Human Rights – Page 49 – Hear Our Voices

April 25, 2016April 25, 2016

Charlotte gay wedding defies United Methodist Church rules

Pastor, retired bishop marry same-sex couple at Charlotte’s First United Methodist Church

Officiating at the wedding could result in reprimand or a church trial if complaints are filed

The denomination’s Book of Discipline only sanctions marriage between a man and a woman

004 — John Romano (L) and Jim Wilborne, both 52 and both of Charlotte, were married Saturday at First United Methodist Church in uptown Charlotte.

By Tim Funk

They knew it could mean a reprimand or even a church trial that might end their careers.

Still, the pastor of Charlotte’s First United Methodist Church and a retired bishop who once did jail time with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decided to go ahead over the weekend and preside at the wedding of John Romano and Jim Wilborne.

The two Charlotte men became the first same-sex couple in North Carolina to get married – at least publicly – in a United Methodist church.

But the mainline denomination’s Book of Discipline sanctions only marriage between a man and a woman. So there could be consequences for the Rev. Val Rosenquist and Bishop Melvin Talbert – the clergy who performed the wedding – if any complaints are filed with Bishop Larry Goodpaster, who leads the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Pastor Val Rosenquist (L) and Bishop Melvin Talbert, who presided over the first same-sex wedding in a United Methodist church in North Carolina.

Rosenquist, senior pastor since last July at First United Methodist, the uptown Charlotte church where Saturday’s marriage took place, said on Sunday that the Book of Discipline has “institutionalized oppression and discrimination.”

Last August, she said, the leadership board at First United Methodist voted that any member of the church could get married in the sanctuary, even if that defied the Book of Discipline.

“These folks are our brothers and sisters,” Rosenquist, 59, said about LGBT members. “It’s just a matter of obeying our covenant with one another throughout the church, that we are to minister to all and to treat all the same. I’m just following what I was ordained to do, what I was baptized to do.”

The 81-year-old Talbert, a retired United Methodist bishop based in Nashville and a one-time leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, spent three days and three nights in a jail cell with King in 1960. He called his disobedience of Methodist rules against same-sex marriage an act of “biblical obedience.”

“Discrimination is discrimination, no matter where it is, and it’s wrong,” Talbert said. “I hope that what we did here yesterday will be an act of evangelism for people … who are looking for safe places to come because they don’t want to be identified with anti-gay (sentiment).”

On Sunday, Talbert delivered the sermon at First United Methodist Church, telling about 150 people in the pews that, like African-Americans, women and other past victims of discrimination, LGBT persons are being ridiculed and ostracized “simply because of the way God created them.”

He also pointed out what the congregation already knew: “Your pastor could have complaints filed against her, and I could, too. … But it’s the right thing to do. If it costs us, if there are consequences, so let it be.”

Reached Sunday by the Observer, Michael Rich, communications manager for the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, released a brief statement on behalf of Goodpaster.

“We are aware of the wedding at First United Methodist Church on Saturday,” it read. “Bishop Goodpaster will follow the procedures in The Book of Discipline if a formal complaint is filed.”

Goodpaster is scheduled to retire in September.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Mainline Protestant denominations such as the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have given their clergy the green light to perform gay weddings in their sanctuaries.

But the United Methodist Church, the country’s largest mainline denomination with about 7 million U.S. members, remains officially opposed to “same-gender marriage,” as do some other denominations – including the Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church.

Just weeks after North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage was thrown out by a lower federal court in 2014, Goodpaster sent a letter to clergy in his conference reminding them that the United Methodist Church’s rules had not changed.

Ministers can attend same-sex weddings, Goodpaster said in his letter. But, he added, any who preside at a same-sex marriage ceremony or sign the marriage certificate could face possible reprimand or even a church trial.

Goodpaster told the clergy then that he could not permit “actions counter to the Book of Discipline,” the denomination’s rule book.

Rosenquist and Talbert said they both alerted Goodpaster before the Saturday wedding that they planned to go ahead with it, whatever the consequences.

First United Methodist Church has long been among Charlotte’s gay-friendly churches. It was the first Charlotte church, in 2014, to join the Reconciling Ministries Network, a national coalition of United Methodist groups that advocate for LGBT persons and others “pushed to the margins,” in the words of the uptown Charlotte church’s then-pastor, the Rev. Jonathan Coppedge-Henley.

The Book of Discipline could be changed at the denomination’s next General Conference, set for May in Portland, Ore. But the global denomination is divided on same-sex marriage, with opposition from churches in Africa as well as from conservatives in the United States. There has even been talk in recent years about the denomination splitting over the issue.

In 2012, at the General Conference in Tampa, Talbert stood up to say that the church needed to practice biblical obedience by striking language in the Book of Discipline that he said “criminalizes clergy for ministering to gays and lesbians.”

Since then, he has been taking that message around the country, urging progressives to stand up and tell conservatives that “it’s our book, too. We can read it and interpret it.” In 2013, Talbert married a same-sex couple in Alabama. A complaint was filed and, a year later, there was a settlement without a trial.

The most famous case of a Methodist minister defying the same-sex marriage ban came in 2007, when the Rev. Frank Schaefer, then of Pennsylvania, officiated at the wedding of his gay son. A church court later defrocked him, though he was subsequently reinstated.

Romano and Wilborne, the Charlotte couple married at First United Methodist on Saturday, said they wanted to be married in the church where both have been active – Wilborne for 20 years.

“It was just so amazing to us to be married in our own church,” said Romano, 52, a furniture sales representative, “and not do it under the radar, but do it in a way to promote change.”

Wilborne, 52, who has been with Romano for more than five years, said the couple felt it was important to stay in their United Methodist Church. “We didn’t leave it to go where it was easier (to get married),” he said. “We stayed here because we love this church. … It’s our home. We just feel blessed. We’re at the right place at the right time to have this opportunity.”

They said the Saturday wedding was attended by more than 250 people – including about 30 supportive United Methodist clergy. Also in attendance: Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who is a friend of the couple’s.

Not everyone was pleased. On Sunday, after Talbert’s sermon at the 11 a.m. service, a former member of the church stood up at his pew to object to the same-sex wedding and to Talbert’s justification for it. His words competed with an announcement that the collection would be taken up, so few in the church heard him.

Former teacher Charles Walkup later told the Observer he said that “as one who’s personally dealt with homosexuality, I affirm that the Methodist (Book of) Discipline is correct.”

Walkup, who ended his membership in the church after it joined the Reconciling Ministries Network, added that he tried to speak up because “Jesus warned of false shepherds who mislead his precious sheep.”

But the church members who attended Sunday seemed happy about the marriage and what they called the courage of their pastor.

“Val is doing what the church needs – going out on a limb without complete support from the church hierarchy. But it is the right thing to do: We’re all God’s children,” said Patricia Ingraham, a retired banquet manager who has been a church member since 2006. “Some of my dearest friends are gay. Why should they be treated differently than I’m treated?”

Complete Article HERE!

April 15, 2016April 15, 2016

CNS Director Tony Spence Forced Out

by Kevin Clarke

Tony Spence has stepped down from his position as Director and Editor in Chief of Catholic News Service, a position he has held since 2004, after a series of comments on Twitter drew the critical attention of web-based fidelity watchdogs at the Lepanto Institute, LifeSite news and other sites.

An emotional Spence said this afternoon that critics went after him “full-court on the blogoshere” over the past few days. Spence was told yesterday during a meeting with Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, the general secretary of the bishops’ conference, that he had “lost the confidence of the conference” and was asked to submit a letter of resignation.

The web-based publications, which in the past have frequently targeted Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, began a drumbeat for Spence’s removal after he posted a series of tweets commenting on impending laws related to bathroom access and other rights for lesbian, gay and transgender people. The Lepanto Institute accused Spence of issuing “public statements decrying proposed legislation in several states that would protect religious freedom and deny men pretending to be women the ‘right’ to enter women’s bathrooms.”

Spence said that the web campaign provoked hate mail to his e-mail account, with messages urging his excommunication and calling him a traitor to the faith. Spence said he did not believe his Twitter comments would provoke such a backlash—“obviously”—but that he had been to his mind merely commenting on developing news on a subject frequently covered by CNS staff.

Spence said that he had anticipated ending his career at CNS. “Sixty-three and unemployed; not the brightest prospects,” he said with a grim laugh. “My plan now is to go home to Tennessee and start over,” he said.

He added, “My 12 years at CNS have been the best 12 years of my professional life; my staff is just amazing and I’ll miss it.”

In 2010 Spence was the winner of the Catholic Press Association’s St. Francis de Sales Award.

He said then that when Msgr. Owen Campion gave him his first Catholic press job at The Tennessee Register, diocesan newspaper in Nashville, Tenn., more than 30 years ago, “I thought I would give it a year.”

“It hardly took that long to realize it was much more than a job,” he added. “It was a vocation. And one I truly love.”

Spence thanked his colleagues in the Catholic press for sharing his “love of this vocation.”

Among other experiences Spence had been executive director for advancement communication at Vanderbilt University. He was editor-in-chief and general manager of the Tennessee Register Inc., publisher of the Tennessee Register, from 1989 to 1998. He also served as the diocese’s communications director in 1992-98.

He served as CPA president from 1994 to 1996 and oversaw the establishment of the Catholic Advertising Network and the Catholic Press Foundation. He also was a co-founder of the Appalachian Press Project of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Catholic News Service is an office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Spence was a member of the conference senior staff. Though part of the bishops’ conference, the news service is financially self-supporting by “providing news stories, features and reviews to paying clients that are both secular and religious news outlets,” according to a notice on the conference website.

Complete Article HERE!

April 12, 2016April 12, 2016

Effort to reform child sex abuse crime laws clears a hurdle in House

Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks County, and a victim of sex abuse as a child, speaks at the Crime Victim Awareness Rally in the Rotunda at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Apr. 11, 2016.

By Ivey DeJesus

The laws that govern how long victims of child sex abuse have to bring their predators to justice came one step closer to being reformed on Monday.

A bill that would reform the statute of limitations cleared a hurdle in the House as lawmakers approved an amendment to House Bill 1947, which would eliminate civil and criminal statutes of limitations to most sex crimes, especially child sex abuse cases – all going forward.

The House agreed to attach an amendment introduced by Rep. Mark Rozzi (D-Berks) that would retroactively raise the age limit for civil lawsuits in sex abuse cases from 30 to 50.

Speaking before a House session that was notably boisterous with chatter all day, Rozzi brought the chamber to a hushed silence as he spoke about friends and victims who had either committed suicide or suffered decades of anguish after being sexually abused by priests.

Rozzi’s amendment would raise the age limit for victims to seek charges – retroactively — from 30 to 50.

“This amendment allows past victims to likewise bring civil lawsuits,” he said.

House Bill 1947 was introduced by House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin) last week. The bill moved swiftly out of committee.

Under current law, victims of child sexual abuse are barred from seeking civil action after they reach the age of 30.

Victims can bring criminal charges against offenders until they reach 50 years of age — but only if the victim turned 18 years old after Aug. 27, 2002. The law allows victims older than that to report until their 30th birthday.

“This is a matter of fairness and justice for some,” said Rozzi, himself a survivor of clergy sex abuse.

In a poignant speech about his friend who committed suicide at the age of 44 after years of dealing with the ravages of abuse, Rozzi appealed to House colleagues to approve his amendment, speaking candidly and with graphic details about the horrors of children who have had priests squeeze their genitals or insert fingers into their anus.

He urged his colleagues to read the grand jury report out of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, “if you have the stomach to.”

he report released in early March found systemic and widespread clergy sex abuse of hundreds of children, and concealment by church officials. The Altoona-Johnstown report mirrors earlier grand jury investigations into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“Mr. Speaker, we know this problem will never go away, not while archaic and arbitrary statutes exist,” Rozzi said.

Victims advocates say victims of child sex abuse typically are not ready to come forth about their abuse long after it has happens – in many cases, decades after when the statute of limitations have expired.

Just hours earlier on Monday, hundreds of survivors of abuse and crimes and advocates filled the Main Rotunda of the Capitol calling for a reform to the state’s laws.

Marsico’s bill – HB 1947 – would eliminate all statutes – civil and criminal – in cases of sexual abuse going forward. His bill also would waive the sovereign immunity clause that prevents child sex-abuse victims from suing state and local entities, such as school districts.

Two other amendments were withdrawn: one would have lifted expired civil statutes for a period of time.

While Rep. Tom Murt (R- Montgomery/Phila.) argued that as many as eight states had lifted expired civil statutes without the flood of false claims, he was withdrawn his amendment for the benefit of victims.

“I resent anyone saying this issue is driven by special interests,” he said. “It is driven by victims….some who have suffered in silence and humiliation and shame. The shame is not theirs. The shame is ours if we do not take action on this issue to help these victims and help victimization of any other children.”

He said he was withdrawing his amendment in order for Marsico’s bill to move quickly from the House in the hope that Senate colleagues would provide retroactivity measures to the bill.

Rozzi said that while his amendment did not help everyone, it “at least opens the door.”

Rozzi urged House colleagues “to stand with me” on this issue.

“It is way past time to do the right thing,” said Rozzi, who received a nearly full-House standing ovation.

The bill, which will now be reprinted to reflect the amendments, will be taken up for third reconsideration later this week, possibly as early as Tuesday.

Complete Article HERE!

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016

Catholic charity group cancels gay singer’s North Carolina performance

by Sylvia Tan

‘This is the sad part they’re doing it in the name of God. And I’m having a problem with that… Discrimination needs to stop!’ Says blues singer Kat Williams

katwilliams

The organizers of a Catholic charity gala in Asheville, North Carolina cancelled a performance by an Emmy Award-nominated blues singer Kat Williams after learning that she’s in a same-sex marriage.

Williams was due to perform at the Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s annual Gala For Hope, for which she has performed at twice before, on March 12.

The event supports impoverished families in the region.

According to the Charlotte Observer quoting the singer’s Facebook post, the organizers rescinded their invitation two weeks before the event after diocese’s Bishop Peter Jugis saw a 2013 magazine article in which she states that she and her wife had been married for seven years.

Diocesan spokesman David Hains told WLOS-TV, ‘Marriage can only be between one man and one woman. Because Ms Williams chooses to be in a relationship that’s different from that, it really makes it inappropriate for her to perform for us.’

‘We, as a Catholic organization, have the right to represent our faith and what we’re doing essentially is exercising that right,’ Hains said.

Williams told WLOS-TV, ‘This is the sad part they’re doing it in the name of God. And I’m having a problem with that.’

Williams, who is an Asheville resident, wrote on Facebook on March 5, ‘I’m hurt and saddened!’

‘My entire career is gratefully connected to important causes or charities that I wholeheartedly believe in. This is the first time I’ve been fired from a performance solely based on who I chose to love.’

‘There are two things in my life I didn’t choose, to be Black and to be gay! I am proud to be both and want our North Carolina religious community to stand with the teachings of Christ—love, forgiveness, tolerance and inclusion.

‘I don’t want people to retaliate or put forth any negativity. I’d like us as a community to approach this issue with Love, Compassion and Grace. This didn’t happen in San Francisco or New York or DC , it happened right in our own backyard and discrimination needs to stop!’

Williams said she is still receiving a check for her canceled performance.

She has asked fans to respond with forgiveness and grace and donate to inclusive groups such as Campaign for Southern Equality and Western North Carolina AIDS Project. She has also invited the bishop to visit her church.

Full Review HERE!

March 8, 2016March 8, 2016

The Catholic Church in Michigan just made an important concession toward gay couples

By Peter Holley

rosary

For years, the Catholic Church has been in the throes of a heated debate over how accepting it should be of gay relationships.

The church teaches that gay behavior is sinful; however, no institution is immune from changes in the world around it.

The Michigan Catholic Conference — which oversees health care for Catholic employees in the state — announced in a letter last week that it is modifying its coverage in a way that will make it possible for gay employees of the church to get health benefits for their partners and spouses.

It does so in a way, however, that doesn’t affirm gay marriage, but simply redefines who qualifies for health coverage in a way that could include same-sex couples.

The move comes less than a year after a deeply divided Supreme Court delivered a historic victory for gay rights, ruling 5 to 4 that the Constitution requires that same-sex couples be allowed to marry no matter where they live.

The letter, sent to pastors and church employees, said health care coverage will be expanded to include legally domiciled adults. A person is considered an LDA, the letter notes, if they’re 18 or older, are financially interdependent with the church employee, and have lived with that person for at least six months.

Under the previous arrangement, a same-sex spouse would not be covered by health insurance because the Catholic Church defines a spouse as someone of the opposite gender, according to the Detroit Free Press.

A person’s sexual orientation or behavior will not factor into the church’s decision to provide employees with health care, according to Dave Maluchnik, director of communications for the MCC. Instead, he said, the church’s primary consideration will be residency.

“The church’s teaching on marriage and human sexuality is not changing,” Maluchnik told The Washington Post. “Our health benefit plan is expanding its eligibility to include a legally domiciled adult and, as such, the benefit is not dependent upon the relationship. It’s dependent upon residency. As long as the qualifications are met, then the benefit can be extended.”

The letter does not include the words “gay” or “same-sex relationship” and Maluchnik said projecting homosexuality into the letter was “a narrow reading” on the eligibility change. He pointed out that the rule change could just as easily apply to a friend, cousin, sibling or parent who lives with the employee.

But gay rights advocates celebrated the change nonetheless.

“The Catholic Church prides itself on being about families, so it’s good to see them taking a step that will actually protect families,” Stephanie White, executive director of Equality Michigan, told The Post.

She said the eligibility change is particularly important in Michigan, where there is no state law that protects LGBT people from discrimination. White believes the change also highlights the benefit of having federal agencies take a lead on “issues of fairness” and predicts that in time, people will realize there’s no reason not to outlaw discrimination.

“The policy also shows that even groups and businesses that are resistant to basic non-discrimination protections can find a way to follow the law and treat everyone equally,” White said.

Maluchnik noted that the decision to expand eligibility came after lengthy discussions among church officials. The alternative to expanding eligibility —removing spousal coverage entirely — would have hurt employees, he said.

“This decision was made following extensive consultation with the National Catholic Bioethics Center and also with our legal counsel to help us ensure that the health plan is compliant with federal and state laws and at the same time being consistent with Catholic teaching,” he said.

He told The Post that the modification to the church’s health plan occurred because of the federal government’s decision to “redefine marriage and the definition of a spouse.”

“It complies with federal law, as it is, in 2016,” Maluchnik told the Free Press. “This is the world in which we now live.”

Complete Article HERE!