A Gay Protester Responds to Cardinal George's Criticism
by Andy Thayer
Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net)
CHICAGO – February 14, 2011
Huffington Post
Chicago's Cardinal Francis George recently took pro-gay activists to task for our protest Sunday morning in front of Holy Name Cathedral against his anti-gay policies. Cardinal George issued the following statement:
Some members of the Gay Liberation Network [GLN] demonstrated in front of Holy Name Cathedral on Sunday, February 13, protesting against Catholic Church teaching on the immorality of homosexual genital relations and opposition to so called 'gay marriage.'
These are deeply felt issues, because they speak to the personal identity of some and to the religious beliefs of others.
No matter the issue, Catholics should be able to worship in peace, without fear of harassment. An open display of prejudice against the Catholic Church because of resentment of Church teachings prejudices civil discourse in our society. Photo
Well, Cardinal, I beg to differ, and here's why:
1) That you feel that our protest yesterday -- a peaceful expression of 1st Amendment rights -- constitutes "harassment," shows your contempt for the free expression of opinion, which is a necessary component of democracy…
2) You lie, err "bear false witness," by saying that our protest was "against the Catholic Church." As repeated several times in written GLN statements prior to the protest, a handbill distributed at the protest, and in our public comments during the course of the protest, our protest was against the leadership of the Catholic church and not the Catholic laity, a majority of whom support equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Cardinal George, while opposing our legal equality, you attempt to "play the victim" by falsely claiming that we oppose the Catholic Church in general, rather than its anti-equal rights leadership…
Read complete report:
Andy Thayer
is co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net), a Chicago-based LGBT direct action group which has been a local leader in gay rights, anti-police brutality and anti-war organizing…
is co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network (www.GayLiberation.net), a Chicago-based LGBT direct action group which has been a local leader in gay rights, anti-police brutality and anti-war organizing…
Read more:
Gov. Quinn to 'follow conscience' on unions
by Dave McKinney,
December 2, 2010 - Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief
GAY RIGHTS | Says he'll sign bill despite Catholic Church criticism
(Excerpt & link below)
CATHOLICS Now Favor Allowing Gays And Lesbians To Marry Legally,
October 6, 2010 - Pew Research Center
(Excerpt & link below)
Vatican blocks gay human rights vote at the UN. - Peter Tatchell
Pope Blasts U.K. Anti-Discrimination Laws
AP – February 2, 2010
CBS News
In Speech, Benedict Raises Fears that Vatican Could Be Prosecuted for Stances Against Gay
(AP) Pope Benedict XVI weighed in against anti-discrimination laws, which have raised fears at the Vatican that the Catholic Church could be prosecuted for refusing, for example, to hire gays or transsexuals.
Benedict blasted proposed laws before the British Parliament that are intended to prevent employers from denying jobs to applicants on the grounds of gender, sexuality, age or race. Current legislation exempts religious organizations, but the planned new law would effectively apply to lay people employed by churches…
Read complete report:
USCCB Condemns New Ways Ministry; Gay Ministry Responds
by James Martin, S.J.
February 6, 2010, America Magazine
Francis Cardinal George, archbishop of Chicago and president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has denounced New Ways Ministry, a national organization based in Mt. Rainier, Maryland, which reaches out to gay and lesbian Catholics, runs conferences on issues concerning gay and lesbian Catholics, and sponsors regular retreats for that same population. (It also offers a variety of resources on its websites, such as a list of Catholic parishes where gays and lesbians would feel welcome.) Valued among the gay and lesbian Catholics, the organization and its founders (Sister Jeanine Gramick, SL, and Father Robert Nugent, SDS) have often found themselves at odds with the Catholic hierarchy. Sister Gramick and Father Nugent have been for some years officially barred "from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons," as the USCCB statement affirms. New Ways Ministry, which includes on its board and advisory board both priests and religious, said in a statement today that it was not contacted by the USCCB to explain its positions before the bishops' statement was released. Here is part of Cardinal George's statement, dated yesterday…
Read complete report:
The Irish Affliction
February 9, 2011 – The New York Times
…Ireland’s move away from the Catholic Church began before the reports were released. Between 1974 and 2008, regular Mass attendance dropped by some 50 percent. The situation today highlights a problem that is looming for the Vatican, especially in the West, as the global sex-abuse crisis, coupled with the increasingly conservative rule and top-down control that have prevailed since the 1970s, is contributing to the departure of populations the church once considered foundational. “Ireland is a prime example of what the church is facing, because they made this island into a concentration camp where they could control everything,” Mark Patrick Hederman, abbot of Glenstal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in County Limerick, told me. “And the control was really all about sex. They told you if you masturbated, it meant you were impure and had allowed the devil to work on you. Generations of people were crucified with guilt complexes. Now the game is up.” Photo
…The visitation itself is seen by many as another indication that the Vatican intends not to bring reform but to exert control. “If the Vatican wanted to do a credible investigation of sexual abuse,” Thomas Doyle said, “they would not send archbishops and cardinals. These people — the church hierarchy — are the very people who have caused this problem.”…
Read complete report:
Related links:
U.S. diocese agrees to $77 million abuse settlement
February 3, 2011 - Reuters
Vatican Letter to Irish Bishops on Sex Abuse: A 'Smoking Gun' in Conspiracy?
by David Gibson,
January 19, 2011 – Politics Daily
Vatican Letter Warned Bishops on Abuse Policy
By Laurie Goodstein,
January 18, 2011 - The New York Times
Document
Irish abuse victims 'disgusted' at Vatican letter
January 19, 2010 – CNN World
Quick Facts: US church sex abuse,
February 14, 2011 - PressTV
New allegations of sexual abuse surfaced in the U.S. after a U.S. grand jury accused the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of failing to stop the sexual abuse of children more than five years after another grand jury report documented abuse by more than 50 priests.
These new allegations have brought the issue of sexual abuse by priests into the limelight. Photo
The New York Times says in October 2010, the U.S. fell in the Annual Corruption Survey. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Tribal Justice, American in the United States, Roman Catholic archdioceses have collectively paid some $2 billion in settlements to victims since the priest sex scandals first erupted in Boston nearly a decade ago. In 2011, a Roman Catholic diocese in Delaware agreed to settle 142 claims of sexual abuse by priests for $77 million. Later that year, two Roman Catholic priests, a former priest and a Catholic school teacher were charged with raping young boys. 78% of the victims of sexual abuse in U.S. churches were between the ages of 11 and 17.
Time and again the Roman Catholic Church has been forced to defend itself against charges that top officials tried to cover up cases of child sexual abuse by priests.
Pope Benedict XVI himself has not been spared from these charges, especially for his actions as an archbishop and as the head of a Vatican watchdog group.
A look back at sex abuse scandals in the US…
Read complete report:
Roman Catholic - hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage & criminal charges - falsely accused gay priests - WATERGATE? 12/17/09
Gay Marriage - “SEPARATION of CHURCH and STATE” Does Not Give Churches Or Benedict XVI The Freedom To Abuse Children or Adults. July 2010
Gay Love, Equality Examined in Nationwide Valentine's Day Campaign
by Devin Dwyer,
February 14, 2011 – ABC News
Gay Rights Advocates Renew Push for Same-Sex Marriage on Valentine's Day
Advocates for same-sex marriage markedValentine's Day with a nationwide campaign to tout the merits of gay love and urge greater legal protections for it.
MORE VIDEO:
WATCH: Zach Wahls on His Two Moms
WATCH: Barbara Bush Shoots Video In Support Of Gay Marriage
WATCH: Obama on Gay Marriage: 'I Struggle With This'
From California to Texas to Illinois, activists are organizing trips to courthouses and county clerks' offices to request marriage licenses, despite laws in those states and 42 others that forbid gay couples to wed. Photo
"We're going to ask for our marriage license and get denied," Rex Fender, 22, said outside a San Diego courthouse.
She wants to marry her partner of two years, Rudi Redman, 23.
"Our love is just as legitimate as everyone else's, and we want that to be recognized," she said. "On this day of love, we want people to see we're proud about our love."
Meanwhile, New York City-based advocacy group Freedom to Marry launched what it called the largest-ever national TV ad campaign aimed at educating the public on gay love and why marriage rights matter to same-sex couples…
Read complete report & view videos:
Catholics Organize to Support Gay Marriage - February 10, 2011
Español - Peru: Matrimonios homosexuales entran en agenda electoral
143 Catholic theologians in Germany demand broad church reforms, abandoning vow of celibacy
by Juergen Baetz, Associated Press,
February 4, 2011 – Los Angelus Times
Cross-party Catholic Leadership Gay Marriage Support
New England Republicans warming to, or at least ignoring, gay marriage
by Rob Anderson,
January 13, 2011 – The Boston Globe
CATHOLICS Now Favor Allowing Gays And Lesbians To Marry Legally,
October 6, 2010 - Pew Research Center
…The shift in opinion on same-sex marriage has been broad-based, occurring across many demographic, political and religious groups.
Notably, pluralities of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics now favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally -- the first time this has occurred in Pew Research Center surveys. Political independents are divided in their views of same-sex-marriage; in 2009, they opposed it by a wide margin…
White mainline Protestants and white Catholics have become more supportive of gay marriage, though virtually all of the change in opinion among both groups has come among those who attend services relatively infrequently.
About half (49%) of white mainline Protestants support same-sex marriage while 38% oppose this. This is a reversal of opinion from the past two years when 40% favored and 49% opposed allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. Just 35% of white mainline Protestants who attend church at least once a week favor same-sex marriage, nearly the same percentage as in 2008-2009 (34%). Among those who attend services less often, support has increased by 11 points (from 42% to 53%).
There has been a similar shift among white Catholics -- 49% now favor same-sex marriage while 41% are opposed. Opinion was more evenly divided over the past two years (44% favor, 45% oppose). Here too, support has increased among those who attend services less than weekly, from 51% in 2008-2009 to 59% in 2010…
… Jews and the unaffiliated have remained far more supportive of same-sex marriage. Their views also have changed little during this time. Three-quarters of Jews (76%) and 62% of the religiously unaffiliated say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally…
Read complete report:
On the eve of Valentine's Day, protesters converge on Holy Name
by Tara Malone,
February 13, 2011 - Chicago Tribune
On the eve of Valentine's Day, Helen Moshak pinned rainbow ribbons to her white knit cap and returned to the Roman Catholic Church she left five years ago, dismayed by its opposition to gay marriage when two of her three children are gay.
The 76-year-old Skokie woman did not step foot inside Holy Name Cathedral, the storied seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.
Nor did she join in the picket line of about 60 men and women — her son Damian Moshak and his partner among them — protesting the Catholic Church's stance on gay marriage and other stances they see as unjust to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Rather, Moshak stood across the street from the downtown cathedral and held a sign that read: "Catholic parents of gay kids know that all are equal before God."Photo
"I feel a bit shy. But then again, it's the right thing to do," Moshak said…
Read complete report:
Related links:
Benedict XVI UNSUBSTANTIATED Claims That
same-sex couples violates 'natural law'
Benedict XVI – MUST Provide Documentation
*
Galileo & Gay Marriage
Pope described as …"so averse to anything intellectual that everyone has to play dense and ignorant to gain his favor"
The Trial of Galileo - by Douglas O. Linder
Benedict XVI teaches that homosexual activity is sinful is
– NOT
The Catholic Church Teachings.
*
"Authoritarian ≠ Authoritative,
Unsubstantiated Antigay Teachings ≠ Well-informed Conscience"
Gov. Quinn to 'follow conscience' on unions
by Dave McKinney,
December 2, 2010 - Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief
GAY RIGHTS | Says he'll sign bill despite Catholic Church criticism Photo
SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Senate Wednesday passed landmark civil unions legislation that is now headed to Gov. Quinn, who has pledged to sign it despite new church criticism he would not be a good Roman Catholic in doing so.
"Today was a great day for the people of Illinois, for the family of Illinois,'' Quinn said after the Senate's 32-24 vote for legislation that would make Illinois the sixth state to recognize civil unions between gay and lesbian couples.
The Senate's vote followed House approval Tuesday and came despite criticisms over the measure's potential cost to taxpayers, the likelihood it would lead to legalization of gay marriages and concern that it had trumped fixing the state's budget ills among legislative priorities.
Shortly after the Senate's move, the governor, who is Roman Catholic, got an earful from the head of Springfield's Catholic archdiocese, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, who questioned Quinn's adherence to church teachings…
…Told of the bishop's statement, Quinn shrugged.
"I follow my conscience. I think everyone should do that. I think that's the most important thing to do in life, and my conscience is not kicking me in the shins today,'' the governor told reporters…
…"I have a gay daughter," said state Sen. David Koehler (D-Peoria), the bill's chief Senate sponsor, whose child, Maggie, watched the deliberations from the Senate gallery with her partner.
"I've seen this issue through the eyes of a father who has a gay child. What it means is I have one daughter amongst my three who doesn't have the same rights as the other two, and I don't understand that,'' Koehler said…
Read complete report:
Related links:
More related links:
April 12, 2006 – TIME
…Though familiar to Americans primarily as a laid-back beach destination, Jamaica is hardly idyllic. The country has the world's highest murder rate. And its rampant violence against gays and lesbians has prompted human-rights groups to confer another ugly distinction: the most homophobic place on earth…
Protects Against Suicide,
Depression & Substance Abuse
and Predicts Better Health & Self-Esteem
Caitlin Ryan, PhD
Non-profit organization that defends the
GLBT community against
anti-gay misinformation
campaigns through media advocacy
and university outreach.
Gay rights groups attack iPhone confession app for Roman Catholics - by Jamie Doward and Gabriel Stargardter, February 13, 2011 – guardian.co.uk
Human Rights,
Democracy,
Global Justice, LGBTI Freedom
Without love, there can be no liberation worthy of the name."
Peter Tatchell
Read & learn more: http://www.petertatchell.net/index.htm
Vatican blocks gay human rights vote at the UN.
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… Photo
Read more:
Apple: Stand Strong Against Homophobia and Anti-Gay Discrimination - byMichael Jones - December 15, 2010 – Change.org News
Nothing in life is more precious than the intimate relationships we have with love ones. Healthy love relationships delight us give us confidence to take on challenges and support us in difficult times. Photo
"Hope of Love"
To Children In Early Childhood
March 23, 2010 – by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
Marriage Equality, like Galileo, is the truth about the facts of growing up gay. Marriage Equality will not become a reality until people learn that its most vital purpose is that it restores the “hope of love” to children in early childhood – essential to their development and well-being for life.
Without Marriage Equality we teach children how to hate love and how to be mean and indifferent to people as adults. With all due respect, without Marriage Equality we would teach them in much the same way as has been shown by Benedict XVI and the hierarchy, especially in their lack of care and protection of children for decades.
Without Marriage Equality we teach children how to hate love and how to be mean and indifferent to people as adults. With all due respect, without Marriage Equality we would teach them in much the same way as has been shown by Benedict XVI and the hierarchy, especially in their lack of care and protection of children for decades. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS that gay and lesbian relationships are SINFUL or INFERIOR to heterosexual relationships HARM gays and lesbians. Judge Vaughn Walker Ruling Photo
California Prop 8. August 4, 2010
Theologian says much of clergy is gay
by Derek Scally,
November 22, 2010 – The Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1122/1224283832839.html
30 years - Benedict XVI Silencing Homosexuality Worldwide.
If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way. Emile ZolaWhat you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. Luke 12:3
http://fathermartykurylowicz.blogspot.com/2010/11/30-years-of-ratzingerbenedict-xvis.html Photo book
Iowa’s Catholic Bishops urge legislators to Discriminate Against Adults and Children Who Are Gay – Bishops Lack Substantiating Evidence To Support Claim, February 9, 2011 Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal? Photo
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.)
The Vatican was today rocked by a sex scandal reaching into Pope Benedict's household after a chorister was sacked for allegedly procuringmale prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting... Photo
by Roger Boyes, Berlin,
March 25, 2010 – The Times
Despite outrage, little progress in church scandal
By Robin Washington,
January 2, 2011, Duluth News Tribune
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment