My recent post, “The Problem Of Heterosexuality“, has drawn a comment from my reader David, who refers to the desire of the pope and bishops to protect the sanctity of sacramental marriage. In his response, he raises two important questions.…
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Equality and inclusion advancing, worldwide.
In the US, the recent mid-term elections have brought some setbacks and disappointments, with extensive gains for Republicans and victories for some high profile social conservatives, and corresponding losses by some notable congressional allies. At the same time, the flipping…
“Equally Blessed”: Statement on US Bishops’ Elections.
The US Bishops yesterday departed from their usual practice, and did not elect the serving vice-president to succeed the outgoing president. “Equally Blessed”, a coalition of Catholic agencies ministering to LGBT Catholics and their families, see this as an ominous…
The Futility of (Attempted) Church Censorship: Minnesota, Ireland.
The standard response by the CDF (and others who hold power in the Catholic Church) to opinions they do not wish to hear appears to be to censor them. My gut response to censorhip is to do what I can…
A Masturbation Conversation
We continue to live in the late Soviet period of Catholicism. They pretend to make sense; we pretend to believe them. -Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish When I suggested yesterday that we should be talking seriously about masturbation, I was…
Let’s Talk About The Church’s Dirty Little Secret: Masturbation
The Catechism is clear: 2352 Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely…
The End Is Not In Sight - But the Journey Has Begun.
In a piece from Wasilla, Alaska at the Wat-su Valley Frontiersman, the evangelical pastor Howard Bess laments that in the struggle for gay inclusion in church, the end is not in sight: “is the end in sight of all discrimination…
“The Last Judgement”, and the Homoerotic Spirituality of Michaelangelo.
One of the great paradox’s of queer church history is that a period of extreme persecution of “sodomites” by the Inquisition, directly at their own hands or indirectly by secular authorities at their instigation, largely coincided with a remarkable series…
Same-Sex Church Weddings Inch Closer in Finland
Last year, the Swedish government and the state church, the Swedish Lutheran church, between them approved legal recognition for same sex marriage including church weddings - the first country in the world where this has happened. At the time and…
Out in Sport: German Footballer Urges Honesty.
When the Welsh rugby captain, Gareth Thomas, publicly came out as gay, his move was widely commended. Then and since, I saw several press reports speculating on the possibility of prominent professional footballers (as in “soccer” players) following his lead.…
