Month: August 2011

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Pope In Spain: Good Catholics Use Condoms

COMMENTARY

No, Pope Benedict didn’t really say that, but there are really interesting developments coming out of this trip for World Youth Day. Thanks to Bridget Mary’s blog for alerting us to these developments.

The poster below was to have appeared on billboards and buses across Spain, until municipal authorities, bowing under pressure from the Cardinal of Madrid, rescinded the permission.

Maybe it’s just me, but there is something amusing about the way Catholics for Choice have taken Benedict’s quite timid and tentative statement last year (If condoms are not “a real or moral solution … in this or that case, they can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.”) and run with it all the way to the goal post. Maybe this is the way change always comes to the church, timidly at first, with many reversals, fits and starts. Of course, as you can see from the press release below, Catholics for Choice’s ingenious plan to place their slogan – Good Catholics Use Condoms – on billboards and buses throughout Spain during the Pope’s visit, first met with approval, then censorship, thanks to the intervention of Cardinal Antonio Ruoco of Madrid.
FROM CATHOLICS FOR CHOICE BLOG
POPE ARRIVES IN SPAIN AMID CENSORSHIP CONTROVERSY
International Youth Coalition Seconds Archbishop’s Affirmation of Freedom of Expression
The World Youth Day 4 All coalition welcomed the remarks from Archbishop Braulio Rodriguez of Toledo, Spain, who pointed out that the Catholic World Youth Day celebration is taking place in a country where freedom of expression is protected.

“Spain’s openness to freedom of expression is something Catholics for Choice took for granted when we arranged, months in advance, for the display of our Condoms4Life ads in Madrid’s transit system to coincide with World Youth Day,” said Marissa Valeri, a lead organizer of the coalition. “We were surprised, then, when the message ‘Good Catholics Use Condoms’ was deemed too offensive for Madrilenos. In reality, the best interests of the public was not the issue. Instead, it was a move made by ultraconservatives to stifle the many diverse voices of Catholics at World Youth Day, which should be a place where, as Archbishop Rodriguez affirmed, ‘we can all say what we want to say.’

The municipal authorities did a disservice to all visitors and to all Spaniards by stepping between the life-giving message that condoms save lives, on the one hand, and the individual’s right to make up his or her mind about that message, on the other.”

Condoms are apparently not the only topic that is too hot to handle in Madrid this August. Patrons at the Madrid public library have allegedly complained they were unable to access Web sites providing information on protests being organized against World Youth Day.

One of the hallmarks of the Catholic tradition is unity in diversity. Like the World Youth Day 4 All coalition, the event itself is made up of participants from all over the world, people who may speak different languages and come from different cultures, but who find kinship on the level of faith. The church hierarchy obviously feels that Spain’s respect for freedom of expression gives them room to express their viewpoint—Archbishop Rodriguez even decries those who think that certain points of view are “more right than others.” Spain’s civic freedoms should be able to include the voices of the Catholic people—including those who support the use of condoms—as well as the perspectives of non-Catholics. Otherwise, the “world” part of World Youth Day goes missing, and those from a tiny, easily ruffled minority within the Catholic hierarchy and the Spanish authorities are the only ones celebrating.

Luckily, diversity is not so easily squelched—the Condoms4Life message has been making headlines all week (see the blog, and pilgrims have encountered stickers and projections on walls around the city.

http://tinyurl.com/3myc8vg

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Sexism runs deep in the Church of England

COMMENTARY

I’ve witnessed sexist attitudes in two professions – as an engineer and as a priest.

They have some similarities. In both spheres, one of the arguments is “we have never employed women to do this before” and another is “it isn’t that women are not equal – they just have different roles”.

In both professions, I’ve listened to the reasoning and it often boils down to fear of change.

However, there are some significant differences in the way sexism presents itself in the factory and the church.

In the factory, in the 1990s, sexism took several forms.

The most oppressive was the wall-to-wall pornography, which intimidated me – the women were treated by the men as objects, sub-human.

Then there was the wolf-whistling, which was frightening.

Occasionally, the men in the factory would “down tools” and whistle at me – 100 of them.

Colleagues would tell me that it was inappropriate to be a female engineer – women weren’t made for such jobs, and it interfered with the natural order of things.

Although these events were difficult, it was possible to manage well as a woman in the secular workplace, because the structures were not sexist.

So I knew that the law of the land entitled me to work as an engineer, and that the procedures of our company demanded equality.

Furthermore, almost all of the managers, and especially the managing director, were enthusiastically committed to equality.

When co-workers told me that a woman should not be an engineer I either suggested that they judge me on my work rather than on my gender, or encouraged them to talk to the managing director, knowing that he would give them short shrift.

The Church of England is different, because the sexism is institutionalised, and that makes it more oppressive.

Parishes can vote to opt out of discrimination legislation, and this compromises the whole church, as sexism is seen as tolerable.

In fact, we aren’t meant to call prejudice against women “sexism” at all: it is meant to be called “legitimate theological difference”.

For me, if it walks, swims and quacks like prejudice, then it is prejudice.

Sometimes people think that religion grants us a “get out of jail free” card when it comes to unethical practices.

It allows us to shift the blame – “I’m not sexist – God is: read your Bible” or “I’m not sexist – the Catholic church is, but we can’t change until it does”.

I see this as a perversion of the radical equality that we find in the gospel of Christ. I am grieved that the church, of all institutions, is the one that compromises justice and equality.

When people say that they don’t want a female priest, because it makes them “feel odd”, I can’t respond by saying that the institution of the church supports the equality of women.

It is also difficult to say “judge female priests on what we do, not on our gender”, because “being” rather than “doing” is a large part of priesthood. Fortunately, the vast majority of churchgoers are not sexist and my own bishop couldn’t be more supportive of equality.

In fact, I notice institutional sexism much more frequently than sexist attitudes among individuals.

Other than the obvious bar on women being bishops, there are day-to-day events.

For example, in some places, if a woman presides at the Eucharist, her name is published so that those who wish to avoid her “taint” can do so.

Another example is in appointments: when I was interviewed for a post, some of the interviewers panicked because they hadn’t foreseen the possibility that a woman might interview well.

My experience of secular life is that these things would be utterly unacceptable – illegal, in fact.

A depressing statement that I heard on this topic recently was at the press conference announcing the appointment of the two new “flying bishops” (bishops who oversee those who will not accept the priestly ministry of women).

Rowan Williams said the flying bishops would be a permanent fixture in the Church of England, even though the draft law on women bishops does away with the positions.

Williams said: “I have two new suffragans and General Synod can’t simply take them away. The pastoral need will not go away.”

Imagine if we were talking about black priests and Williams had said: “Racism is a permanent fixture of the Church of England. The pastoral need to care for priests who do not accept the ministry of black people will not go away.”

Not cool.

We need to see sexual discrimination in the same light as racial discrimination – they are both unjust and dehumanising.

I’m afraid sexism runs deep in the Church of England, but I hope it won’t be permanent.

http://tinyurl.com/44g4n28

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The Church of England has double standards when it comes to gay bishops

The latest evidence of prejudice against homosexual people in the Church of England has come from the leaked Colin Slee memo and advice that Archbishop Rowan Williams sought in order to get around the Equality Act (2010). This counsel was to ensure that a gay man, ie Jeffrey John, was not appointed as bishop of Southwark. A cunning checklist was devised, consisting of five questions:

• whether the candidate had always complied with the Church’s teachings on same-sex sexual activity;
• whether he was in a civil partnership;
• whether he was in a continuing civil partnership with a person with whom he had had an earlier same-sex relationship;
• whether he had expressed repentance for any previous same-sex sexual activity; and
• whether (and to what extent) the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.
By my reckoning, Jeffrey John fails on five out of five. One could be forgiven for thinking that this is a list deliberately designed to exclude him.

Recently, Chris Sugden and Colin Coward debated the issue of gay bishops on Radio 4’s Sunday programme. Sugden seemed determined to conflate homosexuality with promiscuity and adultery. However, Jeffrey John is a man in a faithful relationship with his life partner. Normally the church would commend this sort of long-term and committed relationship – but the rules change when the two people in question are the same gender.

I wonder whether the checklist above is remotely just? If these questions are put to homosexual candidates, then I would hope that heterosexual candidates were asked equivalent questions:

• whether the candidate had always complied with the Church’s teachings on sexual activity being solely within matrimony;

• whether he had expressed repentance for any previous premarital sexual activity.

Of course, these questions seem inappropriate, invasive and irrelevant. The sex life of my bishop is of zero interest to me, as long as it attests to the values of love and faithfulness that we expound in the church. Moreover, I agree with the comments from the Archbishop of York backing William and Kate’s premarital sexual activity when he said that many modern couples want to “test the milk before they buy the cow”.

Please, let us make some attempt to be even-handed and avoid such blatant hypocrisy.

http://tinyurl.com/3khc5v5

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Priest’s New Book Fires Back at Church’s Intolerance

Few organizations are as militantly anti-homosexual as the Catholic Church. According to the Colorado Independent, in June 2011 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops “…was ramping up a campaign against same-sex marriage.” These tirades only enhance the message in new book Passionate Holiness: Marginalized Christian Devotions for Distinctive People (published by Trafford Publishing) by Father Dennis O’Neill. Now updated in this second edition, Passionate Holiness offers gay, lesbian and transgender Christians examples from Catholicism’s past.

O’Neill’s exploration of the Byzantine-era construction of three churches in Constantinople dedicated to martyrs who might have been bisexual or gay. Rich with history and extrapolation, Passionate Holiness will provide comfort and provide insight to its readers.

Well-reviewed by other priests, sociologists and novelists, Passionate Holiness offers a ray of tolerance in the increasingly-polarized world of the Church versus homosexuality. Writing in The Advocate, critic Anne Stockwell notes, “Here’s something the antigay modern Roman Catholic Church would like to forget: In the early years of Christianity, homosexual saints were worshipped, too.”

About the Author
Dennis O’Neill was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947. He received his education in the seminary system of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and was ordained a priest in 1973. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Loyola University in 1969 and a master’s of divinity from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois, in 1973. In 1974, he received an S.T.B and an S.T.L. from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. Since ordination, he has served in four parishes in Chicago and is currently pastor of St. Martha Parish in Morton Grove, Illinois.
O’Neill is the author of Lazarus Interlude: A Story of God’s Love in a Moment of Ministry (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1982), and has written either the introductions or the text for several books published by British Celtic Artist, Courtney Davis.

http://tinyurl.com/3lnsv5e

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Ireland Faces Down Vatican as Kenny Demands $1 Billion Abuse Compensation

Ireland is squeezing the Roman Catholic Church to hand over cash and real estate toward a 1.4 billion-euro ($2 billion) child-abuse bill amid the bitterest stand-off yet seen between the Vatican and the government.

In the sharpest language an Irish leader has ever used against the church, Prime Minister Enda Kenny said last month the Vatican’s handling of the scandals has been dominated by “elitism and narcissism.”

“The relationship between the state and the Vatican has never been worse,” David Quinn, a religious commentator who is also director of the Dublin-based Iona Institute, which promotes religion in society, said in an interview. “I struggle to think of a stronger attack by a Western European leader on the church than Enda Kenny’s.”

Kenny said the church needs to be “truly and deeply penitent for the horrors it perpetrated, hid and denied” after three government reports on clerical abuse and cover-ups rocked one of Europe’s most devout societies. With the focus now moving to who compensates the victims in talks starting next month, the church’s riches and dominance of Ireland’s educational system face their most direct threat in the country’s modern history.

“The speech was a seminal moment in that Enda Kenny made clear that the state sees local bishops as the Vatican’s foot soldiers, but it’s the Vatican that is directing policy and practice,” Tom Inglis, a sociology professor at University College Dublin, said in an interview. “He’s following public opinion, not molding it, but it takes an adroit politician to know when the timing is right.”

Compensation Meetings
Kenny’s education minister, Ruairi Quinn, will begin meetings in September with 18 religious orders to call on them to pay half the compensation bill for abuse in children’s homes they ran. The 2009 government-commissioned Ryan Report said abuse in those homes was “endemic.”

The orders have paid or offered about 300 million euros to date in cash and real estate, and Quinn is proposing that they hand over control of more land, including schools. About 90 percent of elementary schools remain Catholic-run, according to the Education Ministry.

“Quinn knows that control of the education system is key now and control is about both land and patronage,” said Inglis. “He’s now making the running, not the church.”

Constitutional Role
For much of Ireland’s history since independence from Britain in 1922, it was the other way around. In 1937, the government consulted the archbishop of Dublin while drafting the constitution, which recognized the special position of the Catholic Church “as the guardian of the faith of the great majority of the people.”

Though that clause was later removed, Catholic thinking continued to underpin Irish legislation. Up to 1985, condoms couldn’t be bought without a doctor’s prescription. Divorce was only legalized after a 1995 popular vote, and abortion still isn’t allowed in most circumstances.

As revelations of abuse and the church’s concealment of it have emerged, the relationship has soured. Last month, a government-commissioned probe into the handling of abuse allegations in Cloyne in southern Ireland concluded that the Vatican “effectively gave Irish bishops freedom to ignore” state guidelines, prompting Kenny’s intervention.

Prosecution Halted
The report examined the handling of allegations against 19 clerics between 1996 and 2009. To date, one priest from the diocese has been convicted of child sex abuse, while a second prosecution was halted on the grounds of ill health, delay and age.
“The rape and torture of children were downplayed or managed, to uphold instead the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and reputation,” Kenny said in parliament on July 20.

The Vatican pledged to respond “expediently” to the report in an e-mail sent by a spokesman, Federico Lombardi, the day after Kenny’s remarks. Four days later, the Vatican recalled its ambassador to Dublin citing the “reactions” that followed the Cloyne report, in what David Quinn said he interpreted “as a pretty strong protest.”
Eighty-five percent of the Irish population are nominally Catholic, according to the Central Statistics Office. Mass attendance was around 78 percent in 1992, falling to about 65 percent in 1997, according to Diarmaid Ferriter, author of “The Transformation of Ireland: 1900-2000.” A poll conducted for the Iona Institute in 2009 found that 65 percent go to church at least once a month.

Payments to Victims
The government has made about 14,000 payouts averaging 62,878 euros to victims of abuse in residential homes, according to the agency which handles the awards. A further 157 million euros have been paid been out in legal fees.

In 2002, the government agreed to cap the religious orders’ contribution at 128 million euros. Now, with the bill rising and a budget deficit forecast at 10 percent of gross domestic product this year, ministers are pushing for a 50-50 contribution, amounting to about 680 million euros. The shortfall on what’s been offered so far is about 350 million euros.

Already, some orders are resisting. The Sisters of Mercy, which controls schools across the country, refused to attend a meeting with Quinn last month. The order, which said it had been “misrepresented and demonized,” said it never agreed to the 50-50 split.
“It has been wrongly suggested that the congregation has disadvantaged the state in that it has failed to honor a debt,” the Sisters said in a statement on July 22. “The congregation has met and will continue to meet all of its commitments to former residents and to the state.”

The order may be fighting against the weight of public opinion.
“I’m disappointed with the Vatican’s handling of it,” said Anne McCarron, 71, a retired nurse from Inishowen in northwest Ireland. “The Vatican has been too aloof, I share Enda Kenny’s anger. The church should pay more money to victims.”

http://tinyurl.com/3h5skt7