A scandal that brings shame to the Baltimore Archdiocese: dividing Catholic from Catholic

A brief reflection, prompted by the appearance in the on-line Catholic Review of an announcement of the opinion of a prominent Catholic athlete - he opposes the expansion of civil marriage to gay and lesbian Catholics.

A century ago many bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in the US were united on the subject of civil rights for Catholics. The bishops were especially sensitive about the mistreatment of Italian and Irish Catholics, who suffered discrimination in many areas of public and community life in America.

Today, the hierarchy of the church is of a different mind. Today, the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is campaigning actively in the Civil realm, to deprive many Catholics of Civil Rights enjoyed by others Catholics.

Today, to its greater shame, the hierarchy is even willing to encourage individual lay Catholics to denounce the efforts of other Catholics to seek the protection of the civil law for their children and for themselves.

Today, Maryland Catholics are treated to the spectacle of a prominent athlete, a Roman Catholic, given visibility in an official, Catholic media outlet, so that he might give his personal opinion; which is that gay and lesbian Catholics be denied the right to go to the courthouse and get a marriage license - a right which the prominent athlete enjoys but which is to be denied to other Catholics in Maryland.

America, for 150 years, has progressively expanded civil rights. America does not contract such rights; on the contrary, broader participation in public life is a powerful trend in our civil society. The expansion of civil liberties, the inclusion of more and more citizens in the circle of civic participation often is not easy. Civil rights campaigns are well described as civil rights struggles. Such struggles have cost people their liberty and their lives.

In truth, and in the interest of justice, there can be only one side for the Roman Catholic Church in the struggle for civil rights in America. The church simply must be on the side of justice. The church - to be true to its own justice traditions - simply must be on the side of the expansion of civil liberties. The church must not become an advocate in a campaign to deny civil liberties to Catholic and other citizens of the United States. Tragically, this has already occurred.

A campaign to deny civil rights inherently involves demagoguery, appeals to fear, encouragement of division and hatred. We see all of this today in Maryland, as the opponents of civil rights for gay and lesbian Marylanders exploit these themes.

Sadly, to it's shame, the current leadership of the Archdiocese of Baltimore is campaigning actively with the demagogues, the dividers, the haters. Scandalously, the leadership is coldly, cruelly and with calculation setting Catholic against Catholic.

We leave to future developments, the answer to the as yet unanswered question: why?

Fr Dick Lawrence: marriage entails the mutual support and common life of spouses

I join Dick Ullrich, who has send an e-mail as follows:

_____________
ABSOLUTELY MUST HEAR: 

Father Dick Lawrence, Pastor of St Vincent de Paul, Baltimore, preach on Marriage Equality.

Click on Link, Left Side Bar for Quick Links, Select Homilies, and then Select Oct 28. 

Please share this message with others especially Catholics.

http://www.stvchurch.org/

____________

Here is a direct link to the

Audio of Fr. Lawrence's homily

At the website, this homily is summarized:

"The pastor again reads a letter from Archbishop Lori urging Catholics to vote again Question 6 – the Marriage Act citing the primacy of procreating and educating children as the prime purpose of Marriage. The pastor takes a different approach citing the equally compelling reason for marriage (since Vatican II) as the mutual support and common life of the spouses. Two approaches, two different scriptural bases. The pastor urges all to vote – and to vote their conscience."

For a fine summary of Father Lawrence's homily, see:

Baltimore Catholic Pastor Preaches in Support of Marriage Equality and Conscience

The National Catholic Reporter also reported Pastor Lawrence's homily: Baltimore pastor speaks his mind in homily on same-sex marriage

Debunking the Anti-Marriage Ads

From Walter Olson's blog:

Maryland for All Families:

Anti-6 theme: “Children do best when raised by their married mom and dad”

"The first TV ad by the No on 6 campaign pushes the “maybe it’s bad for the kids” theme that has worked well for marriage opponents in earlier campaigns. No matter that it’s based on an absurd non sequitur, since Maryland is not somehow voting on whether or not gays should have or raise kids (they’re doing that already), but on whether gay households with or without kids should be able to form legally recognized commitments, advancing the security and stability of those families."

"At any rate, Annie Linskey at the Baltimore Sun has an excellent article examining the basis of the claims.

"The methodology and findings of the Regnerus study have been extensively criticized from many quarters; [Walter Olson's] contribution to this literature appeared in the Huffington Post."

 John Corvino, has made a valuable contribution in his series of videos on same-sex marriage, entitled:

Debunking the Regnerus Study - John Corvino - YouTube

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on

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ROMNEYTAXPLAN.COM

That's all there is to it.

"Government deals with marriage as a civil status . . . "

Opponents of the civil rights of gay Marylanders often argue from Scripture that marriage is about one man and one woman. So says the Knights of Columbus through a spokesman: "We are one with the church on the subject of preserving traditional man-and-woman marriage."

Marriage is man-and-woman marriage. And that's it.

But that is not it. Not everyone in Maryland reads Scripture. 

Not everyone in Maryland reads Scripture in just the same way.

In the United States we do not call in the prosecutor to enforce religious beliefs.

Judge Dennis Jacobs, a conservative federal circuit judge, yesterday (Oct 18 2012) made this clear. 

Civil rights in the United States are not regulated by any one religion. 

Judge Jacobs issued a decision in the three judge decision in the Windsor case stated:

". . . law (federal or state) is not concerned with holy matrimony. Government deals with marriage as a civil status . . . A state may enforce and dissolve a couple’s marriage, but it cannot sanctify or bless it. For that, the pair must go next door [to the Church]."

In Maryland, this year, civil marriage equality is on the ballot. 

The question we are asked to decide on Nov. 6 is whether all the citizens of Maryland enjoy the same civil right to marry the one you love.

In our society, there can be only one fair answer to this question: 

Everyone who believes in equal protection under law should vote FOR Question Six on November 6.

Source: 

Judge Jacobs strikes down DOMA section 3 | Maryland for All Families

DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Appeals Court

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that gay Americans are a class of people who deserve the same kinds of constitutional protections as many other victims of discrimination. - NY Times

BREAKING: DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Appeals Court

This court decision shows why Question Six in Maryland should get a vote FOR from the electorate: 

Same-Sex marriages are 

constitutionally protected

just like other marriages

In a 2-1 decision announced today, Oct 18, 2012:

a Second federal circuit court has struck down part of DOMA - the Defense of Marriage Act (passed in 1996), which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals found Section 3 of DOMA is a violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

The ruling came in Windsor v. USA, a case brought by a now 83-year-old lesbian widow Edith Windsor.

The court ruled that "heightened scrutiny" must be applied in the case, stating:

"In this case, all four factors justify heightened scrutiny: A) homosexuals as a group have historically endured persecution and discrimination; B) homosexuality has no relation to aptitude or ability to contribute to society; C) homosexuals are a discernible group with non-obvious distinguishing characteristics, especially in the subset of those who enter same-sex marriages; and D) the class remains a politically weakened minority."

Windsor's case was decided by the 2nd Circuit Appeals Court after a federal district judge sided with Windsor in June, 2012, ruling that the government must refund the more than $363,000 in taxes paid by Windsor following the death of her wife, Thea Spyer. 

Windsor sued to recoup about $363,000, federal estate tax she was forced to pay on her inheritance from Spyer. 

The federal government does not tax inheritances that pass from one spouse to the other, but because of DOMA the federal government has refused to recognize Windsor and Spyer's marriage.

In a statement made after the decision was announced, Edith Windsor said:

"I know Thea would have been so proud to see how far we have come in our fight to be treated with dignity."

DOMA is not dead yet:

Four DOMA challenges, including Windsor, have been petitioned for review by the Supreme Court. 

The Windsor ruling was written by Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs, who was appointed by President George H. W. Bush. The losing party was the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), created by House Republicans to defend DOMA in court.

Source - which also has a link to the Windsor decision itself:

BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Rules DOMA Unconstitutional in Windsor Case - Poliglot

Proud Parent of Triplets, a Stepchild, a Newborn Son

Here's a letter from the 10/15/12 Baltimore Sun, that is worth a second or third read:

"I am a parent to triplet 7th graders, a stepchild, and a newborn son. I am also a lesbian. 

"This week, two organizations in which my children participate, the Columbia Clippers Swim Team (run by the Columbia Aquatics Association) and the Lime Kiln Middle School PTA, held fundraisers in partnership with Chick-fil-A. 

"Chick-fil-A has recently been the butt of a media firestorm for its more than $5 million in contributions to anti-gay groups, including one group that is on the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of certified hate groups. Collectively, the groups supported by Chick-fil-A work to dehumanize LGBT people, among other things, labeling them as pedophiles and advocating for their imprisonment.

"Why would either of these organizations partner with Chick-fil-A in the face of this well-documented history? I wrote both organizations, and both promptly dismissed my concern as a 'feeling' and a call to 'political activity.' 

"My concern stems not from feelings or politics, but from facts: our children, some of them, have same-sex parents, but more than that, some of them are LGBT. 

"What message do we send to these children when we are so apathetic about our choices that we can't see our way to choose from the abundant offerings of fundraising sites that are supportive of all people and all families? 

"Would the partnership look different if Chick-fil-A donated to the KKK instead? 

"The actions of both of these groups fly in the face of their own policies of inclusion. And the act of fundraising at such a site is, indeed, a political statement. It's just not a statement I thought either group would make."

Heather R. McCabe, Fulton

The writer is past president of the Maryland LGBT Bar Association.

Source: Anti-gay fundraising sets poor example, Baltimore Sun, October 15 2012