LGBT Catholics and Their Allies Remember Benedict's Legacy: "Devastating," "Oppressive," "Painful," "Harmful," "Anti-Gay Crusader"

Yesterday, I noted that as some of us, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, look back on Benedict's papacy as a season of powerful pain, many Catholics, and especially those who occupy the bully pulpits of the centrist Catholic commentariat, want to offer the world trite pap and clubby chit-chat about Benedict's legacy. They want to celebrate that legacy without noting that there has been a conspicuous downside to this papacy for many of their fellow Catholics.

Benedict's Resignation: A Selection of Commentary as Day Continues

Reactions to and reflections on Benedict's resignation are accumulating as the day goes on. In what follows, I'll offer a sampling. My criterion for choosing among many different statements is in line with what I've been posting all day long: I think that if ever it were important for the shepherds of the Catholic church to listen to all Catholic voices, that time is now.

Benedict's Resignation: Thanks Owed to Survivors of Childhood Clerical Abuse for Call to Build a Better Church

One of the significant stories about the second Vatican Council conspicuously ignored by many contemporary "traditionalists" was the way in which it rehabilitated theologians who had previously been silenced by the leaders of the Catholic church. Some of the leading lights of European Catholic theology in the period prior to Vatican II--these included Karl Rahner, Yves Congar, Marie-Dominique Chenu, and Henri de Lubac among others--were at various points prior to the council forbidden to write about a number of topics. Only to find themselves rehabilitated by the council and, in the case of most of the preceding theologians, invited to the council as theological periti or experts, whose theology laid the foundation for the council . . . . 

Benedict's Resignation: Knowing Where Bodies Are Buried

Tomb of Pope John Paul I, Pope for 33 Days

If I myself were a tweeter (I can't master the art--too few words), I'd tweet something like the following re: the papal resignation:

I can appreciate that it's a great weight, knowing where all the bodies are buried--especially in a religion that prophesies the raising of dead bodies, of the prophets and the martyrs.

Leonardo Boff on Our Current Crisis: Theological Framework for Thinking about Benedict's Resignation

In light of the announcement of the pope's resignation, it's interesting to me to read Leonardo Boff's latest weekly theological reflection, as translated by Rebel Girl and offered on her wonderful website Iglesia Descalza. The essay is entitled "The Legacy of the Current Crisis: Reviewing and Reinventing Concepts."

Benedict's Resignation: Immediate Responses Across Blogsphere

The "In All Things" blog at America has the text of Benedict's resignation announcement, with brief commentary from Bro. Daniel Horan. Reactions this morning at various blog sites:

Pat Perriello: The French, German, and U.S. Catholic Bishops Compared

It seems to me that Pat Perriello gets it exactly right: