May 13, 2009

Two news items that are likely to keep social and emotional temblors rolling for a while.  First, from the [1] Gay Religion Blogspot, Tuesday, May 12, 2009 ~

Former Catholic Bishop Of Milwaukee Says He’s Gay

New York — A Roman Catholic archbishop who resigned in 2002 over a sex and financial scandal involving a man describes his struggles with being gay in an upcoming memoir about his decades serving the church.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland, former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese, said in an interview Monday that he wrote about his sexual orientation because he wanted to be candid about “how this came to life in my own self, how I suppressed it, how it resurrected again.”

Called “A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop,” the book is set to be released in June.

“I was very careful and concerned that the book not become a Jerry Springer, to satisfy people’s prurient curiosity or anything of this sort,” Weakland told The Associated Press. “At the same time, I tried to be as honest as I can.”

Weakland in 2002

I found this on the Gay Religion Blogspot, but the whole story is on [2] Huffington Post. Unfortunately, Weakland’s personal story is heavily colored by the ongoing sexual abuse scandal rocking the Catholic church. the former Archbishop, who was forced to resign in 2002, admits his role in moving abusive priests around without alerting the people or the police. Clearly, the abusive climate is too big to control without a complete change in both rampant clericalism and dishonesty about human sexuality. I don’t look for any improvement under the current pontiff, who is doing all he can do to increase clerical power and to maintain the atmosphere of denial about sexuality.

According to the Huffington story, “Weakland said Christians needed to speak more openly about gays in the priesthood without the ‘hysteria’ that often characterizes the debate.” And here’s the real “elephant in the sacristy” issue: “U.S. Catholics have long debated whether the priesthood had become a predominantly gay vocation. Estimates vary from 25 percent to 50 percent, according to a review of research on the issue by the Rev. Donald Cozzens, author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood.”

What most non-Catholics don’t fully understand is how tight the belts of clerical authority can be cinched. For generations, no Catholic writer could publish a work without first obtaining permission and clearance, known as the [3] nihil obstat and [4] imprimatur.  I guess if you’ve already resigned, what else can they do to you?

Secondly, from [5] www.365gay.com this morning, May 13 ~

New York Assembly passes gay marriage

Washington —The New York State Assembly voted 89-52 Tuesday in favor of marriage for same-sex couples. The legislation will now move to the State Senate.

“It’s great to see the Assembly strongly re-affirm its support for marriage equality. It’s time for the Senate, which now has pro-equality leadership, to ensure that loving, committed same-sex couples in New York can have the same rights and responsibilities under the law as loving, committed different-sex couples,” said [6] Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese.

In June 2007, the New York State Assembly voted 85-61 in favor of a marriage equality bill. That bill stalled in the Senate, which was then controlled by the GOP.

In 2006 the New York Court of Appeals ruled against marriage equality, stating that it should be resolved by the legislature. New York currently recognizes marriages by same-sex couples legally entered into in another jurisdiction, but does not permit same-sex couples to marry in New York.

Five states have recognized marriage for same-sex couples under state law: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont (effective September 1, 2009), and Maine (effective September, 2009, pending a possible referendum). California recognized marriage by same-sex couples between June and November of 2008, before voters approved Proposition 8. The Proposition 8 vote has been challenged in court; a decision by the state supreme court is expected by June.

The New Hampshire state legislature has approved legislation recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples; that legislation will go to the Governor’s desk. Same-sex couples do not receive federal rights and benefits in any state.

[7]

Librado Romero for The New York Times; their caption: Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, who has been at the center of efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, has used force and humor in trying to persuade colleagues to back the bill.

Well, the New York bill is still a long-shot, put forward by Governor David Paterson (a shot over the bow?). (Also see: [8] James Withers’ opinion piece.) I commented before that it may not be the best strategy to float a bill that doesn’t have a chance of passage. But now the Assembly has passed it (by a wider margin than in 2007,  possibly because of the personal push by Assemblymember [9] Daniel O’Donnell, the old brother of Rosie O’Donnell), it does put more pressure on the New York Senate. Wait and see. And speaking of wait and see, when does the New Hampshire bill get put on the Governor’s desk? For crying out loud!

—Pastor Dan Hooper, Los Angeles