OPINION

Comment | 'Year of Mercy' should extend to LGBT

Greg Bourke

We are in the midst of an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Catholic faith, decreed Pope Francis, during which we are to be “merciful like the Father” and perform acts of mercy and forgiveness to all.

Pope Francis specifically calls on us to pray, “the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and…proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed.”

There could be no better time than this Extraordinary Jubilee Year — only the third in Catholic history — for Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz to join in a show of mercy and compassion for LGBT Kentuckians, who continue to be marginalized and face legal discrimination in our commonwealth. Currently, only eight Kentucky cities protect LGBT people from discrimination on the job and in housing. Archbishop Kurtz’s support could help our state become the first in the South to update its Civil Rights Act to include LGBT people.

Greg Bourke, right, and Michael De Leon in 2013 photo.

Unfortunately, my husband and I are best known for the discrimination we have faced for being openly gay — both in our church and in Kentucky. We are one of the many LGBT couples who were denied marriage rights, fought for the freedom to marry before the U.S. Supreme Court last year, and won.

We are also both lifelong Catholics and have given generously of our time, talent and treasures to the church. For more than two decades, we have been involved in many church ministries — from hospitality and grounds keeping, to coaching soccer, serving on our Parish Council, helping coordinate our Communion Ministry, working as a Girl Scout Leader and more.

I also served as a Boy Scout Leader for eight years in our local parish until I was forced to resign because of my sexual orientation. After some time, the Boy Scouts of America amended their policies and allowed LGBT adults to serve as leaders, though at the discretion of each individual troop.

I was excited at the prospect of serving my parish in this capacity once more, but the door of mercy and compassion was shut again by Archbishop Kurtz, who brought me to his office just to tell me I would never be allowed to serve.

Time and again, we have been made to feel shame and exclusion by the very church that teaches love, compassion, and mercy—our church. It is a travesty of God’s true love for LGBT people and there is no better time for it to cease than this Jubilee Year of Mercy.

We call on Archbishop Kurtz and all Catholics and allies to join us in our Catholics for Fairness Pilgrimage of Mercy this Sunday at 4 p.m. We’ll meet at Volunteers of America Mid-States, 570 S. 4th St., and make a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of the Assumption to participate in Mass that evening joined by supportive priests, nuns, and, we hope, you.

Greg Bourke and his husband Michael De Leon have been named theNational Catholic Reporter’s“Persons of the Year.” They are two plaintiffs in Bourke v. Beshear which came before the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges and won the freedom to marry for all LGBT Americans.