Short Takes on Week's News: Gay Rights, Canonization of John Paul II, America Magazine and Helen Alvaré, Pope Francis and Bishop Robert Finn

Short takes from this week's news on matters Catholic (with the addition of a report on Peter LaBarbera's appearance at Sinclair Community College): 

Kate Geiselman:

It’s just a matter of time. Love will always win. Gay or not, our agenda included graham crackers, and they weren’t going to eat themselves.

Barbie Latza Nadeau:

"What he [John Paul II] did to the Church internally is a sadder story, most strikingly in his failure on the abuse crisis," [Jason] Berry says. "Sheltering Maciel was an act of blind hubris. By elevating [John Paul II] to the same status as 'good Pope John,' Francis will draw groans from both sides of the Catholic divide."

James Carroll:

The Catholic culture of canonization assumes that, while God has put in place a set of natural laws to which all humans are subject, including the laws of suffering and death, exceptions are readily made for God's favored ones — that is, those lucky enough to have a saint as a patron.

Patricia Miller:

But the Catholic bishops don’t suffer from a lack of outlets for their views, so it's not clear why the editors of America thought their shadow spokesperson needs a platform, especially for outlandish ideas that are insulting to women, lack empirical validity, and are far from the mainstream of Catholic practice and opinion on family planning.

David Pasinski:

I truly hope that [Cardinal Sean] O'Malley is working behind the scenes with [Bishop Robert] Finn directly and that his resignation will happen soon. Certainly if he is still here by 2015, Francis reform and reputation will suffer greatly ... and somewhat deservedly.

If I were writing David Pasinski's observations about the fact that Bishop Robert Finn continues undisturbed as bishop of Kansas City, I'd remove the word "somewhat" from that final sentence.