Father Brian Sistare: A Bully In The Pulpit

Father Brian Sistare, a Catholic priest at Sacred Heart in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, is apparently emailing his state legislator’s — just the ones who voted for marriage equality —threatening to use his pulpit as a church leader to get them unelected.

Apparently the not-so-good father is unaware that, as a non-profit entity, his church, and others, are legally, legally, forbidden from engaging in political activity.

But, he says, in his email: “I’m praying for each of you, that you turn back to God. I’m also going to let my Parish know exactly how you voted, so come re-election time, you will not be re-elected.”

Using God as a weapon; how so very Catholic of Sistare.

His email was sent to the 26 state senators who voted for marriage equality and was signed by Sistare, though he has not commented further.

Sistare is also said to have told married, legally married, I remind you, gay parishioners that he would not serve them communion unless they ended their marriages.

Here is the full email sent to Rhode Island senators:

Dear RI Senators who voted for “marriage” between members of the same sex,

       Yesterday was a very sad day for our little state of Rhode Island.  I’m still shocked that each of you took it upon yourself to take the place of God and redefine what He has established.  Marriage has always been understood as the union between one man and one woman.  This is a 5,000 year old fact!  I’m wondering what you will do when a mother comes to you and asks to be married to her son, or a cousin wants to marry her first cousin, or when a man wants to marry 2 or 3 women, or a human being wants to marry his animal?  What will you do, now that you have decided that Marriage is no longer a sacred union between one man and one woman?

        For those of you Senators who are baptized Catholics, I invite you to go to the Sacrament of Confession to receive God’s Mercy and Forgiveness for your grave sin of voting against God yesterday, so you’ll be able to receive Holy Communion again in the Catholic Church.

        For those of you who claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, I also invite you to repentance in your own faith tradition; and to those who claim no religious affiliation, I pray that you also see the error of your ways.

        Your decision yesterday will have a lot of consequences on those of us who hold God’s definition of Marriage between one man and one woman.  Already my Pastor from my hometown of Westerly is being accused by a confirmed lesbian, of violating the tax exempt status of the Catholic Church for telling his parishioners to contact Senator Algiere about his upcoming vote – unfortunately, Senator Algiere, you betrayed your own Catholic Faith and your constituents in voting for sodomy yesterday.  Also, my little niece Giana was coming out of school the other day when her fellow 4 year old classmate remarked to her that 2 women could marry.  Thankfully, my niece told the little boy the TRUTH that this isn’t the case, that Marriage is only between one man and one woman.

        I’m praying for each of you, that you turn back to God.  I’m also going to let my Parish know exactly how you voted, so come re-election time, you will not be re-elected.

Fr. Sistare

St. Rocco Church

Johnston, RI

I pray that God gets a copy of the email and forwards her answer to Sistare that she is all about love, and she is not too keen on this bully using his pulpit to threaten either a state senator who voted for equality, or a gay couple in his congregation.

I don’t think God would look favorably on Sistare.

I would also like to see those Rhode Island senators enact legislation to begin taxing the Catholic Church since they are obviously now a full-fledged political organization.

And God isn’t happy about that either.

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Ken Bencomo Wasn't Fired For Being Gay, He Was Fired For Being Married

Ken Bencomo and Christopher Persky

Out in San Bernardino, California, Ken Bencomo was a high school teacher at St. Lucy’s Priory High School, an all-girl Catholic school.

I say ‘was’ because Bencomo was fired this week for getting married; to a man.

Ken Bencomo and Christopher Persky were one of the first same-sex couples to get married in San Bernardino after the fall of Prop H8, and the local paper published their marriage announcement. But, less than two weeks later, Bencomo says he was fired.

Patrick McGarrigle, Bencomo’s attorney, said the school didn’t fire Bencomo for being gay, they fired him for getting ‘gay’ married: “Their reasoning was that he had gotten married and it was in the papers. The school’s position was that it violated its teachings.”

School administrators declined to discuss the firing, but, of course, issued a statement that read, in part: 

“We respect and protect privacy interests and, to be respectful of those involved, the school does not comment on confidential matters. St. Lucy’s wishes to reassure all in our community that upholding its mission to educate students in the tradition of the Catholic faith is of paramount importance.”

Respect the privacy of others, unless you get ‘gay’ married.

Ken Bencomo had been teaching at St. Lucy’s for 17 years; he was head of the English department and coached the dance squad. He was openly gay, and the school knew that--in fact, school officials had met Bencomo's partner Christopher several times--and had no problem renewing Bencomo’s contract every year for seventeen years until Bencomo got married; something he’s legally entitled to do.

Ken Bencomo hopes to resolve the situation without going to court; all he wants to do is keep doing the job he’s been doing for seventeen years, a job the ALLEGED good folks at St. Lucy’s felt he’s always done until he got ‘gay’ married.

Sidenote, Part One: I know, I know, he broke one of the tenets of the Catholic Church which, as Pope Frankie says, should not judge The Gays for being gay, but can judge The Gays for marrying one another. If only Ken Bencomo had not fallen in love, had not struggled to have the same kind of life as everyone else, had not been legally allowed the right of marriage.

He’d still have his job.

Sidenote, Part Two: I, personally, loathe the term ‘gay marriage’ but used it here as a point of sarcasm, because Ken Bencomo didn’t get ‘gay’ married, he simply got married.

Go HERE to sign a petition asking that Ken Bencomo get his job back.

via CBS Los Angeles

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Timothy Dolan: Still Protecting Rapists and the Catholic Church

After years of listening to the Catholic Church sing their Deny, Deny, Deny song, this week a box of files was released by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee that shows that back in 2007, anti-gay Cardinal Timothy Dolan, then the archbishop there, requested permission from the Vatican to move nearly $57 million into a cemetery trust fund to protect the assets from victims of pedophile priests who were demanding compensation.

Let’s get that queer: Dolan asked the Vatican for permission to hide money in case monies were awarded victims of child rapists.

Still Cardinal Timmy, now the archbishop of New York, denied that he tried to hide funds, and, again, reiterated his denial in a statement just this week that these were “old and discredited attacks.” But, the files contain the actual letter, written by Dolan in 2007, to the Vatican in which he explains that by transferring the assets, “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”

The Vatican approved the request in five weeks.

The sickest part of all this mess, besides the fact that the Catholic Church harbored sexual predators, aided and abetted pedophiles, hid funds to avoid costly payouts in civil suits brought by the victims, is that Timmy Dolan played himself as part of the solution to this, um, problem. As the scandal grew, and continues to grow, Dolan expressed his personal outrage at the harm done to children; he apologized; he pledged to help the church and the victims heal.

Then he asked for permission to hide $57 million. I guess he wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to help the church; and, perhaps, help himself, since now he is Archbishop Dolan.

Victims of pedophile priests are now calling for a federal investigation into the actions of then-Cardinal Dolan and his predecessors; Dolan, perhaps to deflect criticism, says he welcomes the release of the documents.

The current archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome Listecki—who planned to release the documents before a judicial hearing—did release a letter he wrote, warning Catholics in his archdiocese that the documents could shake their faith: “Prepare to be shocked. There are some graphic descriptions about the behavior of some of these priest offenders.”

Such as the fact that the files contain documents from the personnel files of 42 clergy offenders with “substantiated” allegations, going back 80 years. Such as, the Reverend Lawrence Murphy, who is believed to have molested some 200 boys during his 25 years of teaching; and Sigfried Widera, who faced 42 counts of child abuse in Wisconsin and California. Murphy died in 1998, and Father Widera committed suicide in Mexico in 2003.

In that letter to his flock, Archbishop Listecki said the documents showed that 22 priests were “reassigned to parish work after concerns about their behavior were known to the archdiocese,” and that 8 of those “reoffended after being reassigned.”

The release of these new documents comes from a case filed in bankruptcy court between the Milwaukee Archdiocese and 575 men and women who have filed claims against it alleging that priests or other church employees had sexually abused them.

The archdiocese of Milwaukee, saying it was the best way to compensate the victims and resolve the controversy, filed for bankruptcy in 2011, becoming the eighth Catholic diocese in the United States to do so. Negotiations between the two sides in Milwaukee broke down once the church began arguing that some 400 of the 575 cases are invalid.

In January, the archdiocese said it had spent about $9 million in legal and other fees in the bankruptcy process and was going broke.

Going broke? What about the money that Dolan hid away? What does that say about The Church and their stance on pedophile priests?

It says the same old thing, that the Catholic Church, and men like Dolan, is only out to protect the Church and not the children.

If in any other part of society, you came across an organization that harbored men who raped children, and then the organization moved those men to other jobs where they raped again, and the leaders of that organization began hiding money in fear of monetary judgments against them, we’d all be raising quite a ruckus.

So, why is that the Catholic Church gets to hide rapists and money and no one, notably the members of the Church, are demanding answers?

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Hidden Voices, Coming Out

Coming out as gay is a hard thing to do because you never know what might happen. You could lose your friends, you could lose your family, your job, and, sometimes, even your life. I can understand why some folks struggle with the idea, even though the view from this side of the closet door is much nicer.

One person who had a lot to lose by coming out was Gary Meier. In fact, Meier really struggled with staying closeted because the idea of making that announcement could cost him everything he held dear. So he thought about it, and thought about, and even took a leave of absence from his job so he could make a decision. And since we’re talking about it, it’s clear what decision he made.

Last June, the Reverend Gary Meier told his parishioners at Saints Teresa and Bridget Church in St. Louis that he was taking a leave of absence “to discern what ministry God was calling me to do.” He’d already told his boss, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson that he would no longer teach the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality.

“I have tried over the years to reconcile my silence as a gay priest with that of the Church’s increasingly anti-gay stance. I have been unsuccessful. I was hopeful that I could find a way to have integrity while remaining part of a hierarchy that is anti-gay — I was unsuccessful.”—Gary Meier, from his book, Hidden Voices: Reflections of a Gay, Catholic Priest

Hidden voices. An apt title because Meier had first published the book back in 2011, anonymously, in an effort to keep his job, and keep his identity a secret. Now, however, the book has been republished with one change: his name is on the cover.

His decision to out himself, in print, and in person, came from watching the Church harden their stance more vocally, and more actively, on the LGBT community. Meier firmly believes that the Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality is a contributing factor in growing suicide rates among gay teenagers.

“My position is that our teaching is causing harm … We ought to own some of that. The church’s hard line against homosexuality causes that kind of damage.”—Gary Meier

Interestingly enough, the Catholic Church, while it has a very clear view on homosexuality, does not have an ‘official’ stance on gay priests; their belief is that a priest must be celibate, and that is all that matters; a good priest is a good priest. Of course, a good priest is also one who stays closeted, and silent, and doesn’t question the faith, but it was because of the Catholic Church’s stance against LGBT rights, including marriage equality, DOMA, ENDA, the Boy Scouts recent acceptance of gay scouts, etc., that Gary Meier questioned his church, and its leaders, and decided to come out.

While keeping the secret from his ‘boss,’ Meier—who recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of his ordination—says his sexual orientation was never a secret to his family and friends. In fact, during his interviews at the Kenrick Seminary, he answered truthfully to questions about his orientation. When he was asked if he could be celibate, he said, “I think so.”

“Celibacy is a rule the church imposes on its clergy. It’s always part of the package. This is not about celibacy.”—Gary Meier

Meier says his only relationship is “with the people of God,” and that he’s been faithful to his vows. He would like to continue with his work in the Church, continue leading his parishioners, those ‘people of God,’ but knows that it’s highly unlikely he’ll be allowed to do so.

“To be a priest and active in ministry, you can’t say what I’m saying. I don’t think I’ll be getting any more paychecks from the archdiocese.”—Gary Meier

And by saying what he says, Meier has effectively removed himself from the priesthood, By standing with gay Catholics, and against the Church’s teaching, and by taking a leave of absence to find himself, understand himself, and accept himself, he has stopped administering the sacraments. But, I doubt he’ll miss it, because what he says now, and what he does now, is the real Gary Meier, not the man behind the robes, the man who, in silence, often, stood with the Catholic Church against the LGBT community.

“I see my speaking out as an act of love toward a community which was born of God’s radical inclusivity.”—Gary Meier

Coming out is hard. You can lose so much, but, as Gary Meier says, he gained personal integrity. And that’s worth the price of stepping from the darkness into the light. He may have lost his job, he may have lost his voice within the Church, but he hasn’t lost his faith, and he hasn’t lost himself.

Plus, he gets a copy of The Gay Agenda and the obligatory Coming Out Toaster Oven.

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It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again: The Notre Dame Academy Uninvited A Gay Speaker

It seems like it was only yesterday—actually it was Monday—that I posted about Bryant Huddleston being uninvited to speak at his sister's graduation because he’s gays [see post HERE] and here we have the same thing happening again.

This year’s Notre Dame Academy’s May Crowning—an annual event, in which girls in Catholic schools show their devotion to the Virgin Mary by bestowing a wreath of flowers as a crown on a statue of the mother of Jesus—has gone and done the same thing to Brittanie Kuhr that Sloan-Hendrix High School  did to Huddleston. They have revoked her invitation to speak at the event because she’s engaged to be married to a woman.

:::gasp:::

Kuhr, a 2009 graduate who placed the wreath on the statue of Mary when she was a senior, learned that she was uninvited just a day before the event. The high school explained that its decision was based on Kuhr’s advocacy of same-sex marriage, something of which the Roman Catholic school does not approve:

“As a Catholic school, Notre Dame Academy supports the teachings of the Catholic Church. That means ensuring that programs, resources, and presenters that we choose to represent Notre Dame Academy will also support those teachings. This situation involved the contradiction between public advocacy for same-sex marriage and church teachings, not the sexual orientation of the speaker.”

You know, cuz the Baby Jeebus and his Daddy, or Mommy, hate The Gays, and hate the idea of same-sex marriage. I mean, the Baby Jeebus specifically taught his followers to rise up against same-sex marriage, and God, when he, or she, was writing the Bible, devoted an entire chapter to telling his, or her, followers to stomp out same-sex marriage wherever it rears its ugly head. At least, it appears that’s what the officials at the Notre Dame Academy think the baby Jeebus and his Daddy, or Mommy, said.

The revocation of Kuhr’s invitation sparked the creation of a social media support group for Brittanie Kuhr, with some 1,215 people—most of whom are graduates of the academy—creating the NDA Eagles for Equality. Shortly after the school’s statement was issued, the Facebook group was converted to private status, though it posted a statement:

“While the decision has been made and Brittanie did not speak at May Crowning as planned, we as LGBTQA alumnae are determined to not let this blatant act of discrimination [allow] current and future generations of NDA students [to] be pushed further back into the closet.”

On her own Facebook page, Brittanie Kuhr wrote, “How dramatically things can change in 4 years. Including my openness about my sexuality. Surprising to many: my faith has remained a constant. NEWSFLASH: Catholicism and homosexuality ARE NOT mutually exclusive!”

She then said she did not want to “harm the image of Notre Dame Academy” but that she wanted to facilitate a “dialogue to improve [NDA’s] current ‘Non-Discrimination Policy’.”

Kuhr also stated that she had no intention of speaking about her sexual orientation, or her upcoming marriage, just that her speech would discuss her “lifelong relationship with Mary and Notre Dame Academy.”

See, like Bryant Huddleston, who had said his speech at his alma mater would be about his sister, and empowering women, and what he learned, Kuhr’s speech was not going to be about herself, and her life, and her love.

What some of these school officials, both at the Notre Dame Academy and the Sloan-Hendrix High School ,don’t seem to realize is that gay people have more on their minds than just being gay. We have other things to talk about other than our sexual orientation and our opinions on LGBT rights and marriage.

Too bad the students at both the NDA and Sloan-Hendrix won’t be able to hear that.

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Gay Priests: The New Lepers

Cardinal Keith O'Brien has been told by the Vatican to leave Great Britain amid concerns of causing further damage on the Catholic Church in Scotland because, you know, he was a big anti-gay Cardinal who was schtupping priests in his off hours and the Church don’t like that stuff.

So, exile it is! A new kind of Leper Colony.

O'Brien had planned to retire to a church-owned cottage, but now he is being forced to leave the country. Hate the sin, you know, and banish the sinner. He was given the news that he was being asked to leave the country while he was in the process of  moving from his, former, official residence in Edinburgh to a residence in Dunbar where he, the Church hoped, would be out of sight, out of mind.

Now, however, they want him completely out of sight. Out of the country, though not on an island somewhere, with other gay priests would join him. Just be gone.

O’Brien’s banishment is proof that the Vatican is reeling that his admission of a homosexual relationship with another priest, as well as allegations of abuse towards trainee priests, might damage the Church. You know, like the child raping priest scandals have been doing of late.

Still, the Cardinal does have some folks on his side. A recent petition organized by the parishioners of Our Lady of The Waves in Dunbar saw more than 90% of parishioners signing a statement declaring "our support and affection for Cardinal Keith O'Brien".

O’Brien, the former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, was forced by Pope Quitter, er, Benny to retire after admitting "inappropriate behavior" with four priests and a seminarian. He released this statement: 

"I'm just trying to do my best to live a good Christian life myself now. Many people have been helping me to go back on the right path and that's what I have to do. But I haven't always managed to live that in my own life. … If Christianity is about anything at all, it's about forgiveness.”

It’s ironic, though, that the Church, rather than forgive him, wants to send him away and then act as though he never existed. But then, that’s the Catholic Church; hiding away it’s secrets rather than deal with them. 

Think of what the Catholic Church might be able to do if they welcomed gay priests, and allowed priests, straight and gay, to marry, and allowed women into the priesthood.

Imagine what the Catholic Church could do if their pulled their heads out their asses and chose to live in the 21^st century.

They wouldn’t need to exile anyone, ever again.

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So Sorry To Hear Your Mother Passed Away But, You're Fired

Carla Hale teaches, er, used to teach, at Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus, Ohio. But last month, after taking time off when her mother passed away, Hale returned to work to find the administrators waiting for her with a letter from an anonymous parent. This, for lack of a better word, ‘parent’ was apparently distressed that Carla Hale had listed the name of her female partner in her mother’s obituary, and decided to write to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

Carlos Hale was fired because she is in a gay relationship.

The story could end there because this was a Catholic school and the Catholic Church hates The Gays and blame The Gays for everything, but then the students and other supporters at Bishop Watterson High School created an online petition at change.org to seek Hale’s reinstatement; as of this morning there are nearly 8,000 signatures including mine. You can add your name HERE.

The petition states, in part:

The diocese claims its mission is to teach its students about love, acceptance, and tolerance, and yet it did none of this in the way it treated Ms. Hale. That is why we all have to stand up together and let it be known that this decision is unacceptable. If we do not fight this issue now, it will happen again, and that is not something we can allow.

And there are all kinds of responses from current and former students of Carla Hale, asking that she be allowed to continue doing the thing she loves so much. Past and present students say it was known, or at least suspected, that Carla Hale was gay, but she never discussed her personal life with her students.

Lindsey Perkins, a 2001 Watterson graduate, called Hale a “wonderful teacher and amazing role model” whom Watterson should be proud to have on staff: “It’s just a very poignant time for something like this to happen, and hopefully for people to start realizing that we need to practice acceptance and humility to all people.”

Peter Clark, a 2011 Watterson graduate, said Hale was a compassionate, understanding teacher who was fired for something that “has nothing to do with education”: “It’s a disgusting display of hypocrisy by the education system that I was once so proud of.”

Ian James, co-founder of the FreedomOhio, is concerned that Carla Hale’s privacy had been violated: “But for the fact that she is in a committed relationship and it’s in her mother’s obit, no one would know. It seems so inherently wrong and callous ... to say, ‘In addition to losing your mother, you lose your career.’  ”

For her part Carla Hale is astounded by the support:  “It’s amazing that they’ve come together and rallied around this situation. I’m in awe of them.”

Now, to be fair, the contract between the Columbus Diocese and the Central Ohio Association of Catholic Educators, does say that teachers can be terminated for “immorality” or “serious unethical conduct” but, seriously, in 2013 are we still going to say that being gay is immoral or unethical? After 19 years on the job, the mention of one name in a newspaper obituary is enough to erase nearly two decades of service as a teacher?

George Jones, a spokesman for the diocese, has no comment, other than saying personnel matters are confidential. Not personal lives, mind you, like Carla Hale’s.

Hale, who is not Catholic, but Methodist, has filed a grievance under the terms of the contract, seeking her job back and says she hopes the reaction to her dismissal spurs Catholic leaders to reconsider their stance on gay relationships.

I’ve a feeling it won’t, but we can always hope.

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Pro-Marriage And Catholic? No Communion For You!

We all know that the Catholic Church doesn’t like The Gays; pedophiles they have no problem with, but The Gays are portrayed as the root cause of every single problem facing the world today, from global warming, food shortages, to the rise of the Kardashians.

So, really, it should come as no surprise that the archbishop of Detroit, Allen Vigneron, says that Catholics who receive Communion while advocating for marriage equality would "logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury."

Wow. Perjury they don’t like but, again, pedophiles get reassigned and free legal aid when they get arrested with their hands in the altar boy’s pants.

Peters, l, and Vigneron, r.

And Edward Peters, a professor and legal adviser to the Vatican, and father of NOM bigot Thomas Peters, says that Catholic teachings make it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman. And so, "Catholics who promote 'same-sex marriage' act contrary to" Catholic law "and should not approach for holy Communion" and then added, "They also risk having holy Communion withheld from them ... being rebuked and/or being sanctioned."

For being able to separate Church from State; for being able to see that some people are being treated as less than, and, while being less than, are called the most horrific names, and blamed for the most horrific acts, by The Church.

Peters was appointed by the homophobic Pope Benny back in 2010 to advise the top judicial authority in the Catholic Church. Peters' blog, "In Light of the Law," is popular among Catholic experts, but not everyone agrees with his traditionalist views.

Thomas Reese, a Catholic priest and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University called Peters' views are "a minority among American canon lawyers" though he did admit that "about 30 or so bishops have said that pro-choice or pro-gay-marriage Catholics should not present themselves for Communion."

Peters believes that liberal Catholic Democrats—like Representative Nancy Pelosi and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo—should be denied Communion because of their statements and positions. In fact, Peters said just last month that "Pelosi suffers from one of the most malformed consciences in the annals of American Catholic politics or ... she is simply hell-bent on using her Catholic identity to attack Catholic values at pretty much every opportunity."

Or, perhaps, Pelosi and Cuomo, and countless other Catholic followers, believe the Church needs to change and grow and adapt, or risk losing many of its members to other faiths that are more tolerant and progressive and, well, current and relevant.

But I guess they’ll just blame The Gays for that, too.

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Reverend Angel Armando Perez Gets Six Years For Child Sexual Abuse

This story first crossed my blog back in August 2012 [see post HERE] and now it looks like we have resolution. The back story?

Last summer the Reverend Angel Armando Perez was accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy during an overnight stay, and when the boy escaped the good reverend’s home, Perez, wearing just his underwear, chased him down the street. The boy ran into the yard of James Curths who called the police and the boy’s family.

Perez was arrested, charged with first-degree sexual abuse, driving intoxicated and furnishing alcohol to a minor, and this week he accepted a plea agreement and will spend the next six years in prison. The additional charges of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct and tampering with evidence were dismissed. He must also register as a sex offender. In addition, Perez, who has a green card for legal residence as a minister of religion, could face deportation to Mexico, though it remains unclear if this will happen.

So, it seems like justice was served, no? I mean, the family of the boy seems happy with the verdict; they feel it was just. But, um, that bastion of pedophilia, the Catholic Church, which paid for Perez’ defense, has yet to decide whether or not they should fire the priest.

Yes, they’re investigating the story themselves before they make a decision on whether to fire a man who has accepted a plea agreement in the case where he tried to take nude pictures of a twelve-year-old boy that he’d gotten drunk in his apartment.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Portland asked for prayers for the victim, his family and the parishioners at St. Luke as well as asking for prayers for Perez's family and friends. Prayers for forgiveness also were requested.

Forgive? Perhaps. Forget? How can we forget when it seems every other day a Catholic priest, or even a Cardinal, is arrested for molesting children. Rather than loan cash to pedophiles to mount a defense for their indefensible actions, why doesn’t the Catholic Church stand up for the children?

In that way, the Church continues the molestation.

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Catholic Charities: Adoption Services 'Imperiled' By Civil Union Legislation

So, yesterday Colorado legislators sent a Civil Union bill to the governor for signature. Nice, yes, but I am not a fan of Civil Unions as they seem very marriage-lite to me, like crumbs from the Straights Only table, meant to placate The Gays so maybe, just maybe, we won’t ask for full equality.

Now, before you all go crazy, I understand that passing a Civil Unions bill can be a step toward full marriage equality, it’s just that it still strikes me as less than: Oh no, we’re not “married,” were “civilly united.”

Doesn’t have the same ring to it, you know? But, this post isn’t about Colorado or Civil Unions or even my personal opinion of either. It’s about those religious adoption agencies—and I’m looking especially at you, Catholic Charities—that began wondering how the new legislation would affect their religious beliefs, and how they might still be able to discriminate against The Gays.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver expressed “disappointment” in the Colorado Legislature, stating that if signed into law, the bill “may threaten the policies which guide us in the vital work to find families for Colorado’s children in need.”

See, because they might have to allow children to be adopted by gay couples, and we all know The Gays can’t be trusted with children. There’s indoctrination and pedophilia and …. Oh, wait, no, that the Catholic Church and their handling of children.

The new Civil Union does not provide exceptions to religious institutions wishing to withhold adoptions based on sexual orientation, a decision that House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, said would be “discriminatory.” Ferrandino sponsored the bill and is caring for a foster daughter with his longtime partner in hopes of adopting her—one of more than 650 children currently seeking homes in the state’s foster system.

“There are hundreds of LGBT couples who want to raise kids, and these kids who are in the foster system have for some reason been taken away from their biological parents for abuse or neglect. What they need more than anything is a family who loves them and wants to raise them. We should not deny them the opportunity to have two loving parents, be they two women, two men, or a man and a woman.”—Mark Ferrandino

The Reverend Samuel Aqulia, archbishop of Denver, refuted Ferrandino’s stance on religious exemptions, adding that while the Catholic Church “recognizes and affirms the dignity of every human person,” it does not view all relationships as equal.

Which, um, forgive me if I’m wrong, Padre, means you don’t believe in the dignity of every person, I mean, if that person is gay.

“The ability for religious-based institutions to provide foster care and adoption services for Colorado’s children is now dangerously imperiled. Marriage is a stabilizing institution at the foundation of civil society. Religious liberty is a civil rights issue. Both have been grievously harmed.”—The Reverend Samuel Aqulia

How, exactly, is it imperiled? How is keeping children in orphanages and foster care facilities better than allowing them to be adopted by loving couples in a committed relationship who choose to raise, nurture, educate and love a child? How is a gay couple’s parenting style, and skills, any less than those of a heterosexual couple?

::::crickets::::::

Catholic Charities spokeswoman Tracy Murphy has said the group will not announce any concrete decision regarding adoption services in Colorado until the civil unions bill is signed into law, but the group previously threatened to withdraw adoption services to anyone, anyone, in Colorado if the legislation did not include religious exemptions that would allow them to withhold adoptions from gay couples.

Better to punish children, I’m guessing, than to allow a gay couple the joy of parenting. But then that’s what the Catholic Church does; it punishes children by keeping them in foster care, in orphanages, when they are parents willing to take them in; it punishes children by allowing them to be raped and molested by priests who then get passed around and paid off and protected, all the whole a Pope—even new Pope Franky—wears Prada and jewels and sits on a golden throne.

How does that serve children?

Again ….

::::crickets::::

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Cardinal Keith Admits To Schtupping Priests

It’s clear to even the most casual readers of this blog that I am no fan of the Catholic Church. I suffer fools, I suffer wingnuts, I suffer morons, but I cannot suffer hypocrisy.

The Catholic Church has spent decades, centuries even, talking up all the good they do in the name of children, while hiding child rapists and pedophiles to avoid any shame. They say they help the poor and yet they give the recently resigned Pope, Pope Benny the Quitter, the Catholic MGB™, a palace in which to live with his male secretary while millions go hungry. So, no I am not a fan.

The newest target of my rage is one Roman Catholic Cardinal Keith O’Brien—the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, the most senior Catholic prelate in all of Britain, and its sole cardinal eligible to vote in the upcoming papal conclave—who was suspected of engaging is homosexual affairs with priests and whomever he could get his hands on.

Now, naturally, the good Cardinal denied all of this, and railed against those who would besmirch his name by linking it to The Gays, but then, well, he resigned and it looked like the stories were true. But still he denied and denied and denied until……

In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me to contest them.

However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.

To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness.

To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.

I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

So, we can all smile smugly and say, Oh, I knew it but before we do that let’s also remember that Cardinal Keith—as he’s probably known at the local Gay Bar—was one of the most outspoken and highest-profile homophobes in the entire Church. He imagined himself the leader of the Roman Catholic Church’s war against The Gays, and repeatedly smeared loving and committed same-sex couples for having the temerity to ask for marriage equality. All while he was boning a priest.

He spread fear among his minions, calling marriage equality a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right” and threatened an “unprecedented backlash” if the Scottish government allowed same-sex couples to marry. He also lied, which I guess is what one does when one becomes a Cardinal and a priest-f**ker, when he said that if same-sex marriage became legal in Scotland, the Catholic Church would be forced, forced, to perform same-sex weddings. He called -sex relationships unhealthy and inferior to opposite-sex relationships, and said they are detrimental to children; he whipped himself into a frenzy and said that marriage equality would force schools to stock what he called “homosexual fairy stories.”

While f**king priests and lying about it.

Is it any wonder that the numbers of people leaving the Catholic Church grows every day? I mean, why would you stay with a religion that spreads hate and fear and horror stories when the scariest stories of all happen within the church walls?

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Mike Moroski Fired For Supporting Marriage Equality

Funny, earlier today I posted about teachers--and one in particular--who were doing the wrong thing by discriminating against gay students, and nothing happened, and now I have a tale about a man who spoke his mind for equality and lost his job.

Ah, America, the Land of Free Speech, unless…..

Mike Moroski, assistant principal at Purcell Marian High School, a Catholic school, was fired because he wrote a post on his blog in support of marriage equality.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati fired Moroski because, as they stated in his termination letter, he showed “poor judgment” and violated the teachings of the Catholic Church.

For something he wrote—which is his right, and his write—on his own time in his own space.

Moroski says he knew the firing was coming after he was asked to take down the post and refused to do so, but he also says he was following his conscience when he wrote about his support of same-sex marriage.

 “I put it up there because I really truly honestly believe it. I’m absolutely willing to lose my job over this. The only difficult thing for me now is the students.”

This isn’t the first time the archdiocese has fired people for voicing their opinions. In 2009, it Sister Louise Akers was suspended from teaching for publicly supporting the ordination of female priests, and in 2010, Christa Dias was fired from Holy Family and St. Lawrence Schools after she became pregnant.

So, they fire anyone who speaks their minds, who have an opinion, but the ones who rape children get a pass?

Your Catholic Church at work.

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The Pope Will Pack His Knives And Go

Pope Benedict Arnold, er, XVI, citing advanced age and infirmity, er, he's an old sick man, is resigning the papacy effective February 28.

Lot's to say, but I'll keep it simple ....

When he took office, Benny called Catholicism the one 'true' religion and said all others were 'deficient.

So Christ-like, eh?

In 1985, when Benny was Cardinal Ratz-inger, he signed a letter putting off efforts to defrock a convicted child-molesting priest, citing the priest's youth and saying he was doing what was best for the catholic Church.

Fucking children again.

So....

Goodbye.

Good riddance.

Perhaps the Church will get a compassionate Pope, and not one bent on protecting pedophiles and denigtaing the LGBT community.

Perhaps Hell will freeze over.

I wonder if he gets to keep the wardrobe?

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Another Day, Another Case Of Catholic Hypocrisy

Jeremy Stodghill, at the grave of his wife and sons

I sometimes think if you look up the word 'hypocrisy' in the dictionary, it will say, see: Catholic Church. I mean, we always hear the Pope and his minions talk about working for the poor while they sit on golden thrones in palaces and order Prada loafers by the crate. We hear them talk about protecting children, and then read about how they really protect pedophiles. They say they care for the sick, but don't believe in condoms as an HIV preventative.

Hypocrisy. But the Church took another giant leap in hypocrisy recently in the case of Lori Stodghill.

See, back in January 2006, Lori Stodghill was seven-months pregnant with twin boys and not feeling so good. She went to St. Thomas More hospital in Cañon City, Colorado, and was vomiting and short of breath; she passed out as she was being wheeled into an examination room. Medical staff did try and resuscitate her but, they later found out, a main artery feeding her lungs was clogged, and that caused Lori Stodghill to suffer a massive heart attack. Lori’s obstetrician, Dr. Pelham Staples, who happened to be the emergency on-call obstetrician that night, never answered a page and Lori Stodghill died at the hospital less than an hour after she arrived.

Her sons died in her womb.

Lori Stodghill’s husband Jeremy filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on behalf of himself and his now mother-less two-year-old daughter Elizabeth. His lawyers argued that Dr. Staples should have made it to the hospital that night or, at the very least, instructed emergency room staff to perform a Caesarean-section to save Lori's sons.

The lead defendant in the case is Catholic Health Initiatives, a nonprofit that runs St. Thomas More Hospital, along with 170 other health facilities. Catholic Health Initiatives’ mission is to “nurture the healing ministry of the Church” and to be guided by “fidelity to the Gospel.” 

In that regard, Catholic Health facilities says it follows the Ethical and Religious Directives of the Catholic Church. In fact, its directive plainly states: “Catholic health care ministry witnesses to the sanctity of life ‘from the moment of conception until death. The Church’s defense of life encompasses the unborn.”

So, where's the hypocrisy? Is it that the hospital chose not to do a C-section to save Lori Stodghill's sons?

Not really, See, when it came to mounting a defense in the Stodghill case, Catholic Health Initiatives' lawyers have basically disavowed the Church directives by arguing state law protects doctors from liability concerning unborn fetuses on grounds that those fetuses are not persons with legal rights.

Yes, the Catholic Health Initiatives, which bases its whole mission on the precepts of the Catholic Church, is claiming that the fetuses were not people; at least in the case of a lawsuit regarding the death of a woman and her unborn children.

I guess fetuses are people when women seek abortions, but fetuses aren't people if they're deaths will cost the Catholic Church any kind of monetary payout in a lawsuit. And, you can argue that this isn’t the Catholic Church, but, let's be clear, Catholic health initiatives bases its entire operation on the teachings and the principles of Catholicism. Unless it costs them money from the Pope’s shoe budget.

Like I said, Catholic = Hypocrite.

Look it up.

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