Ever since the publication last week of Pope Francis’ remarkable interview published in Jesuit magazines, conservative commentators have been falling over themselves to assure us that either it is not in fact, of any great consequence, as he said nothing…
Monthly Archives: September 2013
Women Bishops for Wales, Ireland, South India - and Female Cardinals in Rome?
As we wait patiently for the Church of England finally to conclude its slow progress to the ordination of women bishops, there has been progress, elsewhere. The Church of Wales has voted by unexpectedly large margins to approve women bishops,…
OPEN LETTER TO POPE FRANCIS, FROM CATHOLICS AROUND THE WORLD
His Holiness, Pope Francis Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, President of the Vatican City state administration Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, Retired archbishop of Santiago, Chile Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, India Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany…
Catholic reformers worldwide push for decision-making voice in their Church
In his recent widely publicized interview to a Jesuit magazine, Pope Francis said that “thinking with the church” is not just a matter of taking orders from the hierarchy. “When the dialogue among the people, the bishops and the pope…
Francis, and the Real Threats to Marriage
Commenting further on Pope Francis’ notable interview with America magazine, Francis de Benardo at Bondings 2.0 observes that “The Road to LGBT Change in the Catholic Church Won’t Be a Straight One“. He illustrates this by noting that among the…
The Evolution of Catholic Sexual Theology
Amidst so much in that Papal interview that was thought-provoking and important, I was most struck by his observations on how the church must constantly evolve, to adapt to constant changes in human understanding, and in his distinction between the…
Pope Francis, on Why and How the Church Must Change
Ever since the moment that the America extended interview with Pope Francis was published on - line, I’ve been deluged with messages, news headlines and RSS feeds alerting me to it, mostly drawing attention to his observation that the Church…
Conscience and the Queer Catholic
A couple of recent posts, on Bishop Conry’s words about contraception and concience, and about British Catholics’ views on homosexuality, have drawn me into some extensive exchanges on facebook (on my own facebook page, and at the Soho Masses Community…
Tutu: God “Catching Me by the Neck”, to Fight for Gay Rights
Bishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and icon of the struggle against apartheid and racial injustice, has since become one our most outspoken and strongest straigh allied for LGBT justice in church. With characteristically colourful language, he’s done…
A Modern Reformation, for LGBT Christians
Today, Wednesday 18th September, will see the inaugural leadership congress in Kansas City of “The Reformation Project“, which describes itself as “a Bible-based, non-profit organization dedicated to reforming Christian teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity”. This fall, we will host…
