The Catholic Church Was Not "Out-Marketed" on Gay Marriage

Cardinal Dolan, a/k/a Porky Pig

If one were to believe New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan - a/k/a Porky Pig on this blog - the Catholic Church has lost the battle against gay marriage simply because it did not use the proper PR and marketing tools.  It's a load of bullshit, and an editorial in the National Catholic Reporter calls out Dolan and the bishops and cardinals like him.  The Church's position on gays is simply wrong and more and more Catholics see the falsity of the Church's position - a position fueled largely by self-loathing closeted priest, bishops and cardinals - and will not blindly follow the dictates of the institution that brought them the worldwide sex abuse scandal.  The editorial maintains that the hierarchy needs to listen to rank and file Catholics and stop acting as if we are still living under the imperial structure of the Roman Empire on which the Church is modeled.  Here are editorial highlights:

The church's problem with the issue of homosexuality, claims New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, stems from lousy marketing, that most secular undertaking of the materialist culture. The problem, he asserted, is not in the church's teaching, but in how it has been sold. It's just not been made pretty enough to entice people to take it off the shelf. Hollywood and a host of other secular interests were first to place their shiny new products on the shelf. 

The cardinal, who lives on Madison Avenue, is within walking distance of some of the best marketers the world has ever known. If he looked to them for advice, they might suggest he begin with a focus group.

In a sense, the church has in its questionnaire preparing for the Synod of Bishops on the family (see story) a focus group study underway right now. If Catholics honestly answer these questions and bishops' staffers honestly report their answers, church officials might just learn -- among other things -- why most Catholics aren't "buying" the notion that their gay children, parents and friends are "intrinsically disordered" or suffer from a "condition."

If the church faces a marketing failure on issues of sexuality, the failure is in listening to its people. In recent years, the U.S. bishops have been deaf to the people of the church -- and the American voters -- on the issue of same-sex marriage. When it comes to contraception and divorce and remarriage, the church has tuned out what the faithful have been saying for 50 years. The church's teaching on sexuality is unpersuasive because the church advances teachings that actually reduce human sexuality and sexual activity to its most banal, utilitarian and mechanistic level, detaching it from the deepest possibilities of genuine human intimacy.

Official teaching on contraception has been so widely dismissed in practice, one wonders it even comes up in conversation. The same is true for divorce and remarriage.

The same is quickly coming true on the topic of homosexuality, because among Catholic parents who know their children as all manner of things -- curious, funny, loving, mischievous, talented, gracious, annoying, musical, athletic -- all the things that parents revel in and come to love, some are also coming to know their children as gay. Thank God that today most parents are not cowering before a catechism characterization of their children and sending them off in a panic to a Courage meeting to be remade into something more acceptable.

Dismissing the lack of acceptance of church teaching as a marketing failure is an insult to the very idea of teaching and certainly to gays and lesbians. It walks, in search of a sound bite, right past the mystery of the human being.

Dolan promised to keep up the battle against gay marriage, all the while, we presume, trying to convince the world of the popularized notion that the church can simultaneously hate the sin and love the sinner. As if the human mystery can be bifurcated and compartmentalized into portions lovable and despisable.

Should the cardinal want respite from the fight, he might take an evening or two and meet with some gay Catholics and their parents. Ask them to tell their stories, ask them why they stay in the church, ask them how they pray, what they hold as their hopes and dreams. Really listen, maybe even make allowance for certitude to melt a bit.

Poll: Catholic Church View on Same-Sex Marriage Causing Parishoners to Flee

To listen to Catholic bishops and cardinals around America one would think that gay marriage will destroy civilization and lead to the collapse of heterosexual marriage.  None of which is true, of course, and the irony is that this propaganda comes from an institution which has been documented to have engaged in a world wide criminal conspiracy to cover up sex crimes against children and youths by Catholic clergy.  The hypocrisy is stunning.  Another irony is that a new poll has found that the Catholic Church hierarchy's anti-gay jihad is causing members of the Catholic laity to leave the Church.  One can only hope that the phenomenon accelerates and becomes more widespread.  Here are highlights from NBC 10 News on the poll findings:

Not surprisingly, a high percentage of area Catholics have left the church over the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the organization in the past decade. But that's not all.

A Catholic parish in Philadelphia surveyed lapsed Catholics to find out why they left. The results show a dissatisfaction at both the local level and with the Vatican.  .   .   .   . 17 percent — said they did so because of the priest abuse scandal. 

"People who are going to leave the church over the scandal and the church's handling of it have already left. So people leaving the church today are leaving for other reasons," said Zech. "A growing reason we found out was the church's attitude toward homosexuals and gay marriage. A lot of younger people object to the church's teaching on that."

According to a recent national study on religious life in America by the Pew Foundation, a third of baptized Catholics leave the faith, often due to policies originating in the Vatican.

Nevertheless, Zech's study shows that local churches have some power to keep disgruntled Catholics from leaving, such as improving the quality of liturgies.

"Liturgies are really important. I'm not sure that parish staff and clergy understand how important liturgies are to people, that they have good music and the liturgy be meaningful," said Zech.

"People who feel they are not being fed by a meaningful liturgy — they'll go where they are being fed."   Most of those former parishoners became Protestants.

In the short term, the influx of Hispanic immigrants has masked the decline of the Catholic Church in America.  Over time, that will change and the Church will follow the downward trajectory it has experienced in Europe and other modern nations.   The choice for the Vatican is to either accept modernity and modern knowledge or eventually become a third world religion based in the most ignorant and uneducated nations of the world. 

The Unthinking Mindlessness of Catholic "Sheeple"

The reactions to the news story that Pope Francis has admitted that there is a gay "lobby" or cabal in the Vatican is all over the ball park.  All too typically, some of the laity in the pews refuse to recognize that THEY are part of the problem because they continue to bankroll the corrupt and morally bankrupt Church hierarchy.  One such Kool-Aid drinker, apparently from Australia - where a government investigation is revealing orchestrated cover ups of sexual abuse by the hierarchy -  was incensed by my post that suggested that an organization like the Vatican hierarchy deserved to be destroyed:

That organization would be the GLBTI and the sooner it is destroyed for good the better. I notice today that the Russians have set the world a good example. 

For such simple minded - and dare I say in my opinion psychologically disturbed - individuals the facts don't matter.  Documentation exists that proves conclusively that every Pope from 1962 onward - yes, even John XXIII and the less than saintly John Paul II - directed that crimes against children be covered to protect the Church's "image and reputation" and , of course, its money and wealth.  Apparently, in the warped world of the author of the comment, the last six or seven Popes were all part of the "GLBTI."  The ignorance and refusal to face reality is stunning.  Unfortunately, that phenomenon seems to increasingly describe the "pious" and "godly" folk.

Fellow LGBT blogger Father Tony - who served at the Vatican while a young priest before leaving the priesthood - had theses comments:

Poor naive pope. He reads a report about a "gay lobby" among his cardinals in the Vatican. He equates "gay" with "corruption" in his comments and he goes on to say that he will do something to correct this. All this tells me is that we once again have heterosexual pope. And one who is sexually infantile. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/11/pope-francis-gay-lobby-exists-inside-vatican/

[H]e will find it impossible to administer a successful gay witch hunt: a queen cardinal attacked will strike back by naming his enemies. Francis will find himself caught in a huge crossfire of substantiated accusations. He will have to either replace the entire curia or drop the idea of the purge. The funny thing is that if he replaced the entire curia, in would come some new queens who will be exactly what Francis is trying to get rid of.

As CNN noted, the The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests summed up the root of the problem well:

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said, "structure, not sexuality, is the real issue."  "The church is a monarchy. Monarchs are unaccountable. So many monarchs are corrupt. This is true in both secular and religious institutions," SNAP said in a statement.

The willful rejection of reality and modernity is the hallmark of the Vatican's shrinking echo chamber and members of the Catholic laity who insist on sticking their head in the sand.

 

Australian Catholic Archbishop: Sexual Abuse Was Covered Up

While not receiving the news coverage in America that it deserves, the government of Australia's investigation into the sexual abuse of minors is ongoing and it is turning up evidence of the same pattern we've seen worldwide: rampant sexual abuse by Catholic  priests, the shuffling of predators from one unsuspecting parish to another, and cover ups orchestrated from the highest levels of the Catholic Church hierarchy.   Recently, in testimony Archbishop Denis Hart admitted that a predecessor had actively suppressed and covered up information on child rape and other sexual abuse.  The Sydney Morning Herald has coverage.  Here are excerpts:

Melbourne's most senior Catholic has admitted the church covered up child sexual abuse, was slow to act against abusing priests and placed its own interests ahead of victims.

Archbishop Denis Hart says a knighted former archbishop kept reports of sexual abuse to himself and that the church was keen to look after itself when addressing complaints, placing its reputation ahead of victims.

"The question of confidentiality of these matters was probably kept in one sense too much in that the church was too keen to look after herself and her good name and not keen enough to address the terrible anguish of the victims," Archbishop Hart said on Monday.

He agreed former archbishop, the late Sir Thomas Francis "Frank" Little, had covered up abuse reports.   "Archbishop Little kept all these things to himself and there were no records," Archbishop Hart told the Victorian parliamentary inquiry.

Pressed on whether there had been a cover-up he said: "Well I have to agree with that."  "The only person who's ultimately responsible is the archbishop at the time," he said.

Archbishop Hart, who has been the Melbourne archbishop since 2001, agreed the crimes should have been revealed to the police.

Archbishop Hart admitted in the past child sex abuse had been endemic in Melbourne's Catholic Church.   Twelve out of 50 priests identified by the church were responsible for more than half of the offences committed, he told the inquiry.

Despite these admitted cover ups and conspiracies to protect criminals,  we continue to see members of the Catholic laity financially supporting this criminal enterprise.  I can only ask myself, WTF is wrong with these people.

Quote of the Day: Gary Wills on The Hopelessness of Hoping for a Reformer Pope

As a ruling model, the Roman Catholic Church is based on the governing structure of the Roman Empire or a feudal monarchy with the king/emperor at the top, the cardinals and bishops as the equivalents of the feudal lords sworn by fealty to the king/emperor and the laity the equivalent of the serfs. Serf who are to obey their lords and financially support the entire structure that caters to the whims and conceits of the rulers.  And under the last two Popes, the system seems to have become even more disdainful of the laity/serfs.  Gary Wills has a piece in the New York Times that looks at the futility of hoping that somehow a reformer Pope could be elected by the coming conclave of cardinals who earned their positions by obsequiousness and sycophancy.  Here an on point excerpt:

[A] new pope will be elected by cardinals who were elevated to office by the very popes who reaffirmed “eternal truths” like the teaching on contraception. They were appointed for their loyalty, as were the American bishops who stubbornly upheld the contraception nonsense in our elections. 

Will the new conclave vote for a man who goes against the teachings of his predecessors? Even if they do, can the man chosen buck the structure through which he rose without kicking the structure down? These considerations have given the election of new popes the air of watching Charlie Brown keep trying to kick the football, hoping that Lucy will cooperate. 

As this election approaches, some hope that the shortage of priests, and their damaged reputation and morale, can be remedied by adding married priests, or women priests, or gay priests. But that misses the point. Whatever their sexual status, they will still be priests. They will not be chosen by their congregations (as was the practice in the early church). They will be appointed from above, by bishops approved for their loyalty to Rome, which will police their doctrinal views as it has with priests heretofore. The power structure will not be changed by giving it new faces. Monarchies die hard. 

In 1859, John Henry Newman published an article that led to his denunciation in Rome as “the most dangerous man in England.” It was called “On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine” and it showed that in history the laity had been more true to the Gospel than the hierarchy. That was an unacceptable position to Rome. It still is. 

The claim of priests and popes to be the sole conduits of grace is a remnant of the era of papal monarchy. We are watching that era fade. But some refuse to recognize its senescence. Such people will run peppily up, like Charlie Brown, to the coming of a new pope. But Lucy, as usual, still holds the football.  

Like the GOP which it parallels in many ways (e.g., denying scientific realities), the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy will cling to power and refuse all meaningful change until the church structure literally begins to collapse around them.  My prediction is that in the not too distant future the Catholic Church will become a black African denomination.  As it advances economically and socially, Latin America will follow the path of Europe, not Africa wher it will take many more generations to escape the ignorance and simple mindedness that are now prerequisites for the Church to thrive.

Rampant Sexual Abuse: What Went Wrong in the Catholic Church?

This blog looks at the true filthy story of the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church for several reasons, not the least of which is a desire to expose the rank hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy that permeate most of the Church leadership from the Pope on down.  Then, of course, there is the harm that the leadership continues to inflict on LGBT individuals around the globe as it opposes our civil rights and strives to depict us as "inherently disordered" and "inclined toward evil."  As the recent news stories out of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles underscore, if anyone is inherently disordered and outright evil, it is the members of the Church hierarchy who have placed the protection of child rapists and obstruction of justice above almost all else.  The common question that one hears is how did such horrors come to be not only allowed to occur but protected.  Michael D'Antonio who has authored a book, "Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal," which will be released in April has a column in the Los Angeles Times that seeks to answer these questions.  Here are column excerpts:

The files released last week by America's largest Catholic archdiocese revealed new and disturbing details about how church officials schemed to protect priests accused of molesting children. But was the scandal in Los Angeles really so much worse than in other places?

Sadly, no. The details emerging from the documents mirror what happened in archdioceses across the country, as church officials time and again put their own concerns above the needs of victims.

For the last three years I have investigated the Catholic sex abuse scandal in the United States and abroad. I have seen only a few cases in which the church willingly came clean about its actions. Instead, victims have had to use the courts and the news media to pressure the church for the truth. .  .  .  .  . a recent investigation by police in Australia, have made it clear that it wasn't just in North America that church officials tried to evade authorities, deflect scandal and conceal facts.

Los Angeles is an exceptional case because of the volume of documents made public (thanks to this newspaper, other media and legal pressure from victims), but what those documents reveal is consistent with behavior seen around the world. Time and again church leaders have responded to complaints against priests with cover-ups and deflections, and they have been unable to deal with scandal in an honest and convincing way.

But why? It clearly would have been better for the church, both morally and practically, to react aggressively and report molesters immediately, while at the same time doing everything possible for the victims. So why didn't it?   I've done a lot of thinking about that question.

One part of the answer, I believe, has to do with the nature of the priesthood. To be ordained is to be elevated, to be taken into a special and higher relationship with God. That's something Catholic officials had a hard time letting go of when it came time to see molesting priests in their ranks for what they were: criminals.

Another factor, I believe, was Catholicism's attitudes toward sex. On the one hand, it is something sacred when part of marriage. But church teachings forbid virtually all sexual expression outside of marriage and condemn homosexual sex without exception. Moreover, priests are expected to be celibate, which puts them at an even greater distance from the realities of ordinary life. All of this undoubtedly complicated things when church officials were confronted with extreme sexual deviance in their own ranks.

Sex and power. These are two factors that Catholic leaders have failed to confront, even as the church falls down around them. Any recovery from the great scandal will require change in both areas. Thirty years on, even under the threat of criminal prosecution, they seem incapable of the kind of self-examination that would allow such change. Instead they fight against truth-telling and suffer further ignominy. No wonder this is a scandal without end.

The scandal will only end when decent moral people walk away from Catholicism.  Keeping one's eyes closed to the horrible reality of what the institutional Church is in fact does not solve the problem.  As long as sheep like cretins fill the pews and worse yet financially support the Vatican's worldwide criminal conspiracy, the hierarchy feels no need to clean house, starting with the abdication of the current Pope. 

More on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Protection of Child Rapists

Recently this blog looked at the incredible filth the Los Angeles Times exposed to have been a matter of routine policy within the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles where covering up crimes against children and protecting sexual predators was the norm.   The absolute disregard for the victims of abuse underscores a blood chilling amorality of those who strut around seeking deference and pontificating to others about morality.  It is hard to describe Archbishop Mahony (pictured above) and his minions as anything other than monsters.  And it makes one ask again, what is wrong with the Catholic laity that they continue to financially support such a criminal organization and kiss the asses of men who ought to be behind bars.  As noted in the prior post, if one is looking for decency and true morality, the last place to look is within the Catholic Church and conservative Christianity in general.  A piece in Salon takes a further look at the cesspool which is the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  Here are excerpts:

It’s been a good 10 or so days since the last time the Catholic Church revealed itself to be somewhat less than forthcoming about the decades of sexual abuse perpetrated by trusted members of its own ranks. So it should come as a demoralizingly thorough non-surprise that it’s time again for another revelation of harrowing behavior – and systematic deceit. 

The memos, which the L.A. Times notes “the Archdiocese fought for years to keep secret,” show, in sickening detail, how the local church authorities endeavored to make sure to attract as little legal and public attention for three men they knew to be abusers. In a June 1987 memo, for example, Curry writes of Rev. Michael Baker, who admitted his sex abuse to Mahony in 1986. In it, he suggests Baker avoid meeting with a psychologist or psychiatrist, because “if he were to mention his problem with child abuse it would put the therapist in the position of having to report him,” and adds, “he cannot mention his past problem.” Mahony replies with a handwritten “Sounds good – please proceed!”

In another document, Mahony writes to a New Mexico treatment center about Msgr. Peter Garcia, who was known to have had “perhaps 15 to 17 relationships with youngsters in the age range of 12 to perhaps 17 or 18.” He tells the staff there, “I feel strongly that it would not be possible for Monsignor Garcia to return to California … The two young men who were involved with him and their parents have switched attorneys on several occasions, and I believe that if Monsignor Garcia were to reappear here within the Archdiocese we might very well have some type of legal action filed in both the criminal and civil sectors.”

There’s also a memo from Curry that describes the actions of Father Michael Wempe, and of how “we discussed the possibility of his consulting a lawyer who would refer him to therapy, thus putting the reports under the protection of privilege.” Man, these guys were slick. As the L.A. Times notes, “Two decades would pass before authorities gathered enough information to convict Baker and Wempe of abusing boys.”

What’s astonishing now, in light of a continuing deluge of new information, isn’t that the local Catholic Church administration would put protecting its own ahead of considering the nightmare it was perpetuating for the victims — that’s pretty much a given.  .  .  .  .  It’s the apparent total lack of empathy that had to exist to describe a relationship between a priest and a 12-year-old child in terms of “surrogate father but also sex partner.”

In the coming weeks, more church files will be made public. They involve “at least 75 more accused abusers” — and over 500 victims.

I for one will never set foot in a Catholic Church again for any reason - to do so would leave me feeling literally dirty and morally deficient.  I simply cannot understand those who continue to support such a morally bankrupt institution.  Are they indifferent to the crimes committed and covered up or are they too lazy to bestir themselves to walk away and find a less disgusting denomination?

Catholics Defy Bishops and Pray for Gay Marriage

I often want to pull my hair out over the way ion which far too many Catholics continue to not only listen to but also give deference to the morally bankrupt, criminal cover up conspirators of the Catholic Church hierarchy.  With the Catholic bishops leading the current charge to deprive LGBT citizens  the civil rights enjoyed by others, it is refreshing to see that some Catholics have seen the light and are giving the bishops the figurative middle finger in defiance of the bishops hate filled agenda.  A case in point is Catholics in Seattle, Washington who have held a pray service voting for the affirmation of gay marriage on November 6th.  The Seattle Post Intelligencer looks at the event which I hope will become something common:  Catholics openly saying "No" to the foul hierarchy.  Here are story excerpts:

The folk mass hymns and gospels were familiar, the response "And with your spirit" recited Sundays in church by millions of Catholics, but the 120 faithful gathered outside Seattle's St. James Cathedral on Sunday afternoon were praying for a cause their bishops are campaigning against.

Mobilized by Catholics for Marriage Equality, they celebrated a "Liturgy of Love," praying for the recognition of same-sex unions and the passage of Referendum 74, which would legalize marriage between persons of the same gender.

"I would just say the God I have come to know is not one to tell people they are not equal," said Robert Gavino, a Seattle University student.

John House, a parishoner at Our Lady of Sorrows parish in Snoqualmie, added: "Catholics believe Christ's primary message is one of love, and Catholic social teaching teaches us that God loves everybody. We are standing up for centuries of Catholic social teaching."  They are also standing against their bishops.

We disagree, said those on the steps of St. James Cathedral.  "I find (bishops' claims) perplexing:. Nothing about marriage equality in the state of Washington is any infringement on liberty. This is about civil marriage and civil law," said John Morfield, a longtime parishoner at St. Mary's Catholic Church.

And Barbara Guzzo, organizer of Catholics for Marriage, argued that the bishops have brought "anguish, division and sadness" to the faithful, "particularly those with a gay person in their families, the hurt that this has caused."

Fr. John Whitney, S.J., pastor of St. Joseph Church, has encouraged discussion and helped a recent meeting to promote reconciliation between those who share the bishops' passionate opposition and those who back Referendum 74. "Authority never supplants conscience," he told parishoners in a recent "e-blast."

But stridently conservative bishops across the country have brought politics to the pulpit -- and delivered dictates of what belongs in the consciences of those in the pews.

State Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, present at St. James on Sunday, is a practicing Catholic and chief sponsor of marriage equality in the Legislature. Murray said he was outside the cathedral as a demonstration of his faith.  "I think any time we show solidarity with those on the margins of our society, it is an expression of our faith," said Murray. "We (gays) are certainly on the margins . . . at least in the hierarchy's structure."

Sadly, nowadays the Catholic bishops have become one of the biggest obstacles to the fulfillment of the Gospel message.  The principal message is one of hate and division and exclusion.  Their true gods are power, money and control over others.  The true message of Christ is nowhere on their radar screen.

Catholic Revolt in Washington State and Germany

I noted yesterday how Catholic theologian Hans Küng has argued that the Catholic Church laity and priests need to rise in revolt and overthrow the Pope and reclaim the Church from the morally bankrupt and Pharisee like Church hierarchy.  Sooner than expected it seems that some former priests in Washington State and Catholics in Germany are taking Küng's calm to revolt to heart.  First, these highlights from the Seattle Post on developments in the gay marriage referendum battle in Washington State:

Sixty-three former Roman Catholic priests in Washington state will announce on Thursday that they support Referendum 74, which would make Washington the nation’s seventh state to legalize marriage between same-sex couples.

The stand comes as the state’s four Catholic bishops intensify a campaign of pastoral statements and videos urging parishoners to vote against marriage equality.

The 63 former priests, with collectively more than 800 years of service to the Church, beg to differ.

“We are uneasy with the aggressive efforts of Catholic bishops to oppose R-74 and want to support the 71 percent of Catholics (Public Religion Research Institute) who support civil marriage for gays as a valid Catholic position,” they said in a statement.

Former priest Pat Callahan, who organized the statement, added:  “This is the first public action we’ve taken.”  Callahan was in the Catholic priesthood for 15 years.

In Washington, ecclesiastical shepherds are finding a lot of trouble herding their flocks.  Same-sex marriage legislation passed last winter.  It was championed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Catholic:  Its chief legislative sponsor was State Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, a practicing Catholic and long-partnered gay.

A group called Catholics for Marriage Equality-Washington was prominent in Seattle’s Pride Day march last June.    Several major Catholic parishes — including Seattle’s St. James Cathedral — refused Archbishop J. Peter Sartain’s request to serve as collection center for petitions to force a vote on same-sex marriage.

Catholics for Marriage Equality, in a statement this weekend, said:  “We are shocked when we read the language and examples used by our bishops to incite fear in our Catholic brothers and sisters if Referendum 74 passes.  The message of Jesus is love and compassion, not fear.”

And then there's the growing problems in Germany where Catholics are leaving the Church in droves.  NPR looks at the growing conflict between the growing conflict between rank and file German Catholics who resist paying taxes to the Church and the pompous Church hierarchy.  Here are highlights: 

Germany's bishops have a clear message for the country's 25 million Catholics: The road to heaven requires more than faith and good intentions; it requires tax payments, too.

Last month, German bishops warned that if members of the Catholic Church don't pay the country's church tax, they'll be denied the sacraments — including baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Registered Catholics, Protestants and Jews pay a surcharge of up to 9 percent on their income. The Catholic Church alone received some $6.5 billion in 2011.

In issuing the stringent new decree, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the president of the German bishops' conference, said that not paying taxes for the church is a grave offense, and that sacraments will be banned for those who distance themselves from the church.

As church historian Carsten Frerk points out, setting conditions on church membership is against the church's own legal code.

The bishops issued their decree as church defections are growing. In 2010, when the clerical sex abuse scandal exploded in Germany, nearly 200,000 Catholics left the church. In a normal year, it's 100,000.  Church statistics show that only 13 percent of Germany's Catholics attend Mass weekly. And, Weisner says, the majority of those who are observant criticize the church leadership.

"We need and we ask for more transparency and more participation in the decision-making process," he says. "It can't be the case that only the bishop is deciding which parish will get money and which parish will get a new church."

One can only hope that the resistance to the hierarchy's dictates continues to grow and that increasingly members of the laity will withhold their money and hit the Vatican where it hurts most.  After all, the real God of Benedict and his fellow bitter old queens in dresses is money. 

Petition Drive Launched Against Cardinal Dolan

Last week I wrote about Joseph Amodeo, a young gay Catholic, who resigned from the junior board of Catholic Charities after seeing Cardinal Timothy Dolan's arrogant and nasty to Carl Siciliano on the issue of homeless and needy LGBT youth. Now, Amodeo has launched a petition to call upon Dolan to exhibit a small shred of decency - yes, it's a lot to ask from a Catholic Cardinal who would rather protect child rapist priests - that can be found and signed here. Here are highlights from the petition:

It's wrong that 30-40% of homeless youth are LGBT. We're asking Cardinal Dolan to meet with homeless LGBT youth, hear their stories, and dialogue with them.

A little over eight years ago, I came out as a gay man to my family and friends and continued to practice my faith as a Roman Catholic. I came to witness the overwhelming support that so many people have for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Despite support for LGBT people from so many Catholics today, I resigned from the Executive Committee of the Junior Board of Catholic Charities two weeks ago.

My resignation was a result of Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York's decision to avoid a request to help young people served by the Ali Forney Center, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency care to homeless LGBT youth. Cardinal Dolan is the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and U.S. media often refer to him as "the American Pope." That such a well-known Catholic leader would oppose responding to a request to assist youth represents a deviation from Catholic social teaching.

Since my resignation, the support from Catholic people and other people of faith – gay and straight – has been overwhelming.

At a time when a 30% to 40% of homeless youth are LGBT, according to a report from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, it is clear that this is an important issue facing all of us concerned with supporting those most in need.

With Vatican insiders and international media outlets speculating that Cardinal Dolan could become the first Pope from America, join me today in calling on Cardinal Dolan and the Archdiocese of New York to meet with leaders from the LGBT community and homeless LGBT youth.

Ask Cardinal Dolan to hear their stories, and collaborate in responding to the epidemic of LGBT youth homelessness.

It is amazing that more and more members of the Catholic laity are displaying a willingness to openly challenge and condemn the morally bankrupt members of the Church hierarchy such as Dolan.

What the GOP Would Learn by Picking Rick Santorum

I realize of late that I seem to reference Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum almost daily. But to me, Santorum is the personification of what is wrong with today's Republican Party. He's also a personification of what's wrong with today's version of Roman Catholicism as interpreted and enforced by Pope Benedict XVI, a/k/a God's Rottweiler, and the reactionaries that he has appointed to bishoprics and named as members of the college of cardinals. Turning to the Republican Party, apiece in The Daily Beast reflects on what may over take the GOP if the party's Christianist/Tea Party base is insane enough to somehow deliver the GOP presidential nomination to Santorum. Here are some highlights:

A cleansing bout of craziness in 2012 could be just what the GOP needs. I’m talking about a nominee so far to the right that conservative populists get their fondest wish—and the Republican Party is forced to learn from the result. Namely, that there is such a thing as too extreme.

The dangerous groupthink delusion being pushed in conservative circles over the last few years is that ideological purity and electability are one and the same. It is an idea more rooted in faith than reason.

If Mitt Romney does finally wrestle the nomination to the ground, and then loses to Obama, conservatives will blame the loss on his alleged moderation. The right wing take-away will be to try to nominate a true ideologue in 2016.

But if someone like Rick Santorum gets the nomination in an upset, the party faithful will get to experience the adrenaline rush of going off a cliff together, like Thelma and Louise—elation followed by an electoral thud.

This could be educational. After all, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you recognize your problems.

Giving a self-identified “full-spectrum conservative” theo-con like Santorum the nomination would mean we’d really have a “choice, not an echo” election in November. Republicans would be forced to confront the fact that talk about Satan attacking America, negative obsessions with homosexuality, contraception and opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest alienates far more people than they attract.

It is absurd that clownish conservative caricatures like Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain were briefly elevated to the top of the polls while more sober-minded presidential candidates with executive experience like Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman Jr. failed to gain any traction. The result is the weakest Republican field in living memory.

it’s been scrubbed from many conservative’s memories that the Tea Party in 2010 used libertarian appeals to attract independents—avoiding more polarizing social issues and instead keeping a tight focus on fiscal ones like reducing the deficit and debt.

But in the wake of 2010, we’ve seen the social-conservative agenda reemerge with a vengeance, because Republican legislators in statehouses and Congress made it a priority. Not surprisingly, this has alienated independents, women, and young voters outside the conservative tribe.

But in a tribal time, ideological apparatchiks have outsize influence. They come to debates armed with their own facts. In their Kool-Aid-laden retelling of recent political history, unsuccessful GOP nominees like John McCain lost because of his independent center-right profile (rather than a backlash against the excesses of the Bush administration or the nomination of Sarah Palin). Barry Goldwater’s 44-state loss to Lyndon Johnson in 1964 is recast as a triumph because it allegedly led to Reagan’s landslide ... 16 years later.

Giving conservative activists everything they want in a presidential nominee would ultimately be clarifying for the Republican Party. It would break the fever that has afflicted American politics turning fellow citizens against one another. It would restore a sense of balance, recognizing that it is unwise to systemically ignore the 40 percent of American voters who identify themselves as independent or the 35 percent who are centrist. After all, a successful political party requires both wings to fly. There’s nothing like losing 40 states to refocus the mind.

As I've noted before, part of me would love to see Santorum as the GOP nominee because it would likely lead to the monumental train wreck that the GOP needs to experience before it will wake up and drive the Christofascists from the party and back into the political wilderness where they belong.

Poll: The GOP is Swimming Against Public Opinion

A new New York Times/CBS News poll has more bad news for the Republican Party even as it continues its political fellatio to the Christianist base of the Party: 65% support Barack Obama's inclusion of contraception in prescription drug coverage and a majority - 2/3 among Catholics - support some form of legal recognition of same sex couples. Obviously, someone in the GOP needs to come out of the bubble and notice that the wind of history is changing and that continued slavish obedience to Christofascists is not in the best long term interest of the Party. Of course, attending batshit crazy events such as CPAC gives a false view of what is actually happening in the larger public. Here are highlights from the New York Times on the poll findings:

Despite the deep divide between some religious leaders and government officials over contraceptives, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll found most voters support the new federal directive that health insurance plans provide coverage for birth control.

In addition, most voters said they favored some type of legal recognition for same-sex couples, at a time when the New Jersey Legislature is set to vote on gay marriage and after a federal appellate court ruled that Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage in California was unconstitutional.

While same-sex marriage and coverage for contraceptives have generated significant debate this month, the poll suggests that voters do not place social issues high on their agenda. When asked to name one issue that presidential candidates should discuss, most voters, including Republicans who described themselves as primary voters, mentioned an economic problem, like unemployment or the budget deficit. Few said they wanted to hear the candidates talk about abortion or gay marriage, for example.

On contraceptive coverage, 65 percent of voters in the poll said they supported the Obama administration’s requirement that health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control, and 59 percent, said the health insurance plans of religiously affiliated employers should cover the cost of birth control. . . . . A majority of Catholic voters in the poll were at odds with the church’s official stance, . . .

Gay marriage is another debate in which the Catholic laity disagrees with church doctrine. More than two-thirds of Catholic voters supported some sort of legal recognition of gay couples’ relationships: 44 percent favored marriage, and 25 percent preferred civil unions. Twenty-four percent said gay couples should receive no legal recognition.

Let's hope the GOP remains totally deaf to what most of the voters want and keep on drinking the Christianist Kool-Aid.

The Vatican Has Lost American Catholics

The chart above relates to a post earlier in the week about the majority of American Catholics supporting the recognition of same sex relationships via either civil unions or marriage. It is also interesting in that the chart reflects that only 38% of American Catholics go to mass every week. 62% no longer participate in weekly mass. Interestingly, enough, even in the weekly attendance crowd 64% believe that there should be legal recognition of same sex relations. I suspect that as the sex abuse scandals continue to explode - as is currently occurring in Philadelphia - the Vatican's anti-gay position will further erode.

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It's ironic that Benedict XVI wanted to restore Catholicism, yet on his watch it is being severely damaged, if not destroyed as in Ireland, by Benedict and his fellow "princes of the Church" through their deliberate abetting and protecting sexual predators. Somehow, I suspect that Christ must be smiling at the demise of the power of these evil old men.

New Lows for Catholic Church Apologists - Others Ask Why Doesn't the Laity Demad Accountability?

William Donohue often single handedly makes the case all on his own as to why anyone with a shred of morality ought to find it unconscionable to remain a practicing Roman Catholic. Donohue - who makes well in to the six figured by finding an anti-Catholic plot under every leaf and bush - has a new apologist propaganda piece out where his basic defense of the Church hierarchy's aiding and abetting of child rapists is more or less a bleat that "everyone is doing it"and he attempts to cite other institutions (e.g., public schools) as being worse than the Church. He conveniently omits, of course, that these other institutions don't hold themselves out as arbiters of morality in the manner in which the Church does, nor do they pontificate about who is "inherently disordered" while failing to take a good look in the mirror. Donohue's drivel makes nasty prostitutes look virtuous. Here are highlights of his ridiculous drivel from Spero News:
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Sexual abuse of minors is unfortunately a social problem that touches virtually every segment of the population where adults and minors interact on a regular basis. Nowhere is this less a problem today than in the Catholic Church.
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We know what's going on: get Catholics so riled up that they will demand the Church adopt the liberal agenda on sexuality. They just don't get it: it was the detour from orthodoxy that allowed the abuse scandal to take hold in the first place.
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No Mr. Donohue. That's not what's going on. The Church has engaged in a worldwide criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice and endanger children and youths while protecting sexual predators. It is way past time that Donohue and those like him got their head out of their ass and open their eyes. They have allowed their lives to be twisted and manipulated by a bunch of bitter old men in dresses who make the Mafia look honorable. The truth is sometimes unpleasant to face. but acting like a whore like sycophant does not solve the problem.

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Fortunately, there remain some Catholics who have (1) figured out that the Church hierarchy is a moral cesspool and (2) are basically asking WTF is wrong with the laity that they are allowing the hierarchy to get away with morally bankrupt and criminal behavior. One such piece is in the National Catholic Reporter. Here are some highlights:
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This past Ash Wednesday, while most Catholics were being told to turn away from sin, the faithful in Philadelphia were informed that the hierarchy had, once again, failed to do so themselves.
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After reading the details of this latest fallout of the church’s sex abuse epidemic, I am starting to wonder if there is anything left to say. For nine years we have heard unceasing, grim revelations about predatory priests and the bishops who protect them. Everyone knows it’s evil, it’s wrong, it’s the greatest stain on the sullied reputation of the Catholic Church.
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Even with so much already said, there is still one question that troubles me. Why are we, the Catholic laity, still letting the hierarchy get away with it?
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[W]hy isn’t everyone speaking out? Why isn’t every church-going Catholic demanding repentance and genuine reform from church authorities?
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[T]he sex abuse crisis is much deeper and darker. It’s about the rape, sodomy, and psychological abuse of children and adolescents by priests. It’s about church authorities going to great lengths to cover-up and to protect predators. The hierarchy cannot use the Bible, Canon Law, or tradition to defend themselves against these crimes.
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Many agree that the only way to get the church to respond in a decent and decisive manner is for the laity to withhold its money.
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Much as I agree that such a tactic would work, am I the only one sickened by the fact that depriving the church of financial support is the only way to shock them into acting with integrity?
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Again, I ask, how is the church still surviving amid such a legacy of sexualized violence? What other institution in the U.S. would still persist amid corruption of this nature? What is it that keeps all Catholics from calling the hierarchy to accountability for the crimes that they have committed against children and adolescents over many decades?
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If we truly believe that the Eucharist we receive is the body of Jesus, we must find the courage to oppose the religious leaders who continue to inflict harm on the body of Christ. So often we lament the lack of integrity in church authorities. But if we continue to remain immobilized by denial, weariness, or complacency, we may leave the next generations asking, where was the integrity of the laity?
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As I have noted many times before, the ONLY THING that will force accountability on the Church hierarchy is a massive defection of members - something that is hard to document given the Church's continued listing of individuals as members even when attendance and financial contributions have ceased absent a formal renunciation of the Church - and a massive decline in financial support. Practicing Catholics who continue to attend mass and to contribute money like mindless sheep are in reality accessories to sexual abuse and the obstruction of justice. Such individuals - including some of my family members - need to seriously open their eyes to reality and vote with their feet.

A Catholic Case for Same-Sex Marriage

An 81 year old Catholic woman, Erma M. Durkin, Glen Arm , has written an amazing and heart felt letter to the Baltimore Sun wherein she argues why as Catholic she has to support same sex marriage. In doing so, she displays more wisdom, decency and charity towards other members of humanity than one will find among the ranks of the bankrupt Church leadership and the far to numerous sheeple in the pews who dread anything that would require thought and true moral analysis of issues. I reprint Ms. Durkin's letter to the editor in its entirety with my emphasis in bold face:
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For all of my 81 years I have absorbed, lived and taught the doctrines and spirituality of the Roman Catholic Church. My Church has directed me well to love what is right and just. Not only to stand up for the oppressed but to search my own soul lest it harbor prejudice or hatred toward anyone. Being true to one's conscience is an essential teaching of the Catholic faith.
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And so I must speak now as my conscience dictates. Having studied this question of same-gender marriage from every angle available to me, and having associated with broad range of members of the gay community, I conclude that same-gender couples have a right to petition the state to have their marriages lawfully recognized and protected. And the state, considering the right of all its citizens to live free from bullying, discrimination, physical and psychological violence, which is so carelessly heaped upon gay and lesbian persons, would do well to support same-gender marriage.
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To want to be married is not a frivolous request. If anyone wanted to live a dissolute and totally selfish life they would not want to tie themselves down with a marriage certificate! Marriage is a bond that is made public, it brings with it responsibilities and entails sacrifices.
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The truth is there are homosexual couples, living right now, in long-term relationships, and a significant number are raising children. But because their bond has never been considered "normal," they have not been afforded the dignity and respect their lives deserve by church or state. The state now has the opportunity to make a level playing field for all it's citizens. Churches have their own laws directing whom they will allow to be married, and their freedom to do so is protected in law.

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Is there any other group of human beings that has struggled so hard, so long to live within the law? Human beings that want to live as a family unit, within their extended families? Not, undeservedly, outlawed by state and church?
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Do not assume that all Catholics are against gay marriage. The number of Catholics within the church that offer education and understanding for gays and lesbians is significant. They, too, hold marriage in high esteem, but they want it to be available to their gay and lesbian children also.
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Erma M. Durkin, Glen Arm

Atheists, Agnostics Most Knowledgeable About Religion

With Christianist working daily to inflict their toxic and intolerant religious beliefs on all U.S. citizens, it's a bit unnerving to find that the Christofascists often don't even know what the Hell they are talking about when they blather about religion. That's what a new Pew U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey suggests. So what group is the most knowledgeable on religious dogma and beliefs? It's atheists and agnostics who score the highest it comes to accurate knowledge about religion. On second thought, however, given the increased embrace of ignorance that seems to be a requirement of today's Christianity - think about the rejection of modernity displayed by the leaders of the Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists, not to mention the creationists just for starters - perhaps the survey's findings should not be surprising after all. Here are some highlights from the Los Angeles Times:
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If you want to know about God, you might want to talk to an atheist. Heresy? Perhaps. But a survey that measured Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists and agnostics knew more, on average, than followers of most major faiths. In fact, the gaps in knowledge among some of the faithful may give new meaning to the term "blind faith."
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Four in 10 Catholics misunderstood the meaning of their church's central ritual, incorrectly saying that the bread and wine used in Holy Communion are intended to merely symbolize the body and blood of Christ, not actually become them.
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So why would an atheist know more about religion than a Christian? American atheists and agnostics tend to be people who grew up in a religious tradition and consciously gave it up, often after a great deal of reflection and study, said Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum. "These are people who thought a lot about religion," he said. "They're not indifferent. They care about it."
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Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University and author of "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- And Doesn't," served as an advisor on the survey. "I think in general the survey confirms what I argued in the book, which is that we know almost nothing about our own religions and even less about the religions of other people," he said.
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He said he found it significant that Mormons, who are not considered Christians by many fundamentalists, showed greater knowledge of the Bible than evangelical Christians.
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I'd venture a guess that many LGBT Americans likewise know more about religion that many of the self-congratulatory devout. Like atheists and agnostics, many of us have had to engage in reflection and study to overcome the emotional and psychological harm inflicted on us by our religious upbringings.

States with More Catholics More Strongly Favor Gay Rights

In an ironic twist that reflects the growing gulf between the Nazi Pope and Church hierarchy and most rank and file Catholics, a new analysis indicates that states with high Catholic populations are more likely to be supportive of gay rights and gay marriage. While the Vatican and bishops and cardinals continue their efforts to marginalize gays and call us "inherently disordered," the majority of Catholic seem to be ignoring the propaganda line even though the Kool-Aid drinkers in the Knights of Columbus are drinking the toxic anti-gay brew. The question is when will rank and file Catholics stop funding the homophobes in the hierarchy? Here are some highlights from a story in USA Today that must not sit well with the bitchy old queens in dresses:

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Want to predict which state might move next to legalize same-sex marriage? You might count Catholics. The higher their percentage of the population, the more likely the state is to... support gay rights. This counter-intuitive finding is brought to you with a tip of two hats -- mine to Mark Silk at Spiritual Politics and his to Robbie Jones who led Silk to a new study soon by be published by two Columbia University political scientists.
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Silk, who heads the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College, mashed their study with the latest statistics from the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, which was published at Trinity. His finding:
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Six of the eight states where 50 percent or more of the public supports gay marriage are the states with the highest proportion of Catholics, ranging from Rhode Island at 46 percent to New York and California at 37 percent.
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The bishops have campaigned long, loudly and clearly against same-sex marriage but the Catholic Church also offers a pervasive message of social justice, an umbrella many liberal Catholics stand under when they argue for marriage equality or life issues such as abortion, contraception and end-of-life decisions.
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Increasing it seems that those who remain in the Church are "cafeteria Catholics" who use their own conscience decide what Vatican directives to simply ignore. Would that the bitter old queens would catch p with the theology of their flock.

More Catholic Church Hypocrisy

As a former Roman Catholic, even though I have left the Church because of it's disgustingly corrupt hierarchy and its horrifically anti-gay stance, I none the less follow the news stories involving the Catholic Church out of both curiosity and perhaps out of the hope that someday the Church will cease being an instrument of intolerance and hate. In this vein, two stories caught my today. The first involves a Catholic priest who denounced Proposition 8 from the pulpit and outed himself. The other is from the New York Times and focuses on liberal/progressive elements within the Church that are resisting the hierarchy's efforts to take the Church back to a Medieval mindset. First, here are highlights from KFSN-TV in Fresno, California, which focus on Father Geoffrey Farrow of the Saint Paul Newman Center, for whom I have the utmost respect. He spoke out for what is right and moral even though it will cost him dearly given the Church's extreme homophobia and intolerance (on a personal note, I ultimately came to believe as father Farrow that God made me gay for a reason):

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Father Geoffrey Farrow of the Saint Paul Newman Center in northeast Fresno shocked parishioners Sunday morning when he came out against Proposition 8, an initiative that would eliminate the right for same sex couples to marry in California. . . . The homily taught of acceptance, love and rejection. But it was his closing remarks that left some parishioners stunned. "What most Catholics hear about being gay or lesbian at their parish is silence," . . . *the Father said he must go against the Bishops recommendation and instead go with what he feels is right.

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"In directing the faithful to vote yes on proposition 8, the California Bishops are not only entering the political arena, they are ignoring the advances and insights of neurology, psychology and the very statements by the church itself that homosexual is innate," says Fr. Geoff.

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"I know that these words of truth will cost me dearly. But to withhold them would be far more costly and I would become an accomplice to a moral evil that strips gay and lesbian couples, not only of their civil rights but of their human dignity as well."

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We sat down with Father Geoff before mass, and he answered the question many are probably wondering... Is he gay? "It's a secondary issue. But yes, I am. And when I was a boy I asked God please make me normal and the prayer never got answered and I realized why. Because God would've made somebody else he wouldn't have made me."

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Joshua De La Cerda, Parishioner, says "This is something Jesus would have done, or Christ would have done, spoke out for the truth." Fr. Geoff said after months of struggling with what to do, said in the end he followed his heart. "In any event regardless of what I or anyone else does in their life, one day you die, and on that day were you true to your conscience, were you true to what you believe. And I think that's the question each of us has to answer. If the answer is no, hell already began before you died."

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The second article looks at efforts by members of the Catholic laity to rebel against the autocratic tyranny of the Church hierarchy. Unlike the ECLA and other Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic Church is structured on a feudal model where to top reaches of the hierarchy have no accountability to anyone and are little better than willful autocrats similar to the Medieval Tsar, Ivan the Terrible (or in the case of Benedict XVI, perhaps Vlad the Impaler a/k/a Dracula). Thus, typically, only by voting with their feet and their pocket books can the Catholic laity have any impact on the arbitrary will of the hierarchy. Here are some highlights:

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As the Roman Catholic Church observes its annual “respect life” Sunday in this heated presidential election season, the unusually pitched competition for Catholic voters is setting off a round of skirmishes over how to apply the church’s teachings not only on abortion but also on the war in Iraq, immigration and racism. In a departure from previous elections, Democrats and liberal Catholic groups are waging a fight within the church, arguing that the Democratic Party better reflects the full spectrum of church teachings. . . . The escalating efforts by more-liberal Catholics are provoking a vigorous backlash from some bishops and the right.

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In the aftermath of the 2004 election, many liberal Catholics complained that parishes had distributed millions of copies of a voter guide created by a group called Catholic Answers that highlighted five “nonnegotiable” issues: abortion, stem-cell research, human cloning, euthanasia and same-sex marriage.

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In response, liberal groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance quickly began preparing alternative guides emphasizing a broader spectrum of the church’s social justice teachings. Then the Bishops Conference, perhaps to forestall a blizzard of competing pamphlets, all but banned third-party voter guides from parishes, requiring the explicit endorsement of the presiding bishop.

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Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance, said her organization was spending more than $250,000 on radio, print and billboard advertisements in Scranton and other heavily Catholic areas. The advertisements emphasize what Ms. Kelley described as the broader spectrum of Catholic concerns about the “common good,” including health care, jobs and home foreclosures.

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Douglas W. Kmiec, a Catholic legal scholar who was a legal counsel in the administrations of President Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush, has been telling Catholic audiences in Pennsylvania and other swing states that Mr. Obama’s platform better fits Catholic social teaching, including reducing the abortion rate.