Brian Cahill is the former executive director of Catholic Charities in San Francisco, a pillar of the local church. He has also incurred the wrath of the readers of California Catholic Daily, for daring to speak honestly about family realities and gay marriage, instead of simplistically spouting quotations from Catholic rule books. The vitriol in much of the comment thread at CCD responding to the article is saddening. To simply quote reflexively the Catechism teaching is not helpful: what has so enraged the readers is no more than what most rational Catholics have known for years: that the Catechism content on sexual ethics is deeply flawed, and desperately in need of revision.
Theoretical arguments making the case for change are freely available. Mr Cahill makes his case on other, more personal grounds: his son is gay. Personal stories are powerful, and our families and friends our most valuable allies. (This is the perspective of a parent. In my accompanying post today, I offer that of a young son of two dads).
”, the epilogue reflects on the “Vatican Instruction” barring openly gay men from seminary training. This reflection is clearly directed at gay men and lesbians, but in fact covers much more ground, with important observations on the very meaning and understanding of God’s revelation, and on the source of authority within the Church. As such, it is relevant to a wider audience as well, and just as the “Declaration” that I wrote about earlier in the week, it seems at least as relevant in the light of the current troubles over abuse, as when first published. These are some edited extracts from that chapter, with a light commentary to take you through it.
