David Ludescher, a regular reader at the Open Tabernacle , has put to me some important questions on the formation of conscience. These arose in response to my post on empirical research findings on the current state of British Catholic…
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Gay Adoption Advances in Florida, Victoria - Worldwide.
Gay adoption has achieved three notable gains recently in Argentina and New South Wales (advancing in both by legislative action, both in the face of strong opposition by the Catholic Church), and in Mexico City, where the Constitutional Court ruled…
Blessing Same-Sex Unions, in Church: Episcopalians move in W Virginia
If same-sex civil marriage is a contentious subject in many Christian churches, the idea of giving formal church blessing to such unions is even more so. Some denominations, and some congregations and dioceses though are seeking ways to bridge the…
Belgian Bishops Put Money Before Victims
The Belgian bishop of Tournai, Guy Harpigny, has admitted what was probably a factor in the episcopal cover-up of sexual abuse in the church not only in Belgium, but everywhere else as well. They were concerned that breaking their silence…
Queer Ministry & Reconciliation
The principle of reconciliation is an important one in Christian and Catholic theology. For those denominations that are already starting to move beyond the historic automatic exclusion of lesbian, gay or trans Christians from full participation, there is a great…
What Irish (Catholics) Believe
This is getting monotonous, but it must be stated again. What Catholics believe and practice on matters of sexual ethics, as a matter of empirical fact, is simply not what the (nominally) celibate bishops in their ivory towers would like…
Primary Elections Advance Marriage Equality
In Tuesday’s primary elections (just as in earlier primaries), some clear advances were recorded towards LGBT equality – notably in New York and Maryland, but also elsewhere. Why does this matter to me? I am not a New Yorker, or even…
Texas Baptist Church Takes a Stand FOR Gay Members.
As an ever-increasing number of denominations advance towards full LGBT inclusion as a Biblical and theological imperative, we have become accustomed to seeing some backlash, with some congregations voting to withdraw from their national bodies, to re-align with other groupings.…
Minnesota Catholics For, Against Gay Marriage .
The Minnesota Independent is reporting that “Catholic bishops preparing anti-gay marriage campaign in Minnesota”. The opposition of Catholic bishops to same-sex marriage is well-known and will surprise no-one. What is interesting here is that they see the need for a…
Benedict’s Latest Attack on Gay Marriage
Previous reports of Benedict’s “attacks” on gay marriage may conceivably have been exaggerated, misrepresentation, or misinterpretation of his dense theological language. There can be no mistaking this one. My response is based on a verbatim English translation by the Catholic…
