Helping Troubled Adolescents

In 2003 City Journal, the influential publication of the Manhattan Institute, ran a much-discussed article on the widespread promotion (promotion is the necessary word) of homosexuality in public schools (see Marjorie King, “Queering the Schools,” Spring 2003). Pro-gay advocacy is of course advanced in the name of inclusiveness and justice. That this problem is not limited to public schools is evident in “Gay Adolescents in Catholic Schools,” a long two-part article in Momentum, the official publication of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), by Father Robert Mattingly, S.J., of Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.

That some adolescents in Catholic schools experience homosexual desires and that this is frequently the occasion of confusion and pain cannot be denied. The confusion and pain are no doubt very real and deserve honest discussion among educators. Such students are entitled to caring attention by teachers and counselors. Fr. Mattingly’s analysis and recommendations, however, follow the line of gay advocacy organizations that have in recent years exercised such a great influence in our culture. Along the way, he seriously misrepresents the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. He writes: “In 1986 the Church described homosexuality as ‘intrinsically disordered’ (CDF, Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons). Phrases such as this may not sound pleasing to the ear, but must be seen as precise philosophical terms. The term ‘intrinsic’ confirms that this orientation is not chosen and that it is not changeable (Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 566).” Wrong. In fact, the statement of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) says “homosexual acts” are “intrinsically disordered.” The precise meaning of “intrinsic” is that the act is wrong in itself, quite apart from context, intention, or consequence. Nowhere in Catholic teaching—not in the CDF statement, nor in the Catechism, nor even in the much controverted and subsequently amended 1997 statement of the U.S. bishops, “Always Our Children”—is it taught that homosexual desires are unchangeable or represent, as Mattingly says, an “inborn disposition.” (The pertinent sections of the Catechism unfortunately misrepresented by Fr. Mattingly are §§ 2357–2359.) Nor, it should be added, are Fr. Mattingly’s claims warranted by scientific evidence.

Throughout his article, the author confuses homosexual desire with a gay “identity” that is to be publicly asserted and affirmed. His elaborate footnotes draw heavily and uncritically on “gay-friendly” research and advocacy literature. He stresses that gay adolescents need gay friends and suggests that, at least at first, such relationships not be sexual. “This is not to say,” he adds, “that research holds that sexual relationships are always unhelpful, but if they occur they should come after the establishment of self-esteem-building friendships.” “This position,” he asserts, “does not contradict church teaching.” Church teaching, by way of sharpest contrast, is this: “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection” (Catechism § 2359).

Mattingly acknowledges the perils encountered by gay adolescents and cites familiar findings: the suicide rate is five times higher for such adolescents; their suicide attempts are much more lethal; 40 percent of homeless teens are homosexual, many of them engaged in prostitution; homosexual teens are three times as likely to engage in alcohol and drug abuse, and account for 60 percent of new HIV cases among fifteen-to-twenty-four-year-olds. Why is the gay life so grim? Without a hint of nuance, Mattingly asserts the standard line: “Self-destructive behaviors are not intrinsic to being homosexual but they flow from the external negative reaction to it, which then becomes internalized.” In other words, whatever is wrong with homosexuality is the fault of those who think there is something wrong with homosexuality.

There is nothing original in Fr. Mattingly’s article. The arguments advanced and research cited are those to be found in the literature and on the websites of dozens of advocacy organizations. Except, of course, for the claim that the viewpoint is consistent with Catholic teaching, although that, too, is standard in gay-friendly Catholic advocacy. The noteworthy thing is that this position is promoted in the official journal of the NCEA. Adolescents caught up in the ambiguities of sexual desire need loving guidance and support—and clear moral teaching. It is an extreme act of cruelty to teach an adolescent boy or girl that one’s disordered desires define one’s identity, and thereby encourage young people to enter a grim gay world in the hope that, if enough do so, it will somehow abolish “the external negative reaction” to homosexuality.

This is a sure way to place children at risk in a sociological gamble that will almost certainly fail. To be sure, people have become more “accepting,” or at least less publicly censorious, of homosexuals and homosexuality in recent years. But it is true of almost all parents that they do not want their children to be gay, and they do not want teachers encouraging them to assume a gay identity. That will almost certainly not change, and for very good reasons, including their conviction that homosexual acts are morally wrong, the hope that their children will be spared the miseries attending a gay lifestyle, and their desire for grandchildren. The second part of Fr. Mattingly’s article offers practical suggestions for creating a gay-friendly school. They are, in effect, suggestions for doing an end run around parents, clergy, and counselors who may not have an “appropriate” attitude toward homosexuality. (The issue of Momentum in which the second part of the article appears carries, oddly enough, another long article on “accountability” in Catholic education.) The editors appear to recognize that the Mattingly article is provocative and they invite responses from readers. Provocations can play an important part in stimulating discussions. Mendacity, however, is not a legitimate form of provocation. Fr. Mattingly’s article, in its misrepresentation both of the homosexual condition and of the Church’s teaching, is a deeply misleading exercise in advocacy. Catholic educators, one would like to think, place a high premium on honesty.