Commemorating Mary Raftery

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: "My Aunt Is a Sister . . . ."

From this week's edition of "Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage": this anonymous reader responds to National Catholic Reporter's latest report about the Vatican investigation of American religious women by suggesting that orders of American nuns which implemented the reforms of Vatican II are dying, while conservative communities that have resisted Vatican II are thriving: 

NCR Publishes Editorial Defending SNAP in Missouri Subpoena Situation

National Catholic Reporter has just published an editorial decrying the attack now being mounted on the SNAP organization by lawyers working for the Catholic church.  The editorial frames its statement by recounting the story of Bartek Obloj, who hanged himself in Poland in 2007.  Obloj was thirteen years old at the time.  He left a suicide note stating that his parish priest, Stanislaw Kaszowski, had sexually molested him.

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship on Woody Guthrie, Music, and Healing the Rents in the American Soul

Andrew Sullivan on Latest Gay Teen Suicide: The Task of Real Christians Is Alleviating Pain

I have not had the heart to blog about this latest illustration of what unrelenting discrimination (egged on in American culture by many religious groups) does to the human spirit.  And about what it does, in particular, to young gay and lesbian people.

Jamie Manson on U.S. Bishops' Defense of Discrimination: What Image of Church Is Being Cultivated?

Jamie Manson writes at National Catholic Reporter with her usual incisive analysis (and theological sensitivity) about the U.S. Catholic bishops's continued demand that they be given a special "right" to discriminate against gay and lesbian persons.  As she notes, anyone who has ever worked for a religious institution knows just how broadly the license the Supreme Court has just given religious employers to discriminate may be extended.  And this should be of serious concern to anyone who cares about the rights of minority groups working in faith-based organizations.

Catholic Bishops Follow Supreme Court Decision by Signing Letter Asserting Right to Discriminate

I just wrote that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision recognizing a "ministerial exception" for religious groups to discriminate doesn't seem to be a big win for minority groups--and for LGBT citizens, in particular--when one religious group, the U.S. Catholic Bishops, keeps asserting its unrestricted faith-based "right" to discriminate against those who are gay.  Just because.  Because, the bishops claim, God tells them to do so.