God Has Made It Plain to Them: An Indictment of Rome's Hermeneutic of Homophobia

Abstract

Roman Catholic exegesis is carried out in an explicitly ecclesial context involving formally recognized methods of interpretation and a long history of tradition, theology, culture and religiously authoritative teaching. Within this framework, the issue of homosexuality and same-gender marriage is evaluated with particular attention to Paul's indictment of the gentiles in Romans I. This article attempts to highlight the dissonance between the Church's historical-critical approach to biblical exegesis and the authoritative teachings on homosexuality that have been disseminated from Rome. The root of this dissonance is located in an identifiable and systemic homophobia pervasive throughout the Roman Catholic hierarchy. A solution to the problem is suggested in the application of Reimund Bieringer's hermeneutic of the “Normativity of the Future.” The article concludes by highlighting the most salient elements of this study in a pointed critique of the tragic pastoral ramifications of Rome's current position on homosexuality.