Catholic Governors Scold Church on Gay Marriage Position in D.C.
Published November 25, 2009 @ 03:00AM PT
Two Catholic governors are talking same-sex marriage and Catholicism, and calling out the Catholic Church for threatening to suspend or eliminate social service programs for the poor in Washington, D.C. if the District's City Council moves to recognize marriage equality for gays and lesbians.
The governors -- Maryland's Gov. Martin O'Malley and Virginia's outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine -- said on WTOP radio that the Church's nuclear threat, which would end social services to upwards of 68,000 needy residents in D.C., is not in line with the theological history of the Church.
"It's really not who the church has been. If you look at the church through history, the church will stand in tough situations and continue to do good," said Gov. Kaine, who himself served as a Catholic missionary in Honduras several decades ago. "I would be very, very disappointed here or anywhere else if the Catholic Church decides 'Gosh, we don't like something that's happening in civil society, so we're going to retreat into our shell.'"
Kudos to Tim Kaine for calling out the Catholic Church's D.C. threat for what it is: playground politics that does a disservice to the social justice tents of the faith.
For his part, Gov. O'Malley was equally as disappointed in church leadership for threatening to kill social services simply to oppose gay marriage.
"I have a hard time believing that the nuns and priests who taught me about the Corporal Works of Mercy would agree that this is an appropriate response for the church," said Gov. O'Malley.
Damn! Now that's a progressive Catholic response. O'Malley's right -- it's hard to believe that after reading the Sermon on the Mount or the history of Catholic Social Teaching, one would all of a sudden decide to make banning gay marriage their life's work.
The Catholic Church has every right to oppose same-sex marriage, if that's what its leadership decides it wants to do. But it's shallow and morbid for them to threaten to pull the rug out from underneath the poor just to make their point. That's practically blackmail.
And that's why the Church is getting a "Grow the hell up" message from two leading Catholic governors.
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Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor.
He is the former Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, as well as the former Director of Communications for Pax Christi USA, a national Catholic peace and justice organization. Mike is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and he is also a proud sketch comedy writer.
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Absolutely beautiful!
However, it is not the Catholic Church as a whole, it is specifically, Benedict XVI and his hierarchy. As you know the majority of Catholics are not behind Benedict XVI and his hierarchy. Since, the majority of Catholics realize that their input means nothing to the Vatican (Benedict XVI and his hierarchy), they operate pretty much on their own. They keep the faith then to follow the hatefulness of Benedict XVI and his hierarchy.
I think too that with the means of today’s instant communication technologies Benedict XVI and his hierarchy cannot hide their misdeeds against innocent people, so easily as they have for centuries. It was the Internet that they could not silence that made the child abuse sandals become public. Benedict XVI tried to frame gay priests for the blame of these sandals. The US Catholic bishops’ report to incriminate gay priests (homosexual) to cover up their guilt, however, blew up in their faces right at their meeting, last week.
This report is most threatening to Benedict XVI, because it clearly takes the blame off gay priests (homosexuals) as the cause of the Vatican’s decades of child sexual abuse cases and it places the culpable negligence where it belongs on the Roman Catholic Hierarchy.
We are going to be seeing Benedict XVI try to create at this time major smoke screens to distract public attention from what is his and his hierarchy’s Achilles heel, being charged with criminal negligence to protect children for decades regarding the child sexual abuse cases and using gay priests to cover up their crimes. It all has been their malicious inhumane cover up to hide their inhumane crime against defenseless children by putting the blame on homosexuals. It is easy to attack gay priests because they too like children are defenseless, having no power and no money.
New Catholic Sex Abuse Findings: Gay Priests Are Not the Problem – by DAVID GIBSON – Politics Daily
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-catholic-sex-abuse-findings-gay.html
Benedict XVI and his hierarchy are frantically making smoke screens by continuing to publicly attack gay people using it as a public fear tacit to cover up their criminal negligence for failure to protect children. They are going to lose because they can no longer use the bible or science to condemn gay people that is, as long as, we keep calling them out on every false statement they make.
Good Catholics must stand up and speak out when Benedict XVI and his hierarchy go against the teachings of Christ. Christ had plenty to say to a few church leaders who acted directly against the directives of true love. And those times Christ always was quite angry, even making a whip and kicking over money changers stands. Christ’s harshest words were said to these few church leaders.
Vatican must renounce all their unsubstantiated antigay teachings, at the same time that the hierarchy is charged with criminal negligence for failure to protect children in the child sexual abuse cases.
The simple truth like daylight to a vampire is what Benedict XVI and his hierarchy avoids at all cost.
Happy Thanksgiving, Marty
Posted by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz on 11/25/2009 @ 07:14AM PT
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Thanks and though its a day late, blessed harvest thanks to you too.
Posted by Reverend Boony on 11/27/2009 @ 05:48PM PT
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“The Catholic Church has every right to oppose same-sex marriage, if that's what its leadership decides it wants to do.”
I understand the point of this statement being “political blackmail” to threaten to stop serving the poor, which is not what Christ would approve of and would publicly denounce in the strongest terms.
However, I disagree with this statement because, one, the Catholic Church as whole does not oppose same-sex marriage. Second, Benedict XVI and his hierarchy have nothing to base their reasons for opposing same-sex marriage on, except to cover up their criminal negligence of failing to protect children regarding the child sexual abuse cases.
There is so much corruption connected with Benedict XVI and his hierarchy that it is like trying to walk through a field of manure.
History will have a field day trying to record all facts and harm of Benedict XVI and his hierarchy, because again with our instant communication technologies everything is in print available to anyone and everyone, unlike past centuries. Their misdeeds will be collected and will not paint a very pretty picture of the history of Benedict XVI and his hierarchy.
It may be what is needed to correct the make up of the present hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, because it is so harmful and not at all like Christ. Because again with the Internet we were able to visually see how the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches gather together to decide the direction of their Churches. These images of diverse groups of women and men contrasted with the US Catholic Bishops Conference last week is like showing pictures of the medical advancements of today and those of the 1700’s and 1800’s most ineffective and harmful.
However, I very much appreciate the point that he was making and it needs to be made showing the “political blackmail” by Benedict XVI and his hierarchy to threaten to stop serving the poor. Outrageous!!!
Marty
Posted by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz on 11/25/2009 @ 08:13AM PT
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To all those who oppose Gay Marriage, it is not a matter of disagreeing but it is matter of Law, Thank God! We can enjoy separation of Church and State here but other parts no! What different does it make if a choice is given to us and everybody. Like abortion not everybody is in favor it but it does exist, it needs to exist. If there is any debt to God, it is they who will pay for it not you!!!!!!!!!! With all due respect, how does it stop you from living? If it does you need to see a psychiatrist!
Posted by Peter S. T. on 11/27/2009 @ 10:12PM PT
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I'm getting really sick and tired of the Catholic Church condemning homosexuals when they have a very long history of abusing children and hiding the priests who molest children and send them to other churches so they can molest more children.
ALSO!!! Why didn't they deny politicians communion when they voted to invade countries which kills mostly innocent people, including children and pregnant women?
It's time to start taxing this criminal organization!
Posted by Clifford Hritz on 11/25/2009 @ 02:14PM PT
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Most of the Catholic church has gone far into their justification of oppression against LGBT people but because most of that church refuses to be more tolerant, nothing can be done. Same-sex marriage is an important right which all LGBT people must have access to which creates equality. The Catholic church in Washington, D.C. threatening to close their service for the homeless is unjustified which shows that the organization is more committed to intolerance than to helping the needy.
Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 11/25/2009 @ 04:26PM PT
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what I truly do not understand how can the leaders of the Catholic Church and its Followers can so easily believe in destroying a life- Can it be their religious right? What religion defends that? Do you know? Perhaps, I missed the course where religions had the right to not only to take a stand like this, insinuate itself into politics, and to actually respect those that destroy lives and give them the ammunition to do so?
Posted by Peter S. T. on 11/25/2009 @ 09:07PM PT
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I guess Tim Kaine forgot about all the crusades and inquisitions that massacred millions of innocent people, or the fact that the church helped Hitler in his extermination of the jews, gays, gypsies, and germans.
Posted by Chris Marshall on 11/26/2009 @ 08:14AM PT
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Italians too I believe Chris!
Posted by Peter S. T. on 11/27/2009 @ 02:48PM PT
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Its about time we get more christians speaking out against the fundietards...
Posted by Reverend Boony on 11/27/2009 @ 05:50PM PT
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