Johan Verschueren supports LGBTQ Catholic event held at the Company’s headquarters in Rome

Father Johan Verschueren, a Jesuit authority, has endorsed the “LGBTQ Catholics” event held recently at the General House of the Society of Jesus in Rome.

Within the framework of the Synod of Synodality, last Tuesday the Jesuits hosted an event in which a group of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer) people shared their testimony and requested greater participation in the ecclesial community.

The General Councilor and Delegate for the Interprovincial Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome, expressed to ACI Prensa his “moral support” for this act, although he specified that he was not present.

“LGBT Christians are our brothers and sisters and, of course, they have (should have) their place in our local churches and religious communities,” noted Fr. Verschueren.

Referring to the members of this group, he argued in conversation with ACI Prensa that “their gender identity was not a moral choice,” while stating that “they were born this way.”

He also reiterated that “they are equally called and loved by our Lord and Savior, and invited to follow him” and added that “it is good to hear them bear witness.”

Jesuits in Rome host pro-LGBT event

The event, titled “What is the experience of LGBTQ Catholics?”, was organized by the magazine America Media and the pro-LGBT group Outreach, whose founder is the controversial Jesuit Fr. James Martin, who attends the Synodality Assembly by appointment of Pope Francis.

It was inaugurated by Father Antoine Kerhuel, secretary of the Society of Jesus, in the Hall of the General Curia of the Jesuits, located on the busy street Borgo Santo Spiritovery close to the Vatican.

With Fr. James Martin at the helm as moderator, the panel included other guests such as Christopher Vella, from the Catholic LGBT organization Drachma in Malta. “Let love be expressed,” urged Vella.

Also in attendance was Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean abused activist and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, who condemned the support that some Church leaders “have given to controversial laws that stigmatize LGBTQ people, especially in places like Uganda”.

Janet Obeney-Williams also participated, a lesbian woman who lives with another woman with whom she contracted a civil marriage in London and who has participated in the Global Synod consultation.

A retired doctor, Obeney-Williams recounted her “conversion” to Catholicism after words of “welcome” from Pope Francis.

It also had the participation of some prelates and cardinals, among them the Jesuit Bishop of Hong Kong and delegate of the Synod, Bishop Stephen Chow, who led a prayer opening of the event.

“O Holy Spirit, send us your guiding light of truth, so that our ignorance and prejudices may melt through this synodal meeting, and a new morning marked by mutual respect and empathetic understanding may take shape in our Church for our sisters and LGBTQ brothers, prayed the purple

For her part, Joanita Warry Ssenfuka, a Catholic lesbian from Uganda who directs the organization Freedom and Roam Ugandaindicated that Jesus’ message “was one of love” and urged Church leaders “to see LGBT Catholics as human beings and not as the sum of their sins.”

It is worth remembering that, on the eve of the Synod, Fr. Martin shared personal reflections on the pastoral approaches of Catholics experiencing same-sex attraction with Fr. Radcliffe, spiritual assistant at the synod assembly and future cardinal.

Over the years, his critics have accused to Fr Martin to refuse catholic teaching about the sinfulness of homosexual acts, but he has insisted in that it does not reject the teaching of the Church.

The Church’s consistent teaching on homosexuality is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in its numerals 2357 and 2358which state that, while people with homosexual tendencies should be welcomed “with respect, compassion and sensitivity,” homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “cannot receive approval in any case.”

Who is Fr. Johan Verschueren, SJ?

He studied Botany at the Catholic University of Louvain and later Philosophy in Paris. He taught for two years at the Peasant Research and Promotion Center (CIPCA) in Peru.

He also studied theology at the Catholic University of Louvain from 1991 to 1995 and was Superior of the Jesuits in the European Region of the Netherlands.

Since February 2020, he has been General Councilor and Delegate for the Interprovincial Houses and Works of the Society of Jesus in Rome.

Verschueren has also been the superior of Marko Rupnik, a well-known Jesuit accused of committing abuses and whose case is being investigated by the Vatican.