The US correspondent for a Catholic news agency (American Magazine, the Jesuit magazine of Faith and Culture) sent the Pope months ago an advance copy of the book containing the investigation, along with a letter summarizing his work. “In the letter I explained that I wanted him to know these stories because they had been called by Pope Francis to do works of mercy, living in the ‘field hospital’, as he puts it, decades before there was a Pope Francis”O’Loughlin said, as reported in the New York Times. “I thought I would appreciate hearing some of these stories,” he added.
One of those stories is about Carol Baltosiewich, a Catholic nun who spent 10 years caring for men and young men dying of AIDS. “The first time I spoke to her, in 2016, I was terrified to tell her that I am gay,” the writer confessed when he remembered the dialogues. “People like Baltosiewich persisted amid the frequent hostility of church leaders towards homosexuals and the broader stigmas of the time,” he added.
The book is titled “Hidden Mercy, AIDS, Catholics and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear” and will be published on November 30. In a recent opinion piece published in the NYT O’Loughlin noted that a 1987 poll revealed that 43% of Americans agreed with the statement: “AIDS could be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behavior.”
Along these lines, the author replied: “I myself, a Catholic, had long internalized that being honest about my sexual orientation could be dangerous. LGBT people have been fired from their jobs in Catholic organizations. Some Catholic groups that support LGBT have been excluded from parishes. So even someone like Baltosiewich, who has loved and served countless gay men, could feel risky. “
The Pope’s response to his book came in a letter dated August 17, which O’Loughlin made public in the last hours. “Thank you for enlightening the lives and giving testimony of the many priests, religious and laity who chose to accompany, support and help their brothers and sisters who were sick with HIV and AIDS at great risk to their profession and reputation.”wrote the Pope.
O’Loughlin’s book explores the importance of knowing history to understand one’s identity, a theme that Pope Francis also touched on in his latest Apostolic Exhortation Fratelli Tutti.
Francisco admitted in his reply letter the first shocked reaction he had at O’Loughlin’s words. “When I finished reading your letter, I was spontaneously struck by what one day we will be judged on: ‘Because I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and clothed me, sick and you took care of me, in jail and you visited me ‘”.
Pope Francisco
Foto: Getty Images
In this context, the Supreme Pontiff stressed that “Instead of indifference, alienation, and even condemnation, these people allowed themselves to be moved by the Father’s mercy and allowed it to become their own life’s work; a discrete, silent and hidden mercy, but still capable of sustaining and restoring the life and history of each one of us ”.
In the book O’Loughlin recounts and provides evidence of the resistance that existed in those decades to care for AIDS patients and that came from within the Church itself. The book uncovers documentary archives and contains more than 100 interviews. “The church has a really complicated history when it comes to HIV and AIDS.”O’Loughlin said in a recent interview on the US podcast Inside the Vatican.
“There were people that I describe in the book who were doing really incredible work, but there were also Catholic leaders who were quite hostile to the gay community at a time when it was really under siege. Then, For the Pope to acknowledge that difficult legacy, I was struck by that frankness. But I do believe that it is part of the papacy of Francis to really deal with our history and not be afraid of it ”, remarked.
Source From: Ambito
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