A Christian Is More than One Who Believes
There is a lot of consternation about a letter released in July by Bishop John Doerfler. The letter entitled Created in the Image and Likeness of God: An Instruction on Some Aspects of the Pastoral Care Of Persons with Same-Sex Attraction and Gender Dysphoria gives instructions on how to minister to those who self-identify as LGBT.
Many railed against it believing it singles out the self-identified members of the LGBT Catholic community. They are not wrong. In fact, the rules he cites actually apply to all those in the Catholic Church but he wrote it specific to that community.
Catholicism is more than rules
Many in their anger against the letter missed a larger issue within both Catholicism and Christianity the bishop addresses and the Pew Research Center also reveals. Bishop Doerfler makes the bold step of condemning the common practice of doing nothing more than citing rules.
He begins by explaining the importance of leading people to an encounter with Christ. This means to help them develop a prayer relationship with Jesus which is at the center of true Christianity. The practice of just simply citing rules is bad Catholicism. He explains: “To accompany others, it is insufficient merely to state the Church’s teaching.”
