Catholic bishops have opposed a suicide prevention hotline. Why?

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops hit a new low. I say this as someone who is extremely proud of my faith, despite the struggle it has taken to remain Catholic.

In an article published on March 24, the national correspondent of the National Catholic Reporter, Christopher White, announced that the bishops’ conference had “quietly pressured behind the scenes“to scuttle legislation passed by Congress last fall that established a toll-free national helpline to prevent suicide. Their objection? The legislation contained funds intended to fight the staggering epidemic of suicide and suicide attempts suicide rates among LGBTQ people, especially young people.

In case you think this cannot be true, let me rephrase it. Catholic Church leaders were prepared to prevent aid from being offered to approximately 12 million Americans who seriously consider suicide each year because this assistance extends to LGBTQ people.

Fortunately, the Congress pass the historic National Suicide Hotline Designation Act last year, designating 988 as the number for mental health emergencies. But I felt like a heartache when I read the bishops’ lobbying efforts behind the scenes. Tears of shame rolled down my face because I know their actions do not reflect the values ​​instilled in me by the Catholic Church. The church I know has a long tradition of caring for some of the most vulnerable in our society.

As recently as January, several bishops, including a cardinal and an archbishop, released a statement in support of LGBTQ youth, tell them that “God loves you” and “God is on your side.” This is Catholicism that I know, rooted in our belief that every human life is a gift from God and that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect.

While we are called to love God and our neighbors as ourselves first and foremost, I recognize that some church leaders can have complex feelings about LGBTQ issues. But for the bishops’ conference to actively oppose common sense legislation on LGBTQ provisions is simply unreasonable.

The bishops’ conference took similar paths to justify its opposition to other critically important laws, including the violence against women law and the equality law, which would provide protections against discrimination for people. LGBTQ like any other. Why? For the same reasons.

A recent PRRI survey found that 81% of Hispanic Catholics and 77% of White Catholics support anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans. Whether on LGBTQ equality or other social justice issues, this survey and many others show just how disconnected the church hierarchy is from its own flock.

Time and time again, they have demonstrated that they are prepared to sacrifice the greater good of the nation, rather than extending grace to all. They do so despite the oft-documented reality that they do not reflect the will of most American Catholic voters on these issues.

It’s time for federal, state, and local lawmakers to ask themselves where they want to take sides on these issues – with Catholic voters who support our church’s social justice commitment to the dignity and equality of all, or with a group of less than 400 men who are tied to beliefs about gender, sexuality and family structure that have been rejected by most of our nation.

It is time for Catholics to voice their support for equality, compassion and solidarity with the poor and marginalized, and the ways in which church leaders have failed to represent these values ​​in their lobbying.

As Catholics we must look at everything through the prism of our sacred scriptures and hold the bishops conference accountable for the most fundamental values ​​of our faith: we are called to love and serve all people, especially those in the need.

[Marianne Duddy-Burke is the executive director of DignityUSA, the world’s longest-standing organization of Catholics committed to justice equality and full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in our church and society.]

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