This year the beginning of Lent not only marked our spiritual journey to Easter; it also marked a clash between the state and Church in the state of Rhode Island. In response to a request from the state's Commissioner of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, Attorney General Patrick Lynch issued a six-page legal opinion Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) on the issue of whether Rhode Island should recognize same-sex unions performed in Massachusetts.

"It is our opinion that based on all of the foregoing that whether based on Full Faith or Credit or on principals of Comity, Rhode Island will recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed in Massachusetts as marriage in Rhode Island," Lynch's statement reads. "Therefore, we advise the Board of Governors that it should accord marital status to its employees who were lawfully married in Massachusetts under the ruling of that state's highest court in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health."

This enlightened opinion was immediately challenged by the Most Reverend Thomas J. Tobin, D.D., Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Providence. He issued a statement on Thursday saying "the decision of Attorney General Patrick Lynch to recognize so-called gay marriages from Massachusetts in Rhode Island is very disappointing."

"Marriage, as instituted by God, blessed by the Church and affirmed by every culture throughout the ages, is a union of one man and one woman," Tobin said in the statement. "The state should not be in the business of supporting other lifestyles or promoting immoral, unnatural sexual activity and that, of course, is the net effect of the Attorney General's decision."

Apparently Bishop Tobin feels qualified to comment not only on religion, and law, he has now shared his interpretation of history. What is troubling for me as a Roman Catholic is the bishop's decent into homophobia to justify his position. Tobin said in the statement. "The state should not be in the business of supporting other lifestyles or promoting immoral, unnatural sexual activity and that, of course, is the net effect of the Attorney General's decision." Reasonable people understand hate when they read it, and that is what the Bishop is promoting.

The change that had been sought was to change the status from domestic partner to married. The issue here is one of fairness, dignity and respect for all Rhode Island citizens. It is not the place of a non elected Bishop to define which citizens get which rights in a democracy. That type of thinking was done away with in 1775.

Let’s pray that all our citizens gay or straight are always treated with dignity and respect, and that government continue to listen to the Constitution, and not promote religious dogma over the rights of each of our citizens. Bishop Tobin would do well to study our Catholic Social Justice movement, and the many wonderful documents associated with it.

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Cardinal Francis George of Chicago is at it again. In a talk he gave to the Library of Congress, on February 13, 2007, the Cardinal takes American Democracy to task for not maintaining a narrow agenda the Cardinal subscribes to. He believes Freedom of religion, and all freedom, can be placed at risk by an "aggressive secularism" that asserts its dominance in society. One wonders if the Cardinal understands what he is speaking about, or for that matter if others understand what he is speaking about.  Secularism is the belief that religion and religious bodies should have no part in political or civil affairs, or in running public institutions, especially schools. Aggressive does not enter into it. Secularists have as much right to their beliefs as the Cardinal does to his.

One only has to look to see the Churches and Synagogues freely practicing their religion. Religious schools abound. No religion in this country is hampered in its practice to infer so is to mislead people. What the Cardinal is really arguing for is privilege. He wants freedom of religion without accountability for its actions. 

The real question is why does the Cardinal not address his own failures in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and that of his brother Bishops around the whole issue of clergy/bishop sexual abuse of children.  What is confounding to those within the Church, and outside the Church is the repeated instances of cover-up and total lack of accountability for egregious crimes against innocents by this Catholic leadership.  

As we enter the sacred time of Lent I would ask Cardinal Francis George to publically apologize to the American Catholic Community for his irresponsible statements, and also take this opportunity to call for a public appology from the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops and clergy for the way they have treated the victims of sexual abuse.

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The President of the Puerto Rican Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan, reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s opposition to a move that would make homosexual unions equal to marriage.  The archbishop warned that such a move in Puerto Rico would obscure “the fundamental values that belong to the common and original patrimony of the human family.” However the archbishop never explains how giving legal status to two adults who want to live in monogamous relation can harm society.
 

The Archbishop than goes on to say some statutes of the Civil Code would do irreversible damage to the dignity of the human person and would constitute an attack upon the integrity of the Puerto Rican family.” Again he never explains how recognizing two loving adults whether heterosexual or homosexual, would constitute an attack on the Puerto Rican family.
 

Fr. Donald Cozzens has termed “the last feudal system” in existence, a hierarchical church that responds to crises in ways consistent with monarchy. A monarchy dictates, and perhaps that is why officials of the Church are losing this debate. They just don’t understand you have to convence people with facts, and not scare them with proclamations of doom and gloom.
 

Even Italy, the country in which the city state of Vatican resides, is about legalize registries to give the same benefits as a married couples to same sex couples. How does this attack marriage? How does allowing any person the right visit their loved one in a hospital attack the family, or for that matter how does granting the same inheritance rights as married couples attack marriage? The Pope and Bishops cannot answer that simple question, so they resort to the sky is falling mentality, in the hope they can scare people into agreeing with them. Gladly that is not happening.

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There are growing scandals that are taking root in the Diocese of Las Vegas. The most recent involves Father George Chaanine. I believe this outrage and the response of Bishop Joseph Pepe is reflective of the larger Church’s response to the Clergy/Bishops Sexual Abuse scandal. Bishop Pepe like the United Council of Catholic Bishops still doesn’t get it.

On Tuesday, Father Chaanine faced a Las Vegas judge for the first time. He was caught in the Phoenix area after being on the run for almost a week. Father Chaanine, who had been a priest at Our Lady of Las Vegas church, is in jail. He's accused of trying to kill choir singer Michealina Bellamy. "We've certainly have outreached to her and (are) telling her that we're interested in her and finding out whatever she needs."

Bishop Pepe oversees the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas. He's had to oversee damage control as well. In a separate scandal, another local priest is off the job. Father William Kenny has been relieved of his day to day duties at Christ the King Catholic Community Church. He's accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly church member.

Bishop Pepe response has been typical of most Bishops response to the broader scandal. The bishop is reminding parishioners and others to look at the whole picture and keep the faith. There are 29 Catholic churches and 72 priests in southern Nevada. The church as a whole helps feed 2,000 people every week and it helps hundreds of others find housing and jobs. Some are concerned about the finger pointing, perhaps it is time these individuals and Bishops focus on Justice, and not how much good they claim to have done.

This is not about how much good the Church has or has not done. To engage in such a discussion I believe is deflective. The real issue is the structure of the Church and how such human frailities are enabled by the actions of our Bishops, rather than being dealt with. Perhaps it is time to acknowledge we have a mess on our hands, and that we need to get to the bottom of the problem, and stop worrying about image

While the Bishops are not the whole problem they are certainly an important component of it, and without addressing that the problem will only continue and grow.

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Fundamentalist Prattle

What is happening with the right wing in the Catholic Church? Have they lost their marbles, or is it just plain stupidity? Take the latest incident where these clueless people are calling John Edwards an anti Catholic bigot. 

For those of you who have been vacationing on planet Mars here is what is going on. John hired two bloggers for his campaign with a reputation of being liberal. Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan both operated Web logs, or online commentary pages similar to this one, before being hired by the Edwards campaign.

William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, demanded that Edwards fire the two women and called them "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots," along with that came and another nutty individual named  Michael J. Gaynor ranting about double standard, and how evil CNN is, whatever.  

Here is what two women had to say.

Marcotte — 'The Catholic church is not about to let something like compassion for girls get in the way— of using the state as an instrument to force women to bear more tithing Catholics.'

And McEwan questioned what religious conservatives don't understand about, 'keeping your noses out of our britches, our beds and our families.'

In a Feb. 8 statement, Edwards said that the sentiments in some of Marcotte's and McEwan's postings on their blog pages "personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people."

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion," Edwards' press release said, "but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone in my campaign, whether it's intended as satire, humor or anything else."

Edwards said he would not fire the women, however, adding that he believes "in giving everyone a fair shake."

Let's be quite clear here that disagreeing with other people's opinion is not the same as being a bigot. If that was the case then there would be a lot of Catholics who could be called bigotted for their views on the Church. Also while William Donohue has aligned himself with the Republican party through his Cafeteria brand of Catholicism, he does not now, or has he ever spoken for the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is a very big Tent and the Catholic League occupies a very small part of that tent. The last time I checked it was the Pope and his Bishops who speak for the Catholic Church. God bless

Joe Murray
US Convener
Rainbow Sash Movement

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