Vatican report admits conversion therapy caused LGBTQ+ Catholics 'profound suffering'

Just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors in an 8-1 ruling that cast doubt on similar laws nationwide, a Catholic Church report is warning that so-called “reparative therapies” have caused LGBTQ+ Catholics “profound suffering” and spiritual harm.

The published document comes from theologians assembled for the late Pope Francis’ Synod of Bishops. Remarkably, it includes testimony from two Catholic gay men in same-sex marriages, both of whom were previously subjected to so-called "conversion therapy." That alone drew praise from advocates.

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“This marks the first time that a Vatican report has included stories from LGBTQ Catholics. As such, it marks a significant step forward in the church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community,” Father James Martin, founder of the LGBTQ+ Catholic group Outreach, wrote on his organization’s website.

The report itself comes from a study group within the Synod tasked with increasing participation in the church. The document raises concerns about the negative impacts of trying to change people's sexual orientations on Catholics’ spiritual journey.

Testimony from one gay man in the United States and another in Portugal was collected as part of the “listening” process central to the Synod. The American specifically discusses joining Courage, a Catholic group that encourages chastity for those feeling same-sex attraction. The report calls the group’s membership “problematic.”

The document stops short of a blanket condemnation of such ministries and notes that they attempt to provide pastoral care to underserved Catholics.

“However, it also brings to light the many misunderstandings within the Christian community, rooted in attitudes of homophobia and transphobia,” the report states.

The testimony from the Portuguese participant also describes the “devastating effects of reparative therapies aimed at recovering heterosexuality.” In that man’s experience, he was encouraged to “find peace” by marrying a woman, advice that instead deepened his isolation. He said his relationship with faith improved only after discovering a Christian community centered on Ignatian spirituality that encouraged believers to find God in all aspects of life.

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“The account bears witness to the discovery that sin, at its root, does not consist in the (same-sex) couple relationship, but in a lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfillment,” the report states.

Ultimately, the report argues that the church must create an environment of inclusion rather than pushing LGBTQ+ Catholics away from faith. It says the condemnation of same-sex attraction and efforts to “repair” sexual orientation have contributed to “profound suffering, personal lacerations, and experiences of marginalisation or ‘double lives’ for believers with same-sex attractions.”

At the same time, the report acknowledges an ongoing divide within the church between those who emphasize pastoral inclusion and those who focus on what it calls “doctrinal firmness.” The document does not change Catholic doctrine on homosexuality or marriage equality, repeatedly stressing that pastoral accompaniment must remain “in full accord with the teaching of the Church.”

Still, LGBTQ+ advocates within Catholicism said the report marks a meaningful step away from framing LGBTQ people primarily as subjects of condemnation.

“It’s a really good — I would even say historic — document,” Yunuen Trujillo, a lesbian lay minister from Los Angeles, told Religion News Service. “It’s still calling for all Catholics to engage in a process of discernment that is respectful of people’s lived experiences.”