My name is Fr. Marty Kurylowicz. I am writing you to inform you of what I have been doing to help protect LGBT children growing up from the harmful influence particularly from the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings and the employment retaliation (Hostile Environment – explained below). I have experienced for doing so.
I come from a different perspective but I believe an important one, which is the early childhood psychological development growing up gay. Benedict XVI and the hierarchy of Catholic Church condemn homosexuality because they believe it to be choice made after the age of reason. It is the fact that sexual orientation is set very early in life either just before birth or very soon afterwards, which then according to Catholic Doctrine completely nullifies the Vatican’s reason for condemning homosexuality. Instead, it renders homosexual orientation as a normal part of human development to be nurtured and valued. I believe that Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna understood this point of distinction when he referred to the fact that lasting homosexual relationships deserve respect (as reported – the Church in the World by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt - 8 May 2010 – The Tablet). Cardinal Schönborn was responsible for the last updated addition of the Roman Catholic Catechism, Catechism of the Catholic Church. It may seem like a small point, but I assure it is not. Anyone who studies his or her Roman Catholic Catechism will understand this fact. And the bible can no more be used to condemn homosexuality than it could when the Vatican condemned Galileo, which Pope John Paul II apologized for in 1992, though Benedict XVI did not agree.
Because Benedict XVI and as Cardinal Ratzinger had silenced so many priests, sisters and scholars in the last 30 years, regarding sexual orientation that Catholics in general have been left in total silence with no rationale, explanation or further intelligent discussion on this topic. This is most unfortunate for Catholics, especially for a significant number Catholics in civil leadership roles in the US. Five out of the nine justices of the US Supreme Court are Catholic, including Chief Justice John Roberts and half of the US governors are also Catholic. Real Catholic doctrine has to be logical – “it has to make sense,” as stated by Sister Margaret A. Farley - first Roman Catholic faculty member at the Yale Divinity School. Clarifying this small point regarding sexual orientation, the age of reason and early childhood psychological development does not condemn homosexual orientation, but instead renders any antigay statements as an implicit form of child abuse. It is vital to the future wellbeing of children that Catholics, especially in government understand this distinction.
Regarding: Vatican abuse of LGBT children
The letter below I sent, in July 2010, to members in our three branches of government in Washington DC, including our USA Governors and many others. It is important to alert people of the lifetime harm caused to children who grow up gay subjected to the influence of antigay social and religious norms. Alerting people that these norms are not substantiated by any facts from the bible or science and the severe harm inflicted on to those priests in the USA who speak out in defense of children by the Vatican in Rome.
______________ The letter _______________
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
Thalamus Center - Early Childhood Psychological Development Growing Up Gay
Martin S. Kurylowicz, M.Div., M.S
fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com
July 2010
President of the United States
United States Congress
United States Supreme Court
Dear -- --------,
My name is Fr. Marty Kurylowicz, a Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Grand Rapids Michigan ordained June 16, 1979.
In March 1997, after attending a National Symposium of the New Ways Ministry that was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I learned that children as young as 4 and 5 years of age know that they are different. This feeling "different" is only identified in their adult years as being gay. However, the harmful influence of antigay social and religious norms -- in particular, for Catholics, the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings -- are severe and last throughout a child’s lifetime. The harmful effects are not isolated only to these children who grow up to be gay, but also affect their families, siblings, friends and anyone whom they might consider special in their lives. They are a prescribed societal sentence of implicit isolation, which place at risk of suicide so many innocent adolescents and young adults. They stifle an enormous amount of human potential in the world that otherwise could be put to use for finding cures for diseases, offering better ways of maintaining peace among people and improving the quality of life for everyone in the world.
After the New Ways Ministry National Symposium in March 1997, in good conscience I felt intensely morally obligated to "come out" as a gay Catholic priest to my parishioners at Holy Family Parish, Sparta, Michigan USA, to draw public attention to this implicit form of child abuse. This abuse is caused by the harmful influence of antigay social and religious norms, in particular, for Catholics, the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings. My background study in this area is extensive, far beyond that of the average person. However, since I have come out, I have been subjected to overt as well as covert retaliation coming from the Vatican through the bishops of the Diocese of Grand Rapids. I was ordered to be sent away to be re-educated regarding sexual orientation, to subject myself to conversion or reparative therapy--not a lobotomy, but similar. I refused to consent to this inhuman treatment because of the obvious clinical research data. And because I did so, in retaliation I lost my regular priest salary for the past 13 years, my earned sabbatical terms and my status for any future assignments in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
At the same time, an insider to the Vatican warned me that I could really get hurt severely by people in the Vatican. And even though this person was dead serious, I passed this warning off as being someone’s overactive imagination that was a bit bizarre. I thought, "After all, this is the USA, what do I have to fear?" However, this covert retaliation has been substantial. My car was repossessed in July 2009 and on June 26, 2010, I lost my home to foreclosure.
It seems no one wants to touch my case because it deals with the Catholic Church (although, in the last several months, the credibility of the Vatican has fallen considerably with regard to the decades of cover-ups of child sexual abuse cases). My case is about protecting children as young as 4 and 5 years of age. The 2009 amendment to the Federal Hate Crimes Law of 1969 does not seem to cover my type of situation, although it is a type of implicit hate crime. Unfortunately, there is not enough legislation out there to deal with most non-violent discrimination based on sexual orientation, nor enough legal precedent (especially with an entity like the church). It was mentioned to me that possibly Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) and/or some employment law claims could apply.
It comes down to the fact that there are no US civil laws to protect me (a gay out Catholic priest) in my defense to protect children as young as 4 and 5 years of age. It seems clear that lawyers are often scared of taking on entities that seem more powerful than the legal system and/or cases with no real precedents. Not only do they have to worry about not winning after all the effort they put in (including hours of research, writing memos/briefs, etc--which is all hard when there's not much precedent), but they have to worry about—as I would think--being silenced and harming their careers. I can easily realize that there are risks going up against powerful entities. The religious element of my case makes it difficult for lawyers. Most lawyers would probably not be Catholic and don't really understand the Catholic Church, how it works or what they'd be getting themselves into. This is probably especially true for organizations more geared towards LGBT and other civil rights. A lot of LGBT people are not Catholic for the obvious reasons of mistreatment and my situation seems like it could be a complex intersection of various legal issues as well as religion--probably several things most LGBT/civil rights lawyers don't really know a lot about.
If I do say so myself, I think that my case could be a watershed that frees everyone, because the reason for my coming out was specifically based on the lifetime psychological harm caused to children as young as 4 and 5 years of age who grow up gay (LGBT). Evidence of such psychological harm has been heavily documented through accredited scientific research for the past several decades. Including scripture cannot be used to condemn homosexuality any more than it could be used to condemn Galileo. These are facts and cannot be disputed by intelligent people. It would be about children worldwide who grow up gay (LGBT), which takes the issue of sexual orientation out of the adult arena, making gay civil rights (gay marriage) a must--who wants to deny children their civil rights? I only know this from my experience with coming out in a Catholic parish. People calm down almost immediately when you talk about children growing up gay (LGBT)--in part, I think, because many people can identify with this fact.
I am asking for monetary compensation for the past 13 years for the financial hardship caused, the unnecessary setbacks in advancing my education, as a priest and the damage to my reputation making it impossible for me to support myself, leaving me destitute. If the Vatican wanted to remove me from the priesthood, they should have done it immediately after I came out in March 1997. But they did not do this, likely because they did not want to fight the global publicity that they were against gay priests – even if gay priests remained faithful to their vow of celibacy. Instead, they let me continue on for 8 years before removing my faculties for cerebrating mass publicly in any Catholic Church - mainly because I would be allowed to continue to preach if they did not remove me, June 2006. It has been rumored by a priest that and likely my bishop that I was given more than 5 years to get on my feet to leave the priesthood. But I had no intention of leaving the priesthood. They were making it impossible for me to stay in the priesthood, but I had no intention of leaving the priesthood. Why would I leave the priesthood? It would completely destroy - the reason why I risked my life, to come out as a gay Catholic priest, to protect children worldwide, to help stop the severe implicit form of child abuse caused to children as young as 4 and 5 years of age worldwide by the Vatican unsubstantiated antigay teachings (as stated in the 2nd paragraph above). The Vatican would then be allowed to continue unchallenged in harming children worldwide in much the same way as the Vatican has been allowed to continue for decades worldwide to cover-up of the child sexual abuse cases.
I am seeking a legal cause of action to pursue, monetary compensation for the retaliatory treatment I have received and financial assistance for starting the Thalamus Center. The Thalamus Center is an educational international interactive web site on human sexuality to combat the severe lifetime psychological harm caused by unsubstantiated antigay teachings, in particular that of the Vatican. It is ignorance of human sexuality that is so harmful to children and world peace. The Thalamus Center is being designed on a similar format as that of National Public Radio, NPR web site. The Thalamus Center is focused on two areas of human sexuality from science (biology, physiology, psychology, etc.) and religion (all religions, ancient sacred texts, etc.) – operating 7 days a week, reporting, interviewing, and referencing researchers, scholars, theologians, including archiving data, listing all LGBTQ&I resources and addressing related current news media issues. The Thalamus Center would be employing a full time staff of 9 professionals, including related support staff members.
Is there any help for me?
Fr. Marty Kurylowicz, M.Div., M.S.
Thalamus Center – Early Childhood Psychological Development Growing Up Gay
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/
Clinical Website
http://martinkurylowicz.com/
Roman Catholic - Hierarchy Child Sexual Abuse “Cover-Ups” Ordered By Benedict XVI To Avoid Public Outrage & Criminal Charges - Falsely Accused Gay Priests - WATERGATE? December 17, 2009 - by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
&
Galileo protest halts pope's [Benedict XVI] visit
January 15, 2008 - Cable News Network (CNN)
Vatican Science Panel Told By Pope: Galileo Was Right
November 1, 1992 – The New York Times
Galileo Condemned As A Heretic - Misinterpretations Of The Bible
Homosexuality? Natural Law?
Benedict XVI?
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
Faith can never conflict with reason
- Pope John Paul II -
"The 'Galileo case' teaches us that different branches of knowledge call for different methods, each of which brings out various aspects of reality"
Pope John Paul II -- No Irreconcilable Differences between
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Reconciling Old Lovers:
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Einstein, Galileo. Commemoration of Albert Einstein, 1979, pp. 84
Pontifical Academy of Sciences
California - Prop 8 judgment, August 4, 2010
Gay marriage
“Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.”
Judge Vaughn Walker
On Prop 8, it's the evidence, stupid
By Lisa Bloom
CNN.com -
and related links:
"No sensible person can imagine that the
sexes differ
in matters of love as they do in matters of clothing.
The intelligent lover of beauty will be attracted to beauty in whichever gender he finds it."
Plutarch
The Quality Of Lasting Homosexual Relationships
Deserve Respect
Roman Catholic -->Cardinal Christoph Schönborn,
Vienna
Gramick: Equality is a Catholic value
by David Taffet – Dallas Voice
Hurricane Katrina - Nancy Pelosi - Washington, DC – 2005
&
Accountability Benedict XVI Child Sexual Abuse
= Looking For Leadership in a Storm!!!
Who Can Mock This Church?
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SEXUAL CONVERSION THERAPIES
Jack Drescher, M.D.
The Psychology of the Closet:
Governor McGreevey's New Clothes
by Jack Drescher, M.D. – August 27, 2004
Vatican Asking For Male Prostitutes –
“Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.”
Though you drive Nature out
with a pitchfork,
she will still find her way back.
Is It Possible to Be Against Same-Sex Marriage
Without Being Homophobic?
Carlos A. Ball
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August 24, 2010 – Huffington Post
The Closet: Psychological Issues of Being In and Coming Out
By Jack Drescher, M.D. - October 1, 2004
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Andrew Sullivan – The Daily Dish
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Self Psychology News – Fall 2007
Auschwitz - Christmas 2008
A flashback far more severe than
in Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
Homophobia- American Psychoanalytic Foundation Public Forum
Ralph Roughton, M.D. 1999
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"TRIANGLE"
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Structural Violence:
RELIGION AND CONFLICT
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Introduction: Towards a Religion of World Politics?
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Prop 8 judgment, August 4, 2010
Gay marriage
“Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.”
Judge Vaughn Walker
On Prop 8, it's the evidence, stupid
By Lisa Bloom
CNN.com -
and related links:
Prop 8 ruled unconstitutional as lacking rational basis
Nan Hunter - Professor, Georgetown Law,
Washington, DC
hunter of justice
Gay Marriage Ruling A Matter of Simple Justice
by Geoffrey R. Stone
law professor at the University of Chicago
Chicago Tribune
Gay Marriage -> Restores
“Hope of Love”
To Children In Early Childhood
Sexual orientation is less about sex and more about love,
being one with another human being - Attachment Theory
LOVE & RELIGION
Gay Marriage
Gay Marriage - Galileo Condemned As A Heretic -
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Homosexuality?
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Benedict XVI?
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Karl Rove… "had been working with Republicans to make sure that anti-gay initiatives and referenda would appear on November ballots in 2004 and 2006 to help Republicans." Ken Mehlman
August 25, 2010
The Atlantic
Bush Campaign Chief and Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman:
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Gay Marriage
Truth Will Set Us Free
Not Ignorance and Fear
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Bianca Cody Murphy
Peace Psychology for the 21st Century
No one individual, no religion, no one has the right to hurt anyone, especially children
Kids are being hurt !!!
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HOMOPHOBIA
Edith Cowan University Western Australia
Structural Violence Section Introduction
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Peace psychology in the 21st century
Daniel Christie
Sexing political identities/ National as Heterosexism
V. Spike Peterson - University of Arizona
International Feminist Journal of Politics, 1:1 June 1999, 34–65
Structural Violence
Dr. N.V.S.Suryanarayana
August 19, 2010
Psyspeak, Human Behavior on Social Media
Peace Psychology Book
Daniel Christie
Dan Christie
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Why not allow gay marriage?
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Psychology Today
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Lessons from a Gay Marriage
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Psychology Today
American Psychological Association reiterates support for same-sex marriage
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Early Childhood Development – Your Options – How Do I Know If My Child Is Transgender? By Stephanie Brill and Caitlin Ryan, PhD, ACSW
National Association of Social Workers
GENDER SPECTRUM
provides education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children and teens
Stephanie Brill, PhD. - Executive Director
The New Gay Teenager - Google Books Result
Mom, Dad I'm Gay : How Families Negotiate Coming Out
by Ritch C. Savin-Williams
Ritch Savin-Williams
is professor and chair of
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Cornell University’s Department of Human Development
(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?
Judith Stacey; Timothy J. Biblarz
American Sociological Review, Vol. 66, No. 2. (Apr., 2001), pp. 159-183.
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Bay Windows
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American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry
“Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.”
…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Matthew 18:6
Important note: No disrespect meant to Pope Benedict XVI or the hierarchy, the one and only concern is the safety and well-being of children.
Kids Are Being Hurt !!!
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