Michael Sean Winters and E.J. Dionne Address Obama's Compromise: We're Not Tribal!

Fascinating to watch the centrist Catholic men who have most vociferously assisted the U.S. Catholic bishops stage their faux war against the Obama administration now deal with the compromise the president has offered the bishops.  Michael Sean Winters tussles with the problem today at National Catholic Reporter, as does his friend and fellow beltway Catholic commentariat figure E.J. Dionne at Truthdig.

Fred Clark on People Who Don't Listen to Women (and the U.S. Bishops' Real Agenda)

Fred Clark thinks that people who work themselves into an entrenched pattern of not listening to women often foolishly miscalculate that people will listen to them when they claim to be official moral voices speaking for everyone.  Clark writes: 

Imagining the Church Catholic: What You See, What You Get

Imagine a catholic church.  One whose official voice of conscience in the public square (to echo the latest editorial published by National Catholic Reporter) reflects the voice of the entire church Catholic.  One in which every member of the far-flung communion that is the Catholic church has an "official voice" when the leaders of the church gather.

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: Dr. Fitzgibbon Writes, "Homosexual Abuse of Adolescent Males Is at the Heart of the Crisis"

Several days ago, Dr. Rick Fitzgibbon logged into an article by John Allen at National Catholic Reporter about the Vatican abuse summit to write the following:

Contrary to Bemi's and Neal's opinion, the data in the John Jay reports strongly suggest that homosexual abuse of adolescent males is at the heart of the crisis.

Culture War Issues Back Big-Time as 2012 Elections Approach

In the news today: they're baaaack.  The culture wars are back in a big way as the Republican party seeks to anoint a presidential candidate, and as signs that the economy may be mending slightly under the current Democratic president dishearten the Republicans and their allies, who are desperately seeking to change the subject from the economy to 1) the gays, 2) uppity women, 3) contraception, 4) religious freedom, 5) Obama's war on religion/Catholics, etc.  Take your pick.

Gender, Power, Privilege: Unavoidable Impolite Questions about the Catholic Conversation in the Public Square

In what I just posted about the compromise the Obama administration has offered the U.S. Catholic bishops re: contraceptive coverage, I ended by noting Joan Walsh's outstanding analysis of what has taken place in the intra-Catholic debate lately. I noted that Joan Walsh sees a new maturity in what has been a tribalistic American Catholicism whose public voice has been almost exclusively dominated by men.  She notes that, in recent debates about the contraceptive guidelines, the voices of women--Catholic women included--are beginning to be heard with new force.  

Obama Administration Offers Compromise: Ball in Catholic Tribe's Court

As expected, the Obama administration did make its announcement compromising yesterday with the U.S. Catholic bishops over the matter of the HHS guidelines.  I won't insult the sharp readers of this blog with links to articles summarizing the details of the compromise, insofar as they've now been placed on the table.  I know full well that most of you have kept up with the news about this development, and if not, will be adroit about finding good statements about it.