Me, Talking Back to National Catholic Reporter and Michael Sean Winters re: Resignation of Donald Wuerl

Wuerl hounded from office for becoming face of abuse crisis https://t.co/N2pHeSpgcP via @ncronline

"He has been for 30 years a force of nature in the Catholic Church in this country, a workhorse for the conference and for the Vatican and for the dioceses he served." /1

— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) October 12, 2018

Mary McAleese on Synod: "If I Wanted Expertise on the Family, I Honestly Cannot Say That the First Thing That Would Come Into My Mind Would Be to Call Together 300 Celibate Males"

Mary McAleese, former president of Ireland, commenting recently to a meeting of the Global Network of Rainbow (LGBT) Catholics on the him-nod synod on the family now taking place in Rome:

Michelangelo Signorile on Amazing Alacrity with Which Vatican Noticed Pushback About Kim Davis Meeting, and on Why This Happened

Today's a day of non-blogging commitments for me (my supply of popcorn is quickly running out, for one thing), and so I can't be at my computer to comment on any new telenovela head-turners that may be coming our way today from the Vatican or Liberty Counsel or the papal nuncio. A thought I'd like to place before you, though, as I head to my first meeting:

New Civil Rights Movement Reports: "Kim Davis' Meeting with the Pope Was Arranged – Contrary to Theories Espoused in the Media – by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops"

Yvette Schneider writes, 

The New Civil Rights Movement has learned through a source within the Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican embassy, that Kim Davis’ meeting with the Pope was arranged – contrary to theories espoused in the media – by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

News Flash: Pope Met Gay Friend While on American Tour

Wow. They're really in damage-control mode today. What that tells us is how much the pushback regarding the meeting with Kim Davis has unsettled them. 

Mary Dispenza's Powerful Memoir SPLIT: Moving from Childhood Rape by a Priest to Catholic Institutional Abuse As a Lesbian — "I Can Live with the Consequences of Love"

On the day that news broke of the pope's meeting with Kim Davis, I was finishing Mary Dispenza's painful, liberating account of her struggle to come to terms with her sexual abuse by a priest as a little girl, followed by her struggle to come to terms with her gay sexual orientation as an adult — and, in both cases, her narrative centers on her difficult attempt to deal with the callousness and cruelty of Catholic "pastoral" leaders as she struggled along. And so Mary Dispenza's story now blends together in my mind with the revelation that, while refusing to meet with a single LGBT Catholic on his recent tour of "mercy" in the U.S., Pope Francis met with Kim Davis.* Of all people . . . .

Barbie Latza Nadeau on Vatican "Clarification" of Pope's Meeting with Kim Davis: "Pope Doesn’t Say 'Stay Strong' to Just Everyone He Meets"

At Daily Beast, Barbie Latza Nadeau is right on target with her assessment of today's Vatican (non-) statement about what the pope knew as he met with Kim Davis, and what happened in that meeting: 

Papal Meeting with Kim Davis: Vatican Doing Damage Control, But Unanswered Questions Galore Remain

So the hugely damaging fallout from the pope's meeting with Kim Davis has now provoked an unusual response-retraction of sorts from the Vatican media spokesperson Father Lombardi, who says that the pope is a characteristically kind and available man who meets with all sorts of persons (and isn't that nice, but isn't it interesting that his kindness and availibilty didn't extend to a meeting with a single LGBT Catholic among many who asked to see him on his U.S. visit?)* Father Lombardi's brief account of the meeting makes it appear that Kim Davis was "one of several dozen persons" who simply happened to be bustled in front of the pope as he made preparations to leave D.C.

Why the Pope's Meeting with Kim Davis Is the Last Straw for Me: With Commentary on Father James Martin's "Points to Keep in Mind" About the Meeting

Several days back, I received an email from America Magazine asking me to contribute financial support to America as a member of the America community. Something to that effect: I don't have the email any longer, and so can't quote it word for word.

New York Catholic Pastor Reports Meeting with Pope Francis, in Which Pope Says, "I Would Love to Visit and Talk to Gay and Lesbian People and Please Tell the Gays to Pray for Me"

Kira Brekke reports at Huffington Post today on a report provided by Father Gil Martinez, pastor at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City, to HuffPo reporter Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani. The interview is captured in the video at the head of the posting.

Father Martinez reports that he was celebrating Mass yesterday with Pope Francis in the pope's house chapel, and he handed the pope a copy of the video "Owning Our Faith," which documents the lives and experience of LGBT Catholics in the U.S. And then this occurred according to Father Martinez (I'm excerpting Brekke's article):

The Francis Effect: Putting Rhetoric Together with Reality on Eve of Pope's Visit (2)

Note: this article is part two of a two-part series. The first part of this article is here.

The Francis effect? Anecdote #1: Mark Joseph Stern comments today on last night's GOP debates,

For LGBT Catholics, Will It Get Better After Benedict? An Ash-Wednesday Meditation

A question pulling at my heart as the initial fanfare about Benedict's resignation announcement dies down: for LGBT Catholics, will it now get better? I'm pushing myself to write about this issue today--pushing myself specifically as an Ash Wednesday expression of self-mortification.

National Catholic Reporter Editorials on Catholic Winners, Catholic Losers in U.S. Elections

Two valuable editorial statements from National Catholic Reporter as election day arrives in the U.S.: the first maintains that three groups of Catholics are the "winners" in today's elections, regardless of the outcome of specific elections.  These are the nuns on the bus, LGBT Catholics, and Latinos.