An Irish artist, Kevin Sharkey, has painted Pope Benedict conducting a marriage service for two men: The image may be surprising, but would be entirely consistent with church history - the historians John Boswell “Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe“) and…
Monthly Archives: June 2010
Heterosexual Acts, Loving Homoerotic Relationships.
One of the nastier tricks of Vatican rhetoric, especially as displayed in “Homosexualitatis Problema”, is the uneven manner in which (approved) heterosexual relationships are described in terms of “conjugal love”, while (condemned) homosexual relationships are simply not mentioned, and the…
And Now - Financial Abuse.
Der Spiegel reports serious financial misdeeds in German Catholic Church
Wrestling With God: The Sacrament of Irony
Last week I re-posted an earlier piece on Richard Cleaver’s conception of coming out as wrestling with the divine. Kevin J Calegan, writing in one of several pieces that made up an NCR cover story on gay and lesbian Catholics…
Coming Out as Spiritual Experience (Re-post)
Over 40 years since Stonewall, it has become commonplace to recognise the value of coming out as a growth experience, bringing benefits to mental health, self-esteem and personal integrity. Less widely recognised is the value of coming out as spiritual…
A Gay Catholic at Georgetown U.
All gay and lesbian Catholics have difficult decisions to take on dealing with the apparent contradictions between Vatican doctrine and their inner identity. Some find an easy path to reconciling the two, some simply deny the doctrine and walk away…
“Orthodoxy is Overrated”
One of the blogs I like to follow is “Prickliest Pear”‘s Far From Rome: Orthodxy is Overrated. (The prickly pear, Opuntia spp., grows in arid climates, has vicious thorns, but also produces beautiful flowers and delicious fruit. Quite an appropriate…
True Catholic Belief.
Who is a “true” Catholic? What constitutes authentic Catholic belief? I have often met claims in the comments threads on a range of Catholic sites that one cannot claim to be part of the Catholic faithful unless that includes faithfulness…
Transgender Shabbat!
Queer in faith- a Jewish example: Last night I had 26 people join me for shabbat dinner. Not just any Shabbat… but a Transgender Shabbat. Not that Shabbat itself was trans (perhaps we welcomed a Sabbath Husband?), but we specifically…
Gay Pride, Traditional Gay Marriage - in Israel
Today was pride day in Tel Aviv, with an interesting twist at the end. After the pride parade and party on the beach, five same sex couples married, in what was described as a “traditional” Jewish ceremony. The ceremony, held…
