Claim that Church needs a "theology of homosexuality"

Gaëtan Poisson: a theology of homosexuality

Gaëtan Poisson gave the first of his three lectures in Geneva on 27 June 2023 on the theme of homosexuality and the Church at the invitation of the Collective of Young Catholics and Families in French-speaking Switzerland. The event was a resounding success.

"God is not sadistic; he doesn't ask us for our sexuality in order to make us suffer," argues Gaëtan Poisson. And he doesn't mince his words. And he won't mince his words at any point during the evening. On 27 June, he was the guest of the Collective of Young Catholics and Families in French-speaking Switzerland for the first of three testimonial-debate evenings on the delicate issue of homosexuality and the Church. In all likelihood, this is a topic that is not about to run out of steam, as evidenced by the turnout at this first conference. One look at the parish hall of Geneva's Sainte-Trinité church, with its distinctive spherical architecture, was enough to show that latecomers would be hard pressed to find an empty seat.

A middle way

Gaëtan Poisson defends the possibility of a middle way in which homosexuality and respect for the demands of the Gospel and the Church are compatible. To achieve this, he has made the atypical choice of chastity in continence, and talks about it at numerous conferences, on his Youtube channel and in his book L'homosexualité au risque de la foi: Le témoignage d'un gay qui défend l'Église - Homosexuality at the risk of faith: the testimony of a gay man who defends the Church (published by Pierre Téqui, 2020). A choice that he himself describes as "different [from] the one that the system has pre-programmed for homosexuals". A few dubious reactions on social networks from homosensitive people close to the Church, prompted by the speaker's assertive position, attest to the singularity of this line of conduct.

The spirit of charity at work

Moderating the evening was Raphaël Pomey, a philosopher by training and editor-in-chief of the independent media outlet Le Peuple. Although he is often accused of being a right-wing journalist, he defends himself and adds to the participants that, despite the disagreements, dialogue and "the spirit of charity must prevail this evening".

A clear-sighted reminder in view of one of the vehement reactions from listeners present concerning the debate on the place of homosensitive people in the Church and discontent with the options of "certain diocesan institutions [exceeding] their prerogatives [by organising] events that raise questions among the faithful", These included the Mass for LGBT people at Notre-Dame Basilica on 29 April and the presence of the Pastorale des familles of the Roman Catholic Church of Geneva (ECR) at this year's Geneva Pride.

From obvious to obvious

Gaëtan Poisson gave a testimony on how homosexuals can fully live their faith in accordance with the teaching of the Church, based on their own life experience. Loss remains a defining element of his life journey. The death of two sisters led to radical life decisions. "At the age of 3, I lost a little sister who was born with a genetic disease and very quickly went to heaven. This caused him to feel "a kind of lack" and to ask himself major existential questions. It was during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, at the age of 12, that he had "a loving encounter with Christ through the Virgin Mary". He soon felt the call to the priesthood and entered the seminary in 1997, where he spent three years.

It was during this same period that he became aware of a different sexual orientation. "It was like a revelation that shattered my whole life. He then suffered a major depression, as he no longer knew where he stood. His spiritual father advised him to undergo conversion therapy. The next two years were marked by "truly terrible experiences of exorcism prayers and deliverance", all the while thinking that this was "a solution to all [his] problems".

A breakdown and a change of life 

One outburst later, Gaëtan Poisson found himself within the walls of a psychiatric hospital. Not knowing who to talk to, he called his spiritual father... "today [he's] still waiting to hear from him, it's been 25 years! Faced with this abandonment, he threw everything to the wind and "moved from one world to another", adopting a libertarian lifestyle, "even though faith never stopped bothering me". A call from his mother in 2015 telling Gaëtan Poisson that his second sister had died in a road accident made him realise that he had "hit rock bottom". At the same time, however, he felt that "someone was there to pick him up". From that moment on, he "went from darkness to light. Everything was obvious. You had to live what the Word of God said, without procrastinating".

Valueless arguments

Following this testimony, a participant asked why there was an incompatibility between "LGBT ideology" and Christianity when, as Raphaël Pomey pointed out, nothing is mentioned in Christ's words on this subject. Gaëtan Poisson dismisses this argument, arguing that the same applies to other issues such as tax evasion and paedophilia, which Christ says nothing about but which are nonetheless reprehensible and unethical.

He goes on to refer to God's will to "create man and woman so that they may unite and give life. The heterosexual couple has a direct relationship with the divine hypostases and therefore the Trinity. But two people of the same sex cannot have this relationship, because fecundity is absent. Gaëtan Poisson does not stop there, maintaining that "in the long term [this ideology leads] to the total dismantling of the anthropology on which our societies are founded. As Catholics, we have a duty to question and understand this development of plans for both society and the family".

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