Q : 
Is it against Catholic beliefs to celebrate pride?

Fr. Francis : 

I think we must first delineate what we mean by “pride”. It encompasses so many things: some are good, but so many aspects are explicitly against God’s teaching in the Scriptures. These things need to be evaluated separately and not get confused.

Some people when they talk about pride, they talk about how it is important to affirm and love all people with their diversities and preferences. I have no problem with that notion. Each person is a masterpiece of God and is loved by God. Each person also has the freedom to embrace their beliefs, be it religious or philosophical. That’s their God given rights. I respect that. Also, each person has the right to express their beliefs.

However, these rights must be undergirded with mutual respect. When pride parade becomes de facto celebration of public nudity, explicit sexual displays and acts, deliberate mockery of certain traditional beliefs, and with the law enforcement implicitly supporting them by suspending arrests when public decency and human rights laws are clearly violated, and when political and social media forces are actively and relentlessly persecuting any opinions of the contrary regarding sexual orientation and gender theories, mutual respect is lost and rational exchanges are violated.

Pride parade started under the premise that the homosexuals felt persecuted and victimized. That is no longer true. Today, it is those who hold traditional values of sexuality, marriage and family that don’t feel safe in the public place, to express their beliefs in universities or at work or online or simply on the streets. They would be reviled and shut down and prosecuted for violations of human rights. They would lose their job or university degree or tenure, and get cancelled personally and socially.

So, you tell me, can we celebrate something that subscribes to all these?