Jim McGarry, a retired religious studies teacher in the archdiocese of San Francisco, cited by Dan Morris-Young in an article discussing the clashing visions of church evident in this diocese right now:
Doctrinal development matters. Discrimination against homosexuals is wrong. Persecution of homosexuals is real. If church teaching is not part of the protection of a vulnerable population, it is part of the persecution. Civil rights for gays must be understood and incorporated into the Catholic tradition -- theologically, just as opposition to slavery finally was promulgated. This inclusion of civil rights in moral teaching may or may not imply other developments of doctrine on this issue, but this first, true step must be fully taken -- to the point of support for civil marriage as a human right -- in a world where violence against gays, lesbians and transgender people is still the norm.
Mercy does not mean acquiescence or procrastination. We do not condemn our opponents but we do not wait for them. We pray that they will eventually come along. The long arc of Church history suggests that they will.
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