilities of their office,” Cupich wrote.
“This approach of putting aside our preconceptions and really listening also applies to how church leaders ought to consider people in a variety of life situations. This includes not only LGBTQ Catholics but also people who are married or single, those in so-called irregular situations, those who are living with physical and psychological disabilities and others,” he added.
While it is true that Catholics can engage in dialogue with those in active same-sex relationships or are otherwise living in irregular situations, Cupich fails to mention that the goal of this dialogue must be for them to amend their lives and embrace the fullness of Christ and His truth.
The prelate also notably fails to mention that the Church has always taught, in accordance with Sacred Scripture and Tradition, that homosexual activity is intrinsically disordered and gravely sinful.
Later in the column, Cupich highlighted his belief that LGBT Catholic “couples” put the Gospel and sacrificial love into practice.
“Many LGBTQ people also learn and know what sacrificial love is, as they take on the role of parenting children who otherwise would not have a home. This also happens when LGBTQ people put the social Gospel into practice by volunteering for good causes and by dealing compassionately with others, as so many of them already know what it means to feel excluded,” Cupich wrote.
Here, the cardinal appears to be endorsing homosexual “couples” adopting children, which often places them in grave danger. And while the Church encourages the faithful to volunteer for good causes and obliges them to show compassion toward others, Cupich again omits any mention of the need for those in active same-sex “relationships” to amend their lives and live in chastity.
Later in the column, the cardinal stressed that LGBT Catholics see having “partners” to have stability in their lives.
“Rather, what’s been clear in my conversations with LGBTQ Catholics is that they place a high priority on expressions of love and intimacy that comport with church teaching. In fact, they tend to see a relationship with a partner as an attempt to establish stability in their lives in the face of the promiscuity that is sometimes present in both the gay and straight communities,” the cardinal wrote.
Cupich doesn’t make clear whether he is referring to these “LGBTQ” Catholics being in a heterosexual or homosexual relationship to establish stability.
LifeSiteNews reached out to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s communications office asking for clarification why Cupich wrote an article for a website that openly breaks with Church teaching and he accepts the Church’s teaching on same-sex relationships.
A spokesperson from the archdiocese told LifeSite that they would provide a response but had not done so at publication time.
Cupich has broken with Catholic teaching on gay “marriage” and other issues over the years.
In 2015, during the Synod of the Family, he laid out a pathway for both homosexual and divorced and “remarried” couples to receive the Eucharist in accordance with their “consciences.”
In 2021, he allowed then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, an active lesbian, to receive Holy Communion at a funeral Mass he celebrated. In 2023, he offered a Mass commemorating the dissident Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach’s (AGLO) 35th anniversary within the archdiocese.
Cupich has also been a major proponent of female “ordination” to the priesthood. He has joined Cardinal Robert McElroy and Fr. Martin in urgently calling for the Church to officially recognize women as “pastors.”