Antwerp Bishop Johan Bonny, widely tipped in Belgium as the next Archbishop of Brussels and thus the country’s Primate, has whipped up a storm by calling for Church recognition of same-sex relationships.
Bonny, who before the October Synod of Bishops on the family called for more respect for homosexuals and divorced Catholics, said in an interview after Christmas that the Church had to follow developments in modern societies.
“We must look within the Church for a formal recognition of the relationship that many LGBT couples have,” he told the Flemish daily De Morgen. He favoured “a diversity of forms of recognition” while traditional heterosexual marriage should “keep its own sacramental character and liturgical form”.
"Inner values are for me more important than the institutional issue," Bonny said. "Christian ethics are based on durable relationships in which exclusivity, loyalty and care for each other are central."
The Flemish Catholic Student Association protested in an open letter. “Excellency, what you propose is not Catholic,” it said. “The rules of morality apply universally to every Catholic, everywhere and always.”
The pro-life group Pro Familia said it would pray for Bonny’s conversion back to Catholicism. By contrast, a gay rights group said it would nominate Bonny for its annual prize. The Brussels daily Le Soir called him “more progressive than the Pope."
Rik Torfs, rector of the Catholic University of Leuven, said Bonny’s comments were “something no bishop could have done under the dogmatic pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI."
Bonny, who has a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, has been the focus of speculation since the conservative Brussels Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard said last month he wanted to step down when he turns 75 in May.
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