Catholic Official Who Linked Gays To Devil Resigns

CBS News reports:

The author of a newspaper column suggesting the devil may be responsible for homosexuality has resigned from his job with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
A spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic bishops said Friday that Daniel Avila offered to step down and his resignation was accepted Friday. Avila had worked on policy and research for the bishops in Washington.
What “America’s Pope” thinks of gay marriage
Avila’s column — titled “Some fundamental questions on same-sex attraction” — appeared a week ago in The Pilot, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston. Avila had written that there’s evidence suggesting the devil is responsible for same-sex attraction.
“Scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil,” it said.
It also said “disruptive imbalances in nature that thwart encoded processes point to supernatural actors who, unlike God, do not have the good of persons at heart.” It said that when “natural causes disturb otherwise typical biological development, leading to the personally unchosen beginnings of same-sex attraction, the ultimate responsibility, on a theological level, is and should be imputed to the evil one, not God.”
Gay rights groups and others condemned the column.
The Human Rights Campaign said Thursday it’s a shame the archdiocese ran a column ignoring the science about sexual orientation.
The gay Catholics group DignityUSA says the column was outrageous and inflicted “tremendous damage on the souls” of gay people.
The 182-year-old newspaper withdrew the column from its website on Wednesday, saying it had failed to recognize the “theological error” before publication. It posted an apology from Avila saying the column didn’t represent the position of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose stated purpose is to “promote the greater good which the Church offers humankind,” and wasn’t authorized for publication.
Avila said he deeply apologized for the “hurt and confusion” the column caused.
The Boston archdiocese, the bishops’ group and Avila were involved in communications leading to the decision to retract the column, said archdiocese spokesman Terrence Donilon, who called Avila “passionate about his faith and passionate about his church.”
“This one,” Donilon said, “clearly just got away from him.”

Nigeria: Senate Moves To Ban Gay Marriage

A Paper Bird reports:

A Nigerian Senate committee held hearings Monday on the “Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill.” This product of moral panic would provide criminal penalties for engaging in, solemnizing, or “aiding and abetting” a same-sex marriage — all quite unnecessary, since Nigeria’s colonial-era sodomy law already penalizes homosexual conduct sternly.
Nigeria’s politics often have a slightly mad quality. The hearing was no exception, since some participants seemed to have no idea what the bill was about, believing they were there to opposea proposal for same-sex marriage, not support a ban against it. The Catholic Church mobilized in this addled fashion; Catholic Women of Nigeria (CWON) claimed it sent women from “36 states of the federation” who “converged in Abuja to march to the assembly.”

• Speaking in a telephone interview, the CWON’s national president, Mrs. Felicia Onyaibo, said the women will this morning match to the National Assembly to hand in a letter of protest to the Senate President, David Mark, condemning the initiative, and urge him to discard such bill, as it is not in the interest of the nation and dignity of marriage.
• “We are also extending invitation to the male counterparts to support us in this protest. They can join us in the protest today so that we can help fight this ill initiative, which is aimed at destroying marriage values and its dignity,” she said.

Other news stories lent credit to the same notion. But no one has offered a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Nigeria; no one in Nigeria has suggested it. Imaginative Christian soldiers, these souls are girding their loins and going off to war against a figment, a fiction, a ghost.  As a statement by bill opponents explained a month ago,

• We as human rights defenders are aware that not a single gay group has asked for the right to marry. Our advocacy is not directed at that.  We are advocating for tolerance and respect for everyone irrespective of his or her sex, gender, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation and gender identity, etc.

The spectral ability of same-sex marriage to induce a panic even in the absence of anyone proposing it has been repeatedly shown worldwide, and is worth deeper consideration. In this case, the bill would be largely a symbolic insult to the same-sex loving population, but one with practical ramifications — a bullying threat to public activism, and an affirmation that they have no place in Nigeria’s diverse array of communities and cultures.
Meanwhile, at Monday’s meeting of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, opponents of the bill were given only two slots to speak, while proponents (that is, opponents of non-existent same-sex marriage) were given many more. The Senate President appeared at the hearing and “openly rejected the proposal for same sex marriage in the country,” which nobody proposed:

• “It is incomprehensible to contemplate on same sex marriage. I cannot understand it. I cannot be a party to it. There are enough men and women to marry each other. The whole idea is the importation of foreign culture, but this one would be a freedom too many. We cannot allow our tradition and value system eroded.
• “It is offensive. It is repugnant. I will preach against it and we must stand up to reject same sex marriages in Nigeria. I do not think any religion support this. I don’t know where this whole idea of same sex marriage comes from.”

The Daily Times notes that the “senate president’s disposition on the bill is a strong indication of its fate. It suggests that the bill, which has failed at two consecutive sessions in the House of Representatives, may finally be passed into law by the Senate.”  But the paper adds, “the little population of public homosexuals in Nigeria – with help from the international community – have been able to put up a strong resistance to the promulgation of any law directly against the act [of same-sex marriage].”
Aside from the question of international help, of which there’s been not so much, this is true. Activists in Nigeria managed to quash the early bill in 2006 -7 essentially on their own, by organizing, appearing at hearings, and speaking out when everybody believed they would be too intimidated to appear or to raise their voices. Courage to them as they face the same ruckus and rhodomontade for another round.

MINNESOTA: Catholic Bishops Leading Drive To Outlaw Same-Sex Marriage

Joe.My.God. reports:

Minnesota’s Catholic bishops say they are ready to lead the statewide effort to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. And they’ve already begun their push by asking priests to form local anti-gay committees in each of their parishes.

“It is imperative that we marshal our resources to educate the faithful about the church’s teachings on these matters, and to vigorously organize and support a grass-roots effort to get out the vote to support the passage of this amendment,” Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt wrote in a letter to his priests dated Oct. 4. The letter asks parish priests to “appoint a captain or co-chairs to lead a special parish ad hoc committee to spearhead this effort.” Catholic leaders say they are taking this “unique” and unusual step because they see the amendment as one of the most important issues the state’s Catholics will have to consider in the coming year. With nearly 1.1 million Catholics in Minnesota, the organizing effort could be a powerful force in getting boots on the ground to support the amendment.

The above-linked article notes that Catholic parishes tend to be rather politically diverse and that the church may see negative feedback for this campaign.

Blowhard Bill Donohue Vs. Oscar-Winner Actress Susan Sarandon

Joe.My.God. reports:

Catholic League blowhard Bill Donohue is deluging entertainment sites with a demand that Oscar winner Susan Sarandon apologize for referring to the pope as a Nazi. Donohue’s complaint has been joined by the Anti-Defamation League.

“Susan Sarandon’s ignorance is willful: those who have hatred in their veins are not interested in the truth,” Donohue said in a statement. Donohue said that the pope was conscripted at the age of 14 w”hile living in Nazi occupied Bavaria, but refused to attend meetings and deserted the group “at the first opportunity.” He said the pope’s refusal to go along with the organization brought hardship to his family. Across the faith-based aisle, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, called the actress’ comments “uncalled for.” “Ms. Sarandon may have her differences with the Catholic Church, but that is no excuse for throwing around Nazi analogies,” Foxman said in a statement. “Such words are hateful, vindictive and only serve to diminish the true history and meaning of the Holocaust.”

Sarandon won her Oscar for playing a Catholic nun in Dead Man Walking. Her disputed comments came when she mentioned having given a copy of the movie’s book to then Pope John Paul II, “not this Nazi one we have now.”

The Vatican: Christians Top Target Of Abuse

The Gazette reports:

Christians are the number one target of persecution around the world, the Vatican’s foreign minister told the UN summit on Tuesday.
“The lack of respect for religious freedom represents a threat to security and peace,” Dominique Mamberti, Vatican secretary for external relations, told the UN General Assembly.
“We are seeing an increase in intolerance for religious reasons and unfortunately we note that Christians are the religious group which suffer the most persecution because of their faith,” said the cardinal.
“The particular weight of a single religion in a country should never imply that citizens belonging to other confessions be discriminated against in social life or, worse, that violence be tolerated against them.”
Mamberti did not name any particular country in his speech, but Christian groups have raised concerns about deadly attacks in Nigeria, and allegations of persecution in some Middle East countries.
Religious-linked violence and abuse rose around the world between 2006 and 2009, with Christians and Muslims the most common targets, according to a U.S. study released in August.
Incidents of “government or social harassment” were reported against Christians in 130 countries and against Muslims in 117 countries, said the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life.
In 2009, governments in 101 nations used at some measure of force against religious groups. A year earlier only 91 nations had done so, the report said.
The Vatican’s foreign minister, whose official title is secretary for relations with states, also said “courageous decisions” have to be taken over the Palestinian request for UN membership.
The UN Security Council is considering the Palestinian application but the United States has vowed to veto the bid.
“The response of the United Nations, whatever it is, will not constitute a complete solution and a durable peace can only be reached through negotiations, in good faith, between Israelis and Palestinians,” the Vatican official said.

Most abused group? More than the LGBT Community? Or just about religious groups, even more than Shia Muslims themselves?

Pope Calls For Unity Against Marriage Equality

The Advocate reports:

Pope Benedict XVI called for Christians to unite behind the idea that marriage is between one man and one woman during a visit to Germany.

He described the Catholic Church’s beliefs as facing a number of threats, and he included same-sex marriage on the list. 

“Knowing, too, the value of family and marriage, we as Christians attach great importance to defending the integrity and the uniqueness of marriage between one man and one woman from any kind of misinterpretation,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “Here the common engagement of Christians, including many Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians, makes a valuable contribution to building up a society equipped for the future.”

The pope appears to be interested in uniting faiths behind some commonalities in belief. He even visited the monastery where Martin Luther, who split devotees away from the church, once studied. Then the pope met with Muslim leaders and suggested that marriage might be among those areas where their religious interests are in common. 

“I am thinking, for example, of the protection of the family based in marriage, respect for life in every phase of its natural course or the promotion of greater social justice,” he listed for the leaders, according to the New York Times.

His antigay stance on marriage is becoming a familiar refrain for the pope, who most recently reiterated his view during a visit to Madrid in August.

“The Lord calls many people to marriage, in which a man and a woman, in becoming one flesh, find fulfillment in a profound life of communion,” he said in an address to youth.

As in Madrid, Pope Benedict’s visit was also marked by protest, with the AP reporting that 9,000 were in the streets of downtown Berlin on Thursday. 

Philippines: President Open To Marriage Equality, Cold On Adoption 

The Advocate reports:

When asked about same-sex marriage, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said that adults should be able to do “whatever you want as long as you don’t harm anybody else,” but he called adoption by same-sex couples a “dilemma.”

“Adults should be able to do whatever you want as long as you don’t harm anybody else,” said Aquino after initially refusing to answer questions about marriage equality at the Asia Society in New York on Tuesday, reports Radio Australia. 

Aquino called adoption by same-sex couples a “dilemma” and said, “My priority would be looking after the child, who has a very tender and impressionable mind.”

No LGBT civil rights protections exist in law in the Philippines, although the country was the first in Asia to hold a gay pride march in 1994. The powerful Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes an anti-discrimination bill that Ladlad, a political party that lobbies for LGBT rights, has tried to pass since 2003. Aquino expressed interest in the bill as a candidate, but with his current push for a bill that would mandate access to contraception, analysts say he is reluctant to pick a second legislative battle with the church.

THE HAGUE: Pope Benedict Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity

Joe.My.God. reports:

At the International Criminal Court in The Hague, representatives of victims of child abuse today filed a formal accusation against Pope Benedict and other top Catholic officials, charging them with crimes against humanity for enabling pedophile priests.

• The submission, lodged at The Hague on Tuesday, accuses the four men not only of failing to prevent or punish perpetrators of rape and sexual violence but also of engaging in the “systematic and widespread” practice of concealing sexual crimes around the world. It includes individual cases of abuse where letters and documents between Vatican officials and others show a refusal to co-operate with law enforcement agencies seeking to pursue suspects, according to the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US-based organisation that represents the claimants. Pam Spees, human rights attorney with CCR, said: “The point of this is to look at it from a higher altitude. You zoom out and the practices are identical: whistleblowers are punished, the refusal of the Vatican to co-operate with law enforcement agencies. You see the protection of priests and leaving them in the ministry and because of these decisions other children are raped and sexually assaulted.”

The above-linked report does not speculate on what legal repercussions, if any, this complaint may actually have on the Vatican or those accused.

UPDATE: The Catholic League’s Bill Donohue reacts.

• Most cases of molestation did not involve children, and they did not involve rape. The most common victim was a post-pubescent male victimized by homosexuals, the most common offense being “inappropriate touching.” The figures being bandied about are nothing more than a wild guess provided by the Church’s critics; they bear no relationship to reality. How do we know? Because when hard data are available on these matters, the projections are proven wholly inaccurate. Moreover, it is a lie to say that sexual abuse is being covered up at the highest levels of the Vatican. The homosexual scandal took place during the sexual revolution, and most of the offenses ended a quarter-century ago. To charge otherwise is scurrilous. The Holy See is not a member of the ICC, making it difficult to prosecute. Nonetheless, the Catholic League will contact the ICC today, providing documentation of our own that demonstrates how partisan this complaint really is.

See how that Donohue son of a bitch calls those incidents as “the homosexual scandal”?

Ad In “El Paso Times”: Gays Are Putrid 

The Advocate reports:

The main newspaper in El Paso, Texas, published a full-page ad Saturday from a right-wing priest who calls gays “immoral,”“putrid,” and “depraved.”

The paid advertisement in the El Paso Times, titled “True Pastoral Care for Homosexuals,” is from Friar Michael Rodriguez of El Paso’s San Juan Bautista Catholic Church. The virulently antigay and antichoice Rodriguez first writes about showing compassion for gay people before explaining how gays are destructive sinners. 

“Engaging in depraved and unnatural sexual acts will lead directly to the ruin of both the homosexual’s body and soul,” Rodriguez writes. “Our very anatomy cries out against the lie that homosexual acts are ‘ok.’”

Rodriguez closes his screed by saying we live in a “godless society” that condones homosexuality.

“Reflect, first there are (a) individuals committing mortal sins of a homosexual nature; next, evil extends its tentacles to (b) society as a whole accepting homosexual and homosexual activity as ‘normal”; and finally, iniquity’s victory is all but sealed when (c) laws are enacted which impose the putrid homosexual ideology on everyone, while those who, rightfully resist it, are ridiculed, attacked, and persecuted,” Rodriguez writes.

The ad claims that the statements don’t reflect the views of the El Paso Times, a newspaper that reaches more than 108,000 people daily. A phone message was left with the newspaper regarding the publication’s advertising policies, but as of late Monday the call was not returned.

Well, that’s what I’d call “Christian Love”. 

Wanna say something to that son of a bitch? Here are all the contact details for Father Rodriguez! 

UPDATE: Apparently the newspaper is distancing itself from the Pastor’s stand on the issue:

According to the newspaper [El Paso Times], diocesan officials maintain that the ads are the personal views and opinions of Rev. Michael Rodriguez of San Juan Bautista Catholic Church, who authored them (an unidentified couple in Plano, Texas reportedly paid for the ads to be published). 

Pope Denounces Gay Marriage

Joe.My.God. reports:

Speaking to an estimated crowd of 1.5 million, yesterday Emperor Palpatine told pilgrims at Spain’s World Youth Day that marriage could only exist between a man and woman.

“The Lord calls many people to marriage, in which a man and a woman, in becoming one flesh, find fulfilment in a profound life of communion,” he told the young pilgrims. “For this reason, to acknowledge the beauty and goodness of marriage is to realize that only a setting of fidelity and indissolubility, along with an openness to God’s gift of live, is adequate to the grandeur and dignity of marital love.” The Roman Catholic Church has condemned the sweeping liberal reforms brought in by Spain’s Socialist government in recent years, including easier access to abortion, gay marriage and fast-track divorce.

Ill Papa was unable to finish his address because God decided to whip up a violent thunderstorm, knocking off Benedict’s tiara and blowing over the tent on the stage. SRSLY.Speaking to an estimated crowd of 1.5 million, yesterday Emperor Palpatine told pilgrims at Spain’s World Youth Day that marriage could only exist between a man and woman.

“The Lord calls many people to marriage, in which a man and a woman, in becoming one flesh, find fulfilment in a profound life of communion,” he told the young pilgrims. “For this reason, to acknowledge the beauty and goodness of marriage is to realize that only a setting of fidelity and indissolubility, along with an openness to God’s gift of live, is adequate to the grandeur and dignity of marital love.” The Roman Catholic Church has condemned the sweeping liberal reforms brought in by Spain’s Socialist government in recent years, including easier access to abortion, gay marriage and fast-track divorce.

Ill Papa was unable to finish his address because God decided to whip up a violent thunderstorm, knocking off Benedict’s tiara and blowing over the tent on the stage. SRSLY.

Spain: Police Bust Man Claiming Plot To “Kill Queers” At Anti-Papal Protest

Joe.My.God. reports:

“I have hydrochloric acid and 50 bottles of benzyl bromide, with that we can make a good asphyxiating mixture. We have less than eight days to get organised, to kill queers and in the name of God. Come on mates, we need some fertilizer, I repeat we do not need money, just bring fertilizer, naptha, gunpowder or matches or a lighter will do. The only aim is to kill these dirty queers. On their anti-pope march is a good time to get them together and impale them and then burn them as queers.” - Jose Alvano Perez Bautista, a Mexican national studying in Madrid. 

Here’s the news story about Bautista’s arrest.

A Mexican chemistry student accused by police of plotting a gas attack on anti-papal protesters said he only meant it as a “joke” and has been released from jail, a court said Thursday. Spain’s National Court said in a written ruling that 24-year-old Jose Alvano Perez Bautista’s comments on an Internet page could result in charges of making aggravated or even terrorist threats. The student, who was among 30,000 volunteers for World Youth Day celebrations led by Pope Benedict XVI, is accused of making threats on a page of online newspaper La Voz Libre (The Free Voice). Spanish police had originally accused him of actually plotting a gas attack on the protesters. “Obviously, this is a reduction in the level of crime because they did not find elements that could constitute hazardous tools for action,” Mexican embassy spokesman Bernardo Graue told AFP.

Bautista claims that his threats were only meant to incite fear and reduce attendance at the anti-Pope protests. He is a volunteer organizer for the Pope’s visit.

SPAIN: Catholic Pilgrims And Anti-Papal Protesters Clash On Madrid’s Streets

Spain: When A Kiss Is a Popemobile Protest

The Advocate reports:

A gay couple lock in a kiss while the Popemobile passes through the streets of Madrid. They were what was left of a foiled “kiss-in” protesting the Roman Catholic Church’s “moral condemnations of sexuality,” according to a Facebook page used to organize.

Hundreds of LGBT protesters planned to kiss while Pope Benedict XVI was en route through Madrid, but police blocked the protesters before they could meet up. The activists had planned to join up on the major artery Calle Serrano, along which the pope later traveled in his bulletproof white vehicle for a welcoming ceremony in Plaza Cibeles Square. — Lucas Grindley

ILLINOIS: Catholic Charities Loses Adoption Lawsuit Against State

Joe.My.God. reports:

An Illinois judge has ruled that the state acted legally when it canceled its adoption contract with Catholic Charities. The state’s move came after Catholic Charities declared that it would not abide by the new civil unions law and treat gay couples fairly.

• “The fact that the Plaintiffs have contracted with the State to provide foster care and adoption services for over forty years does not vest the Plaintiffs with a protected property interest,” Schmidt wrote in the judgment. “The State may refuse to renew the Plaintfiffs’ contracts.” The charities had claimed that the DCFS decision not to renew contracts was illegal under religious freedom protections and argued that they have a right to continue foster care work without compromising religious practice. “We believe that we do comply [ with the law ] because there is an exemption there,” said Thomas Brejcha, an attorney for the four charities. “To say that somehow our entities are the same as non-sectarian agencies is to say that alpha is the same as omega.”