Bishop to Lay Workers, School Administrators: Journey with LGBTQs

Davao City, September 7, 2019—Family and Life workers and school administrators were told to encounter and journey with persons with same sex attraction (SSA), a church term equivalent to the secular’s LGBTQ+ or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, among others.

Increasing attention has been given by the Philippine’s lawmakers to the LGBTQ+ community when Senator Risa Hontiveros revived the SOGIE Bill after an incident involving a transgender happened in one of the malls in Manila.

The controversy raised concern over opposing opinions based on popular public opinion from different sectors and the Catholic Church. Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, head of CBCP’s Family and Life urged the more than 250 participants representing dioceses and schools in Mindanao to be a best friend to the PSSA.

“How do we deal with the persons with SSA?,” he asked and quoted the papal document, Christus Vivit emphasizing to “follow Jesus as a faithful friend, who stands at our side in times of difficulty.”

“There is an art of accompanying,” he added with a challenge that every family and life worker to become “a best friend, be compassionate by listening with a heart, a heart with an ear.”

Archbishop Garcera announced that he would send out questionnaires to all Family and Life Apostolates in the dioceses and to the parishes to review their programs that would include the SSA.

He explained that a spiritual encounter is needed more than a problem solver that would lead to develop a culture of encounter with empathy that would lead to a genuine encounter, a welcoming attitude, reaching out attitude, walking with Jesus and with the intention of bringing them to Jesus.

He also recommended to organize parish, families or friends of SSA with the help of Courage Philippines to help in handling the group so that they will be integrated and feel that they belong.

The conference, entitled, “Male and Female, He Created Them Conference” was organize by Human Life International and the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, held September 6, 2019 at Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City.