With new stories about sexually abusive priests emerging almost daily, more priest being belatedly removed for past abuse and government investigations of the Church occurring in countries like Australia, what does Archbishop of Detroit, Allen Vigneron (pictured at left) worry about? Gay marriage and punishing members of the Catholic laity who support gay marriage. Detroit's horrific economic problems and the many citizens in need of assistance apparently isn't even on the radar in comparison. Would that all the Catholics whom Vigneron has dis-invited from receiving communion would walk away and no longer the doorways of their parishes. The Detroit Free Press looks at this latest round in the Church hierarchy's increasingly shrill anti-gay jihad. Here are excerpts:
A Detroit professor and legal adviser to the Vatican says Catholics who promote gay marriage should not try to receive holy Communion, a key part of Catholic identity. And the archbishop of Detroit, Allen Vigneron, told the Free Press Sunday that Catholics who receive Communion while advocating gay marriage would "logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury."
The comments of Vigneron and Edward Peters, who teaches Catholic canon law at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, are part of a polarizing discussion about gay marriage that echoes debate over whether politicians who advocate abortion rights should receive Communion.
In a post on his blog last week, Peters said that Catholic teachings make it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman. And so, "Catholics who promote 'same-sex marriage' act contrary to" Catholic law "and should not approach for holy Communion," he wrote. "They also risk having holy Communion withheld from them ... being rebuked and/or being sanctioned."
Peters didn't specify a Catholic politician or public figure in his post. But he told the Free Press that a person's "public efforts to change society's definition of marriage ... amount to committing objectively wrong actions."
Peters has said before that liberal Catholic Democrats, such as U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, should be denied Communion because of their statements and positions.
In 2011, Peters said that Cuomo should not receive Communion because he is an outspoken proponent of gay marriage. Last month, Peters said, "Pelosi suffers from one of the most malformed consciences in the annals of American Catholic politics or ... she is simply hell-bent on using her Catholic identity to attack Catholic values at pretty much every opportunity."
Given the Church's history of being wrong on scientific knowledge, previous support for slavery, support for brutal repressive regimes, one would think these homophobes would be a tad more circumspect in their pronouncements. The sooner they and the views they endorse are thrown on the trash heap of history, the better off the world will be.
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