On Benedict's "Kindness" and What Eulogies About His "Kindness" Say to LGBTQ Catholics

I've refrained until now from commenting here about the death of Emeritus Pope Bendict, because...well, to be honest, I'm not sure what more I might say about Ratzinger/Benedict than I've already said here in the past.

Recent Religion + Politics Commentary: "Pro-Life" Movement, Christian Nationalism, Southern Baptists and United Methodists, Leonard Leo and New USCCB President

Here are some valuable articles I've read in the past week or two about religion and politics and their intersection:

A Piece of Personal Testimony on All Saints' Day: The Sanctity of Many Queer People and Their Loving Relationships

This All Saints' day, I think of a little iconostasis I kept for some years next to my desk. The saints whose pictures or icons I had on the iconostasis were my own personal saints — an idiosyncratic collection, almost all of whom would never be canonized by the church.

Robert P. Jones's Commentary on the "Historical Record of Lived Christianity in America," White Supremacy, and the Recent Sojourners Débacle

An important contribution (and subtext) of Robert P. Jones's new book White Too Long is its focus on how white Christianity is lived in the US — as opposed to what churches say about themselves or profess in their official statements. As Jones states,

The historical record of lived Christianity in America reveals that Christian theology and institutions have been the central cultural tent pole holding up the very idea of white supremacy (p. 6).

Margaret Renkl on Obligation of Catholics to Defend Their LGBTQ Brothers and Sisters — Even Against Archbishops

Margaret Renkl, "How to Defy the Catholic Church: Believers have a spiritual obligation to defend their L.G.B.T.Q. brothers and sisters, even against archbishops":

Despite the archbishop's words [i.e., Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis addressing his orders to two Catholic schools to fire gay employees], his behavior does look very much like a witch hunt. He has apparently not directed Catholic school officials to fire teachers who practice birth control or divorced teachers who remarry without benefit of a church annulment. In calling for the dismissal of all teachers who fail to exemplify every teaching of the Catholic church, the "categories of people you would need to fire'"would amount to "a huge list," the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at America Magazine, told The Times. Persecuting teachers in same-sex marriages is Archbishop Thompson's specific focus. … 

Catholics today don't hear much about the primacy of an informed conscience because many priests take the position that a conscience at odds with the church is by definition insufficiently informed. But the primacy of an informed conscience belongs as deeply to church tradition as the current brand of pastoral authoritarianism does. It is time for Catholics to remember it again and stand up for their brothers and sisters in same-sex marriages, as Brebeuf Jesuit has done, even if it means defying the teaching of their own imperfect church.

Commentary: On Youth Synod Opening Door to LGBTQ Community (?!); On Latest McCarrick Revelations; On "Signs of the Times"

Some meandering thoughts and mini-rants this morning:

Liz Dodd on the Damage That Youth Synod's Game-Playing with LGBTQ Lives Does to Those Lives and to the Church Itself

Liz Dodd on the damage that the youth synod's game-playing with LGBTQ lives does to those lives and to the church itself, in "Synod's decision to drop 'LGBT' from its final document is a missed opportunity for the Church":

We / They: How Refusal to Include Queer Voices in Synodal Conversations Undercuts Claims of Church about Itself as Sacramental Sign of Redemption

“Christ made God manifest by making invisible people visible—the poor, women, all those deprived of their rights.”

~ Dorothee Sölle, "Beyond Mere Obedience: Reflections on a Christian Ethic for the Future," trans. Lawrence W. Denef (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1970), p. 163. https://t.co/0tXvupAKEc

— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) October 26, 2018

In response to a question from Deborah Rose-Milavec of Future Church about how the Youth Synod is dealing with women's and LGBTQ issues, delegate Yadira Vieyra states,

Commentary: McCarrick and Supposed "Gay Clique" in Hierarchy; Homosexuality Not Cause of Catholic Abuse Crisis; When Welcome Doesn't Really Mean Welcome

Things I've read in the last day or so that I'd like to pass along to you — with themes that, in my view, fit together, so that it's helpful to read this commentary side by side:

Where Do We Go from Here, as the Future Looks More and More Bleak for LGBTQ People in the U.S.?

So where do we go from here? I ask because I quite sincerely don't know the answer to that question.

My sense is that for queer people — especially in the U.S. — and for those who care about us and stand with us, things are going to get much worse, and more quickly than many of us realize.

What do we do with that probability? Or am I wrong to sense this, do you think? (See Brynn Tannehill's sobering predictions.)

Rolando, what can those of us gathered here in this particular dialogue community do to assist you in concrete ways? Please tell us, if there's something we can be doing in addition to offering you our support and sympathy.

Married Gay Catholic Minister Hounded Out of Ministerial Job with Acts of Hate from Organized Catholic Hate Groups

I wish so much that this story had not flashed across my computer screen on the very same day in which I posted Rolando's testimony about what has been done to him and John. But here this additional story is, staring all of us in the face. Dan Morris-Young writes, 

"I Am Excommunicated from This 'Redemptive Institution' Because 3 Years Ago, John and I Formalized our 49-Years of Living, Loving and Ministering Together by Registering Our Civil Union"

The following is testimony that Rolando shared at Bilgrimage several days ago. This testimony deserves a wider hearing than it will receive if it remains in a combox; I'm posting it as a stand-alone comment for that reason. This story is just so painful — and it's one that is repeating itself over and over in Catholic institutions right now. 

Google Top Stories Featuring Catholic Homophobic Bile in "Top Stories" re: World Meeting of Families

Look at the Catholic homophobic bile Google is billing right now as its set of "top stories" if you google Fr. James Martin and his presentation at World Meeting of Families (I'm obviously not referring to the NCR article or the America one when I speak of "homophobic bile").

In the News: "Religious Freedom" and "Right" to Discriminate; Roots of Evangelicals' Idolization of Trump; Shifting Religious Landscape re: LGBT Rights; SBC and Misogyny

Religion-themed news from the past several days that has caught my eye, and which I'd like to share with you:

Saturday News Items: How We Became Troll Nation; Men Need to Be Saved from Themselves; Trump Simply Casts Bright Light on What White Evangelicals Have Long Been, Etc.

Here are some bits and pieces of news commentary I've read in the last two days that I'd like to recommend to you. In the video at the head of the posting, Amanda Marcotte is talking with Cenk Uygur about her new book Troll Nation: How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set on Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself. At Salon today, there's another video in which Marcotte says essentially what she says in this much longer interview with Cenk Uygur. I cannot spot a way to embed the Salon video with you, so I'm sharing this interview with Cenk Uygur. The portion of the video from 1:06 to 3:53 is the portion in which Marcotte explains the thesis of her new book: that's what I'm recommending to you.

"Let’s Rename ‘School’ as ‘Uterus’ So Maybe Republican Lawmakers Will Want to Do Something about the Children Dying Inside Them": Short Takes to Recommend

Let’s rename ‘school’ as ‘uterus’ so maybe Republican lawmakers will want to do something about the children dying inside them.

— Nathan G (@nwg83) February 15, 2018

Alan McCornick on Cardinal Marx, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship on LGBTQ Employees, Heated Debate About Progressive Evangelicals and LGBTQ Lives: News

Trump's Statement on Alleged Abuser #RobPorter: 'Him-He-Him-Him-He-He-He-He-Him-He-He-He-He-He-He-Him-Him-He-He' - https://t.co/4r5XVaIB4s It's been a "tough time" for top aide accused of domestic violence, but nothing to say about ex-wives who suffered

— Common Dreams (@commondreams) February 9, 2018

I'd like to recommend today good commentary by my friend Alan McCornick about the story of Cardinal Marx and the case of the disappearing yes (aka, My God! No! We can't possibly bless you!).  Alan's commentary, entitled "The price of a blessing," is at his Hepzibah blog. Alan speaks German fluently and has an advantage many of us lack, when it comes to reading and summing up what the German media have been saying about this story.

Catholic Herald Calls Catholic News Service (and Crux) to Account for "Misreading" Cardinal Marx Story

To add to the confusion, Catholic News Service has reported that Cardinal Marx explicitly rejected the idea of blessing same-sex unions. This, however, seems to be another misreading.

~ Catholic Herald (London), 8 February 2018, "So is Cardinal Marx for or against the blessing of same-sex unions?"

The Catholic News Service article to which Catholic Herald is pointing is the same one published by the widely-circulated U.S. Catholic journal Crux with the headline "German cardinal urges pastoral care, but not 'blessing' of gay couples," which I discussed two days ago. It's that CNS article, published at both the CNS site and by Crux, where it will reach many U.S. Catholics and frame their understanding of this story, which quite badly (and, I'll say it, quite deliberately, in my view) misinforms readers about what the German-language media have been reporting about what Cardinal Marx said.

Where This Week's Story About Blessing Queer Catholics Ends: A Summary — Bullies Win, Lies Win, Catholic Church Loses Spectacularly

In case you're bewildered by the chain of events I've documented here after Catholic News Agency issued a report last Sunday regarding statements made by the the president of the German Catholic Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Marx, and the astonishing place at which this story has ended up, pleasse let me summarize some salient points. This story is a snapshot, a story in a nutshell, of the abusive, cruel way in which queer human beings are dealt with by Catholic leaders with the very active and seemingly gleeful complicity of leading figures in the Catholic media and the world of religious journalism in general. 

Now "Let Your Yea Be Yea and Your Nay, Nay" Becomes the Case of the Disappearing Yes: A Church in Which Bullies (and Liars) Are Allowed to Win

As Sarasi points out in a comment here a while ago, Catholic News Agency is now reporting that "a spokesman" of Cardinal Marx has contacted CNA and requested that CNA issue a "correction" of its translation of his remarks to the Bayerischer Rundfunk interviewer we've been discussing here in the past several days. CNA has now published the "correction." It reads,