Catholic and what?! Living the paradox of sexual intimacy and faith
16 May
The next seminar of the University of Malta’s WIPSS, in its 20th anniversary year, will be on Tuesday 16 May at 6 pm in the Faculty of Arts Library, and will be given by Angele Deguara. She continues the discussion of her fieldwork among LGBT Catholics in Malta and Palermo, begun at her WIPSS seminar last year.
‘In a traditionally Roman Catholic country like Malta one tends to become imbued with a Catholic identity or habitus from birth. Being Catholic is almost taken as “natural”. Being brought up as Catholic also means absorbing notions of what it means to be a “good” Catholic. This would include being heterosexual, getting married in Church, not having sex outside marriage and having children.
Therefore it is not surprising that when LGBT Catholics become aware of the possibility (and eventually confirm) that their sexuality does not conform to these accepted norms and values, they tend to experience a multitude of feelings, emotions, dilemmas, questions and struggles. For non-LGBT individuals it is often due to unforeseen circumstances that they find themselves opting for a lifestyle which does not live up to the expectations of being a “good” Catholic. In both cases, one has to deal with the fact that, as defined by the hegemonic culture, two aspects of one’s identity are incongruent. The ensuing internal conflict may span a relatively short period of time or it may involve years of unrelenting tension and despair at times even leading to suicide. With time, most of my informants tend to distance themselves from the Church on matters related to sexuality and explore alternative ways of living their faith and spirituality.’