The Presbyterian Church made a landmark decision last week in which a majority of the church’s regional bodies voted to allow same-sex marriages. The church redefined marriage as a union between “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.”

Sure, this definition is a bit backhanded. But could we really expect more from one of society’s most conservative institutions? The Presbyterian Church is expected to receive a lot of backlash from this decision, so it’s likely it couldn’t be too progressive with its definition.

Questionable wording aside, we need to focus on the huge advancements made here and how more can be made. With Americans’ thoughts on same-sex marriage changing for the better, more religious groups need to change their views as well. Specifically the Catholic Church, its unprecedented size and membership will affect a massive audience. It has made strides in the right direction, but now it’s time for Catholicism to fully accept the LGBT community and same-sex marriage.

The Presbyterian Church isn’t the first religious group to accept same-sex marriage. It joins the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ and the Reform and Conservative movements of Judaism, among others. But despite this growing list, the Catholic Church is still holding out.

That isn’t to say the Catholic Church hasn’t been working toward LGBT acceptance, it has, and Pope Francis is leading the way. Though he hasn’t condoned same-sex marriage itself, the pope has famously said it’s not his place to judge gay people and “they are our brothers” regardless of sexual orientation.

Francis’ acceptance has extended beyond his words. In February, he offered special seating to an LGBT Catholic group at his weekly address. And while having lunch at an Italian prison Saturday, the pope ate with gay and transgender inmates.

While the pope has shown respect and compassion for LGBT people, the Vatican still declares that homosexuality cannot be approved under any circumstances. But this teaching runs contrary to popular opinion, especially in the United States. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 75 percent of American Catholics aged 18 to 29 support same-sex marriage, with 57 percent approval from American Catholics as a whole.

American Catholics have shown this support in big ways across the country. Recently, a gay rights group was allowed to march in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, a traditionally Catholic event. But when protesters called for the parade’s grand marshal Cardinal Timothy Dolan to step down, he refused and declared his support for the event instead.

In San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone recently implemented a new handbook for local Catholic high schools, which mandates strict adherence to the Vatican’s teaching regarding same-sex marriage. But hundreds of students, parents and teachers protested the new handbook, calling for the church to “teach acceptance” instead.

Catholic media has also done its part to further LGBT rights in the church. The National Catholic Reporter spent the past week spotlighting a San Francisco church where 80 percent of its parishioners are part of the LGBT community. Just as this church practices acceptance, these articles did as well. The National Catholic Reporter didn’t spend the whole week focusing on how this church is different from others, but instead highlighted its sense of community and the positive work it has done for homelessness and AIDS research.

But this article also revealed a bigger reason for the Catholic Church to permit same-sex marriage. There are many LGBT Catholics, but they are denied the right to marry and are effectively second-class members of their own church.

There have been big steps in the right direction, but tolerating LGBT people isn’t enough. It’s time for the church to step forward and accept same-sex marriage altogether.

Kathryn Krawczyk is a freshman magazine major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at kjkrawcz@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @KathrynKrawczyk.

Published on March 26, 2015 at 12:04 am