More than a Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Volume I: Voices of Our Times ed. by Christine Firer Hinze, J. Patrick Hornbeck, II, and: More than a Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Volume II: Inquiry, Thought, and Expression ed. by J. Patrick Hornbeck, II, Michael A. Norko (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: More than a Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Volume I: Voices of Our Times ed. by Christine Firer Hinze, J. Patrick Hornbeck, II, and: More than a Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Volume II: Inquiry, Thought, and Expression ed. by J. Patrick Hornbeck, II, Michael A. Norko Stefanie Knauss More than a Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Volume I: Voices of Our Times. Edited by Christine Firer Hinze and J. Patrick Hornbeck, II. Bronx, NY: Fordham University Press, 2014. 221pp. $26.00 More than a Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Volume II: Inquiry, Thought, and Expression. Edited by J. Patrick Hornbeck, II and Michael A. Norko. Bronx, NY: Fordham University Press, 2014. 247pp. $28.00. The two volumes, Voices of Our Times and Inquiry, Thought, and Expression, emerge from the More than a Monologue initiative, a four-part series of conferences held in two Catholic universities (Fordham and Fairfield Universities) and two nondenominational divinity schools (Union Theological Seminary and Yale Divinity School), with the goal to promote an open conversation about sexual diversity and the Roman Catholic Church. In doing so, they attempt to go beyond the monologue paradigm of much official teaching and invite diverse voices into the conversation. Both the conferences and the two books, which include conference presentations as well as new material, are inspired by the Second Vatican Council, in particular by the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, as their titles show. Volume I responds to the call of the Council “to hear, distinguish and interpret the many voices of our times” (GS 44, quoted in Vol. II, 4) by giving space to the experiences of people from a variety of contexts of how their lives have been affected by sexual diversity and the teachings of the Catholic Church on it. Volume II reflects the Council’s affirmation of the “freedom of inquiry, of thought, and of expression” (GS 62, quoted in Vol. II, 1) in collecting essays that analyze questions of homosexuality in the lives and ministry of priests and religious, same-sex marriage, and the place of homosexuality in church history and theological thought from a variety of perspectives. However, the focus on experience in the first volume, and analysis in the second, is not to be understood as a strict separation between these [End Page 93] two moments: in the first volume, experience is always reflected upon as a source of meaning and new direction, while in the second, analysis is grounded in experience. The “voices of our times” collected in Volume I are those of singles, families, couples, parents, children; persons working in pastoral ministry; students and teachers; voices from within and outside the church. They are diverse both with regard to their contexts and the experiences they recount, and with regard to their relationship with Catholic teaching on homosexuality and the Catholic Church. For example, Eve Tushnet, writes about how celibacy has provided her with a way to live her sexuality as a lesbian within the space of the church and in conformity with Catholic teaching; Thomas Gumbleton reflects on the pastoral needs of homosexuals departing from his own experiences when he discovered that his brother was gay; Kate Henley Averett writes of how she grew up Catholic but arrived at the point where she had to say “This place has become too foreign to me, and I can no longer call it home. And I’m so, so sad about that” (148). While the essays speak – to various degrees – of suffering, betrayal, sometimes exasperation, anger or sadness, they do this in a way that doesn’t close the possibility for future conversation. Instead they offer these varied experiences as a source for dialogue, or as the editors of Volume I put it: “the essays in this volume collectively aspire to tap into the richness of Catholicism, to address points of struggle and disagreement, and to contribute to its vitality and growth” (Vol. I, 8). The essays in Volume II offer systematic reflection, critique and arguments that can be used in the process of renewal and growth, such as Michael John Perry’s, Patricia Beattie Jung’s, and Lisa Sowle Cahill...