Abusive Anti-Gay French Priest Tony Anatrella Sanctioned by Vatican; Survivors Say They Expected More

"Catholic Church Tells Bishops They Are Not Obliged to Disclose Child Sex Abuse: Report," 
Time (11/2/2016)

Earlier this week, the Catholic archdiocese of Paris announced that after investigation of charges made against influential French priest Tony Anatrella, a previous sanction of Anatrella remains in place and and he continues to be banned from celebrating Mass publicly or hearing confessions. He is also forbidden from continuing his work as a psychotherapist.

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.

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 Are Church Ireland to Pope Francis: Would Jesus Define People as Objectively Disordered or Intrinsically Evil?

As Sarasi pointed out in a comment here several days ago, We Are Church Ireland now has a petition online at Change.org with the following intent:

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.

Failure of Catholic Progressives to Speak Out for Years Now About LGBTQ Humanity Undercuts Catholic Witness vs. Muslim Ban

From 1986 forward, when Cardinal Ratzinger issued his infamous "Hallowe'en document" defining gay people as intrinsically disordered, there has been a silent, steady purge of LGBTQ people from the Catholic church. Catholic pastoral organizations ministering to LGBTQ people were ruthlessly excluded from Catholic parishes and institutions as a direct result of Ratzinger's orders. In some cases, including in my own city, all members of those organizations then left the Catholic church in a mass exodus and became Episcopalian.

Some Resources for Your Consideration: Live Streaming of Father James Martin's Address on LGBTQ Issues in Catholic Context Today, Etc.

I'd like to draw your attention today to some noteworthy (and time-sensitive) resources that may interest many Bilgrimage readers. First, the New Ways Ministry blog Bondings 2.0 has announced this morning that it will be live-streaming Father James Martin's major address about gay* rights and gay people in the Catholic church as he receives New Ways' Bridge Building award today.

Update on Story of Msgr. Tony Anatrella, Vatican "Expert" on Homosexuality: Archdiocese of Paris Sets Up Commission to Investigate Allegations

An update for you on a story we have discussed here in the past: as I told you this past May (here, here, and here), news reports surfaced in late April and early May in Dutch and French media of new allegations made against the Vatican's "expert" on homosexuality, Monsignor Tony Anatrella. Anatrella has a history of characterizing homosexuality as a psychological disorder that can be "cured" through "reparative" or "conversion" therapy. He was invited to the Vatican's Synod on the Family to advise the synod about the topic of homosexuality, and when a Vatican document instructing new bishops that they need not report allegations of sexual abuse by clergy to criminal authorities came to light and caused consternation, it was revealed that the document was citing Tony Anatrella in giving this advice. 

Richard Sipe on Why Benedict XVI's Sexual Orientation Matters and Must Be Discussed Honestly

In a 2012 essay at his website entitled "Is Pope Benedict Gay?," Richard W. Sipe maintains that "[t]he time has passed when popes are immune from observation of their humanity even their human sexuality." Then he goes on to argue, with reference to Pope Benedict XVI, the following:

Parramatta (Australia) Diocesan Newspaper Catholic Outlook Back Online, with Text of Bishop Vincent Long's Ann D. Clark Lecture Calling for Catholic Church to Reassess Approach to Gay Folks

For those who may not have seen the note I added last night to my posting earlier yesterday noting that Bishop Vincent Long's Ann D. Clark lecture had once again disappeared from the website of his diocesan newspaper Catholic Outlook (and, indeed, h/t to Bose, that the entire website was down):

Text of Bishop Vincent Long's Lecture Calling for Reassessment of Catholic Cruelty to Gay People Has Disappeared Again

The text of Bishop Vincent Long's recent Ann D. Clark lecture in Penrith, Australia, about which I blogged recently, has once again disappeared from the website of his diocesan newspaper Catholic Outlook. As I noted in the posting I've just linked, Catholic Outlook published the text on 19 August, the day after Bishop Long presented the lecture, and within a day, after the lecture began circulating and being commented about online, it vanished from the Catholic Outlook site. It then popped back up briefly, only to be removed from the website again.

Footnote to Commentary on Bishop Vincent Long's Ann D. Clark Lecture: Link Is Now Back Up

A footnote to what I posted yesterday about the disappearing link to Bishop Vincent Long's Ann D. Clark lecture, which had been uploaded to the website of his diocesan newspaper, Catholic Outlook, on 19 August, and then vanished from that website after the lecture began to be discussed and circulated online on 20 August:

On a Disappearing Lecture by a Bishop Challenging Injustice Towards Gay Folks: Churches Hostile to Gays Might Consider Just Shutting Up about a Loving God

Last Friday, the publication Catholic Outlook, a publication of the Catholic diocese of Parramatta in Australia, uploaded to its website the text of a lecture given by the diocesan bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen the preceding day as the annual Ann D. Clark lecture in Penrith, Australia. When I saw links to Bishop Long's lecture on Twitter over the weekend, I shared a link to the Catholic Outlook text of the entire lecture. That link is here.*

"They Put Us in Closets and Do All They Can to Keep Us There": More on the Catholic Erasure of LGBTQ People from the Narrative About Orlando

"Anybody can observe the Sabbath, but making it holy takes the rest of the week." - Alice Walker

— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) June 15, 2016

And now some more resources that focus specifically on the erasure by top Catholic pastoral leaders of queer people from an act of mass murder of queer people:

David Gibson and Tom Heneghan Publish Religion News Service Report about Father Tony Anatrella: "Scandal That Could Have Repercussions All the Way to the Vatican"

An update as the week ends, on the story of Father Tony Anatrella, about which I've been keeping you posted (and here) as it's discussed in the French media recently: at Religion News Service, David Gibson and Tom Heneghan have just published a report about the Anatrella story with the headline "Prominent French Priest and Vatican Adviser Accused in Sex Scandal." This is the first such report I've seen in the English-speaking media, though, admittedly, I have not been searching carefully for such reports, after I found initially that the French media were reporting on the new Anatrella allegations, while I found no such reports in English-language media.

Msgr. Anatrella, Vatican "Expert on Homosexuality" Accused of Molesting Patients, Now Back in News As Paris Archbishop Vingt-Trois Issues Statement

An update to the story I told you earlier this month about allegations regarding . . . unusual . . . therapeutic methods (i.e., curing of homosexuality by "corporal" methods involving genital touching) employed by French monsignor Tony Anatrella, the Vatican "expert on homosexuality" who believes homosexuality is an illness that can be cured by reparative therapy: 

French Media Report Allegations That Vatican "Expert on Homosexuality" Monsignor Tony Anatrella Sexually Abused a Minor Undergoing "Reparative" Therapy

I have seen no reports about this story in English-language media. I thought I would share it with you since 1) we've previously discussed the role played by Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a Vatican "expert on homosexuality," at the Synod on the Family and in a recent controversy about a Vatican document instructing new bishops that they need not report allegations of sexual abuse by clergy to criminal authorities; and 2) some readers of this blog may not read French and so may otherwise miss this report. A French-speaking friend of mine on Facebook has shared this news link with me.

Former Irish President on Catholic Teaching About Homosexuality: It's "Wrong," a "Major Conduit for Homophobia," and Needs to Be Repudiated

Yesterday, Irish Catholic published an interview of former Irish president Mary McAleese done by Martin O'Brien at her apartment in Rome Dublin, where she lives when she is not acquiring a licentiate in Canon Law.* Here's a selection of her statements: 

The Telenovela Continues: Gay Vatican Official Comes Out and Is Sacked in Advance of Synod on the Family

OMG. Did someone say head-turners? (Yes, I'm between popcorn runs, and very glad I bought in a big new supply of popcorn today, because it looks like the telenovela is only going to get, well, more hilarious and dramatic, steamier and more engrossing in the build-up to the Synod on the Family.)

Right-Wing Catholics Suddenly Tired of Pope's Scoldings: Where Were These Folks During Papacies of JPII and BXVI?

Well, isn't this special? Right-wing Catholics Elizabeth Scalia and Carl Olson are tried of being "scolded" and "harangued" by a pope, as David Gibson reports in a Religion News Service article today about the drop in Pope Francis's approval ratings after he issued Laudato Si'.