On Tuesday, October 3, Krzysztof Charamsa came to talk to Boston College about how the Catholic Church has failed in its teaching of homosexuality. Charamsa analyzed the history of the Catholic Church’s teachings on Galileo and Darwin as evidence that the Church is incorrect in its position on gender and sexuality.
The Catholic Church, Charamsa argued, rejected Galileo’s heliocentric model and imprisoned him for heresy, before ultimately acknowledging their mistake in 1992. Pope John Paul II instructed the Vatican to form the Galileo Commission in 1981 in order to understand the scope of the infamous detention of Galileo fully.
Ultimately the Vatican reversed its position in 1992, which, according to Charamsa, means the Church is ever-changing and must evolve. It should be noted that Galileo was not necessarily jailed for his heliocentric model, but instead because he publicly denigrated the office of the Papacy.
Charamsa then discussed the circumstances of Darwin and Evolution, which he argued directly contradicts the biblical narrative of God’s creation of the Earth and Man. The Catholic Church had initially declined to embrace evolution and referred to it as another theory. Humani Generis, the Papal Encyclical produced by Pope Pius XII in 1950, highlighted how God was instrumental in the creation of the human soul. It was not until 1996 that in a speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Pope John Paul II referred to the theory of evolution as “more than a hypothesis.”
Charamsa used the new teachings of the Catholic Church on Darwin and Evolution in a similar manner to its controversy with Galileo and the heliocentric model. The main argument Charamsa made in his talk was that the Catholic Church must understand that since its incorrect teachings in the past on heliocentrism and evolution were corrected, so should be their teachings on gender and sexuality.
Charamsa then addressed some of the major points of contention on gender and sexuality within the Catholic Church, referencing the main verses of scripture that people use to justify “homophobia.” He referenced Genesis 19 (Sodom and Gomorrah), Romans 1:26, and Timothy 1:8. In all cases, Charamsa believed it was a misconception that those verses were referring to homosexuality as a sin, but instead were concerning effeminate values, gambling, or idolatry. He repeatedly stated that Sodom and Gomorrah did not actually occur, and has been used to justify centuries of anti-homosexual positions of the Catholic Church. His interpretation of these verses, it should be noted, goes directly against the stated positions of the Catholic Church on homosexuality:
Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. (CCC 2357)
Charamsa inherently has a different interpretation of Scripture and it falls much more in line with “sola scriptura” as opposed to continuing the 2000-year-old traditions of the Catholic Church.
When Charamsa finished his talk, audience members had the opportunity to ask questions. The first question concerned Pope Francis’ recent comments on homosexuality and blessings of same-sex marriages. He argued that Pope Francis has “abandoned millions of Catholics who are not fully welcome in the Church and that he has continued the anti-homosexuality positions of Ratzinger” (not referring to him as Pope Benedict XVI).
Next, some members of the audience who identified as Greek Orthodox questioned Charamsa’s looseness with Apostolic Tradition and his conflation of scientific principles with moral principles. One student argued that equating scientific ideas on heliocentrism and evolution cannot be perceived through the same lens as moral questions about uprooting one of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
Charamsa had difficulty answering these questions, but the situation became chaotic when audience members jeered at the Orthodox students, with one girl referring to them as “fascists.” The moderator ended the Q&A session at 6:52 p.m. because the room was only booked until 7 p.m., but more students still had questions.
Overall, Krzysztof Charamsa staunchly argued for his positions and they were well-received by the audience except among those few Orthodox students. It is interesting to note such consensus between him and the audience despite his teachings directly contradicting the policies of the Catholic Church and thus Boston College.
James “Δημήτριος” Markis is a senior at Boston College studying History, Political Science, and Ancient Civilization. He is a Greek Orthodox Christian, offering a unique perspective from the East on faith, scripture, and liturgical practices. His interests include right-wing politics, Church Fathers, and refuting Protestant heresy. His hobbies include basketball, baseball, and trivia, with the occasional adventure into the arena of chess.
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