The Worst of 2012 in Catholic LGBT News

As the year 2012 winds to a close, it’s time to review the news of the Catholic LGBT world of the past 12 months. In today’s post, we will look at the  stories of the worst happenings of the past year, and in tomorrow’s post, we will look at the best stories.  Bondings 2.0 asked you for your feedback on what the worst and best news stories of the past year were, so the ranking of these stories is based on your responses.  The percentage following each story is the percentage of people who chose this item as one of their top five. Thank you to all 311 of you who participated.

The Top Ten

1. The Parliament in Uganda, a pre-dominantly Catholic nation, re-introduces a bill to make the death penalty a possible sentence for lesbian and gay people.  16.34%

2. The Vatican censures the Leadership Conference of Women Religious for, among other things, their support of LGBT issues and New Ways Ministry. 15.69%

3. Pope Benedict opens the year by stating that new models of family are a threat to “human dignity and the future of humanity.” 14.05%

4. The Knights of Columbus have contributed $6.5 million to oppose marriage equality over the past seven years, according to an Equally Blessed report. 12.09%

5. A Catholic lesbian woman in Maryland is denied communion at her mother’s funeral Mass. 10.13% 

6. The Vatican censures Sister Margaret Farley, a theologian who has supported the moral goodness of gay and lesbian relationships. 6.86%  

7. U.S. bishops attempt to make religious liberty an issue as a way to defeat marriage equality initiatives. 6.54%

8. Minnesota teen is denied confirmation for supporting marriage equality. 4.9%

9 & 10. TIE:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The Catholic University of America again denies a request for recognition of a gay-straight alliance on campus. 2.29%                               Several Catholic church employees are fired because of their support of marriage equality. 2.29%

Other items:

In several cases, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development withdraws funding from organizations which support LGBT equality. 1.96% 

Catholic theologian Tina Beattie is disinvited from a fellowship appointment at the University of San Diego because of her support of marriage equality. 1.63%  

The U.S. Catholic bishops investigate the Girl Scouts of America for connections to liberal causes, including LGBT equality. 1.63%  

Minnesota’s Archbishop John Nienstedt instructs his priests not to speak publicly in support of marriage equality. 1.63%

A Catholic high school in Indianapolis refuses to call a female-to-male transgender student by his male name. 0.98%

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Catholic Mom Takes on U.S. Bishops

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has launched an on-line advocacy campaign directed to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, asking church leaders to back away from their expensive campaign against marriage equality.

James Servino (center) poses with siblings and his mother, Barbara Servino (second from right).

James Servino of HRC launched the campaign, which features a letter to Cardinal Dolan written by his mother, Barbara Servino.  He explains the campaign’s origin:

“My mother is amazing. She’s had my back from the second I came out to her – and long before that.

“When she heard that the leaders of our Roman Catholic Church had spent $2 million on anti-gay marriage ballot campaigns in this election, she wrote a letter to the top Catholic bishop in the U.S., sticking up for people like me. I think it’s a message he desperately needs to hear.”

You can join the campaign by adding your signature to Mrs. Servino’s letter, which reads:

To: His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York

Your Eminence,

I’ve been going to Catholic mass almost every week since I was a little girl. My aunts and uncles are nuns and priests. My husband was a member of the Knights of Columbus. We raised our kids in our parish community and sent them to Catholic schools. Catholicism is more than just a belief for me — it’s a deep seed of my identity.

And it has always taught me that God made us all, and loves us all the same. The same way I try to love all my kids. That’s why, when my incredible son told me he was gay, it didn’t change my love for him one bit.

He’s always my child.

That’s why I was outraged to learn that the leadership of our Church just spent $2 million on anti-gay marriage ballot campaigns. Think of all the positive things that $2 million could have accomplished. Think of the hungry fed, the sick comforted, the homeless sheltered. Instead you chose to use parishioners’ donations like mine to divide and discriminate.

Catholicism teaches us to love one another — not to attack our sons and daughters for simply wanting to make lifelong commitments and start families. You won’t have to ever marry a same-sex couple, but it makes no sense to deny them the right to be married under the law. And your parishioners aren’t going to stand for it much longer.

I think it’s time we all got on the right side of history. I hope you do, too.

Sincerely,
Barbara Servino

The deadline for the letter is this week, so sign it soon!

Another recent HRC blog post, from Anne Underwood, founder of Catholics for Marriage Equality, makes the case for why Catholics are supporting this cause.  Entitled “Pro-Equality and Roman Catholic Is Not an Oxymoron,” the essay explains why marriage equality is a Catholic issue:

I am pro-equality because I am a Catholic committed to freedom and fairness for all God’s people. The majority of U.S. Catholics — anywhere from 53% – 73%, according to 2012 polls — are like me.

Most people recognize that marriage equality could not have prevailed in ME, MD, MN and WA this fall if a majority of Catholics hadn’t voted for justice over their hierarchy’s preference for dogma. Over $2 million for dogma notwithstanding, Catholic faithful were not persuaded that their consciences were “improperly formed.” . . .

Vatican II confirmed Jesus’ teaching — it is the people of God, not their rulers, who represent the Kindom of God. We Catholics in the pews, the voting booths, at our lesbian and gay family and friends’ weddings – we are the Church. We are speaking proudly and increasingly loudly as Church.”

Though we’ve had our recent four-state success, there are still many more states to go before equality is the law of the land, and Catholics will play a decisive role in many of those struggles.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

 

 

Petition Asks Knights of Columbus to End Work Against Marriage Equality

Catholics United, a religious political organization, delivered a petition with 7,500 signatures to the headquarters of the Knights of Columbus, asking the fraternal organization to stop funding activities to oppose marriage equality.

According to the New Haven Register, two members of Catholics United delivered the signed petition to the  Knights’ New Haven offices just two days before Thanksgiving, noting that the Knights are out of step with mainstream Catholicism:

“The Knights of Columbus has done a lot of wonderful things over the years, but many Catholics across the country believe the Knights of Columbus has just become a wing of the Republican Party,” said Patrick Carolan, 58, of Stratford [Connecticut]. . . .

” ‘While they’re spending money to defeat gay marriage, well, that’s money that could be helping people around the world,’ Carolan said.”

The article contains a video interview with Mr. Carolan and Traugott Lawler of Hamden, a 75-year-old retired English professor from Yale University, as they delivered the petition.

The news article cited the report released earlier this year by Equally Blessed which detailed the Knights’ massive spending on marriage equality opposition over the past several years:

“The Knights have contributed at least $6.25 million to anti-gay marriage initiatives since 2005, federal income tax and campaign documents show. According to a report by the group Equally Blessed, the Knights gave $600,000 during the 2012 election cycle.”

Equally Blessed is a coalition of four Catholic organizations–Call To Action, DignityUSA, Fortunate Families, New Ways Ministry–which work for justice and equality for LGBT people in church and society.

An Associated Press story noted a statement by the head of Catholics United, the organization which collected the signatures on the petition:

” ‘As a young Catholic, I want my church to focus on serving the marginalized, not fighting for far-right political issues,’ said James Salt, executive director of Catholics United.”

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Catholic Coalition Celebrates Marriage Equality Electoral Victories

Equally Blessed, the coalition of four Catholic organizations which work for justice and equality for LGBT people has issued a statement on Election Day’s four marriage equality victories and the re-election of President Barack Obama.  Here’s the statement in its entirety:

“Like millions of other faithful Catholics, we watched with mounting excitement last night as election returns poured in from the four states in which marriage equality was on the ballot. By this morning we knew that Catholic voters and politicians had helped, in the words of the great abolitionist Theodore Parker, to bend the arc of history toward justice.

“In Maine, Maryland and Washington, faithful Catholics ignored the high-pressure tactics of their bishops and helped make marriage equality a reality. In Minnesota their votes were indispensable in defeating an amendment that would have made marriage equality unconstitutional.

“We congratulate Vice President Joe Biden, a faithful Catholic whose support for marriage equality helped persuade President Barack Obama to embrace our cause. We thank Governors Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Christine Gregoire of Washington, both Catholics, for leading the movement toward marriage equality in their states. We are also grateful to the many Catholic legislators who risked their political careers and the opprobrium of their bishops to vote as their consciences dictated on this important issue.

“Mostly, however, we want to share in a moment of prayerful joy with all the Catholic lay people who considered the teachings of their church, the promptings of their hearts and the leadings of the Holy Spirit and then helped make history.

“We hope that the rising Catholic tide of support for marriage equality will one day carry along our bishops as well. Their intransigence in refusing even to speak with groups that represent gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their families is becoming increasingly untenable. Their penchant for threatening Catholics who follow their own consciences in the voting booth is both theologically suspect and obviously ineffective. The millions of dollars that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Knights of Columbus spent attempting to crush the hopes of LGBT Catholics and their families could have been better spent to achieve more Christian ends. And their ongoing relationship with the National Organization for Marriage, even after its deliberate attempts to divide the electorate on racial grounds, is a scandal for which they have yet to answer.

“Despite loud and frequent warnings from their bishops, Catholics voted yesterday for President Barack Obama, and their votes were critical in passing marriage equality into law. The results of the election point to a crisis of credibility. Catholics are tired of watching their church’s leaders ride into the cultural wars in the ranks of the political right. It is time the bishops begin working with the People of God to heal the wounds in the Body of Christ.”

Equally Blessed is comprised of Call To Action, DignityUSA, Fortunate Families, New Ways Ministry.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

Maine Catholics Urge Others to Vote Their Consciences on Marriage Equality Referendum

As we come into the final week before Election Day, Catholics in Maine are becoming more public about their support for the state’s referendum to legalize marriage equality, while the Catholic bishop there is becoming more vocal about his opposition.

Catholics for Marriage Equality, the state’s organization of Catholic in favor of the referendum, took out quarter-page ads in three Maine newspapers this past Sunday urging people to vote for marriage equality.  100 Catholics across the state put their names to the ad to show their support.

In a Boston Globe news story, Anne Underwood, the lead organizer of Catholics for Marriage Equality, explained the background for the ad statement:

Anne Underwood

‘‘ ‘The premise is we support marriage for same-sex couples because it’s a matter of conscience,’’ said Underwood, an attorney from Topsham. ‘’And Catholics have an obligation to form their own consciences, especially on political issues and issues of morality.’ ’’

(You can view a video clip of an interview with Underwood by clicking here.)

The same news story quotes former governor of Maine, John Baldacci, a Catholic who is a strong supporter of marriage equality:

‘‘While we’re tremendously respectful, we also recognize that God gave us the ability of free choice and to be able to follow our hearts. When we see people who want to make a lifelong commitment to each other, that’s something we should be praising and supporting.’’

Baldacci recently hosted two spaghetti dinners to raise awareness for the marriage equality referendum.

Meanwhile, the state’s Bishop Richard Malone, the state’s Catholic ordinary who is governing the diocese from his new diocese in Buffalo, New York, issued a statement that any Catholic who votes for marriage equality is opposing Catholic doctrine.  He stated, in part:

Bishop Richard Malone

‘‘A Catholic whose conscience has been properly formed by scripture and church teachings cannot justify a vote for a candidate or referendum question that opposes the teachings of the church. The definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, open to the birth of children, is a matter of established Catholic doctrine.’’

In response to the bishop’s statement, a Catholics for Marriage Equality spokesperson encouraged Catholics to vote as their conscience directs them:

“ ‘Emotionally, I have to say I’m disappointed and embarrassed a little bit that he would put out a statement like this,’ Frank O’Hara of Catholics for Marriage Equality said Thursday in a telephone interview. ‘In some respect, I think the bishop is overstepping the bounds of church teaching by telling Catholics how we should vote on an issue.’ ”

“O’Hara, 62, of Hallowell said he and other Catholics who support same-sex marriage will be voting their consciences on Election Day.

“’The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “man must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience,’” O’Hara said in a statement issued late Thursday afternoon by Catholics for Marriage Equality. ‘Bishops cannot ask Catholics to vote against their consciences. No council has ever given them the authority to dictate obedience in matters of politics and civil government.’

“O’Hara agreed with Malone that Catholics for Marriage Equality does not speak for the Catholic church or every Catholic in Maine.

“ ‘We do, however, speak for an important group of Catholics, all of whom are part of the universal church,’ he said. ‘In this perspective, the bishop does not speak for all Catholics either, at least insofar as politics and government are concerned.’ “

In a related item, the Knights of Columbus have recently donated $100,000 to the campaign in Maine opposed to the marriage equality referendum, according to a news story in the Kennebec Journal. 

--Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Human Rights Campaign Report Details Catholic Funding to Oppose Marriage Equality

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a national LGBT equality political group, has released a report detailing the significant contributions that Catholics groups have been making to anti-marriage equality efforts in four states where marriage rights are on the ballot this fall:  Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington State.

According to LBGTQNation.com,

“The HRC report finds that the Church has spent at least $1.1 million as part of its broader effort to deny gay and lesbian couples committed couples the right to marry.

“In addition, a close ally of the Church and past co-conspirator, the National Organization for Marriage, has spent nearly $1.4 million on the four ballot measures. In the aggregate, the Church and NOM are the single largest funders of discrimination, responsible for funding nearly 60 percent of all anti-equality efforts in Minnesota, Maryland, Maine and Washington.”

According to the HuffingtonPost.com, the HRC’s leader identifies the Catholic Churchas the top donor opposing marriage equality among religious institutions:

“ ‘The Catholic Church hierarchy has positioned itself as the leading religious organization funding discrimination against LGBT people,’ said HRC President Chad Griffin, in a press release that highlighted recent polling from the Public Religion Research Institute, which found that a majority of Catholics support same-sex marriage.

“ ‘Perhaps most disturbing is the number of local parishes redirecting the hard-earned dollars of its members in the name of discrimination,’ Griffin said. ‘The Church hierarchy owes the laity an explanation as to why they are spending this much money on discrimination, and at what cost to other crucial Church programs.’ ”

The HRC report was released on the same day that another report detailing major contributions against marriage equality efforts from the Knights of Columbus.  This second report was commissioned by Equally Blessed, a coalition of Catholic organizations which work for equality and justice for LGBT people in church and society.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has a news article which focuses on the amounts spent in Minnesota where a proposed constitutional ban against marriage equality is on the ballot this fall:

“From the $3,000 sent by Catholics in Baton Rouge, La., to the $500 from the Diocese of Austin, Texas, more than two dozen dioceses and archdioceses have dug deep for the local effort. The largest contributions came from closer to home, with the dioceses of Crookston, St. Cloud and Winona putting up $50,000 apiece.

“The Knights of Columbus, the nation’s largest Catholic fraternal organization, has contributed more than $130,000 to Minnesota’s effort.

“The money is all flowing to the Minnesota Catholic Conference Marriage Defense Fund, a political organization that has contributed more than half of the $1.2 million raised by the pro-amendment Minnesota for Marriage. Reports filed recently with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board detail the contributions to Minnesota from across the country.”

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Knights of Columbus’ Financial Opposition to Marriage Equality Revealed

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal order, have emerged as one of the major funders of political activity opposed to marriage equality initiatives across the nation, according to a report released yesterday.

The report, entitled “The Strong Right Arm of the Bishops:  The Knights of Columbus and Anti-Marriage Equality Funding,” was commissioned by Equally Blessed, a coalition of four national Catholics organizations–Call To Action, DignityUSA, Fortunate Families, New Ways Ministry– that work for justice and equality for LGBT people in church and society.

The New York Times summarized the main points of the report:

“Between 2005 and 2012, the Knights channeled $6.5 million to campaigns against same-sex marriage – most of it to political campaigns in 12 states to pass ballot measures that would ban marriage for gays and lesbians. . .

“The report, based on public Internal Revenue Service forms and campaign filings, said that the $6.5 million was probably an undercount because the Knights have not yet filed their I.R.S. forms for 2011 or 2012.

“The report found that $1.9 million of the total went to the National Organization for Marriage, a group that has coordinated statewide campaigns to pass anti-gay marriage initiatives.  Gay marriage initiatives are on the ballot in four states in November: Washington, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota.”

More details about the report can be read in Equally Blessed’s summary.  The entire report can be read here.

The New York Times also reports the reaction of one Knight to the report:

“Edmund Burg, who joined the Knights of Columbus 65 years ago when he returned from serving in the Pacific theater, said he was close to following the example of a friend and resigning his membership.

“Mr. Burg lives in Minnesota, where the Knights and the Catholic bishops have backed an amendment to change the state Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.  Mr. Burg said he learned about the Knights’ involvement only after reading news media reports revealing that the Knights had helped to pay to send a DVD opposing gay marriage to about 400,000 Catholic households, including his.

“ ‘It’s really shameful that an organization like the Knights of Columbus that does a lot of good work, goes and smears their record by supporting something like anti-gay marriage,’ said Mr. Burg, a Catholic who said he supports his local parish but is disillusioned with the bishops.”

The Knights of Columbus’ national office offered a response to the report:

“Patrick Korten, a spokesman for the Knights, said about financing the campaigns: ‘Of course, we get involved in all of them. We supply volunteers, we give money. We are one with the church on the subject of preserving traditional man-and-woman marriage. And that should come as a great surprise to no one.’ . . .

“In a two-sentence statement released on Thursday, the Knights of Columbus said that they support “Catholic Social Teaching and the bishops of the Catholic Church, and some resources have long been dedicated to promoting that teaching on moral issues.”

“The statement did not contest the $6.2 million figure, but pointed out that in the same time period the group had also donated more than $1 billion to charitable causes.”

Equally Blessed’s members offered comment on the report:

Marianne Duddy-Burke, DignityUSA: “Carl Anderson is using the good name that the Knights have developed over generations as cover while pursuing policies and making alliances that many Catholics find deeply troubling when they learn about them.”

David Saavedera, Call To Action: “The Knights portray themselves as representatives of a broad Catholic tradition, but they have become culture warriors. Most U. S. Catholics support marriage equality, and even those who have doubts are put off by these hardline tactics.”

Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry: “So many of us have memories of our fathers and grandfathers putting on their Knights’ regalia to march in parades and participate in special Masses. We remember them raising scholarship money so Catholic kids could go to college. It is deeply disheartening to know that this same organization is requiring its members to contribute to campaigns aimed at making sure that some of those kids are treated as second-class citizens.”

Mary Ellen Lopata, Fortunate Families [In response to the report's information which showed that the Knights' chaplain was instrumental in the investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious earlier this year]: “It is a shame to see the Knights using their influence against women who have served the church so well for so long.”

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Related Articles:

The Washington Post: “Report: Knights of Columbus and allies are leading funders of anti-gay marriage drives”

ReligionDispatches.com: “Most U.S. Catholics Back Marriage Equality, But Knights of Columbus Pour Millions into Opposition”

National Catholic Reporter: “Knights of Columbus key contributor against same-sex marriage”

Knights of Columbus Donating $$$ and Time to Minnesota Marriage Ban

The Knights of Columbus have donated substantial amounts of money and volunteer time towards the passage of Minnesota’s constitutional ban against marriage equality, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

According to the news story by Baird Helgeson:

“The state branch of the Knights has spent months raising money, staffing phone banks and leading seminars urging people to vote for the measure. The Minnesota Knights of Columbus are following a battle-tested formula used in several other states that passed marriage amendments. The local chapters quietly provide fundraising and crucial organizational infrastructure while the national organization pumps millions of dollars into major groups masterminding the effort to block laws around the country allowing same-sex marriage. . . .

“In the last four years, the group has given at least $3.6 million to groups leading marriage fights across the country. Now the group is trying to make its mark in Minnesota, and has directly given more than $130,000 to the fight.

“The Minnesota chapters so far have given at least $31,000 to pro-amendment groups. The national headquarters has given another $100,000.”

The Minnesota State Catholic Conference says it is no secret that the Knights have long been part of their strategy to pass the marriage ban amendment:

” ‘They are part of the grass-roots team, there’s no doubt about that,’ said Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, which is working to pass the measure. ‘We are grateful for the support of the Knights of Columbus.’

“The Knights were involved in the Minnesota marriage issue long before Republicans in the Legislature succeeded in getting the measure on the ballot.

“In 2010, the group created DVDs that carried an anti-gay marriage message from the Twin Cities archdiocese to 400,000 Catholic households — a move that angered many Catholics more supportive of same-sex marriage.”

A number of Minnesota Catholics are upset with the Knights’ involvement in politics:

” ‘I don’t think it is at all clear to the congregations,’ said Greg Seivert, a lifelong Catholic from Mendota Heights. When he was growing up, Seivert said, the Knights ‘were a charitable group that did the work of charity and mercy. This strikes me as a very different role. I would be very leery of contributing in any sort of way with their involvement in this political brouhaha.’ “

Figures about the  donations that the Knights have made to various causes show that working against marriage equality is one of their priorities:

“[The Knights] spent $850,000 for wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs for survivors of the Haiti earthquake; it gave money for playgrounds in Europe and for programs that promote peace in the Middle East and Africa. In Stamford, Conn., the Knights bought more than 1,000 turkeys for people in need. In Washington, D.C., the group gave $100,000 to promote programs to better include disabled people in the Catholic Church’s ministry.

“That same year, the group gave at least $700,000 to marriage-related efforts.

“The year before, the Knights gave more than $1 million to the National Organization for Marriage, a driving force behind marriage-related measures across the country.

“In 2008, it gave more than $1.4 million to the group backing California’s Proposition 8, which successfully added a same-sex marriage ban to that state’s constitution.

” ‘They are definitely a force and have been very helpful,’ said Frank Schubert, who ran the Proposition 8 campaign and now is running Minnesota for Marriage, the lead group pushing the marriage amendment.”

The article also points out that national organizations which support marriage equality have also been keeping their eyes on the Knights’ involvement:

“Sharon Groves, director of the Human Rights Campaign’s religious and faith program, said the group’s secrecy is most troubling. The myriad entities shuffling money around to marriage-related groups makes tracking the group’s contributions nearly impossible, she said.

” ‘The Knights are really an organization pulling the wool over the eyes of many Catholics,’ Groves said. ‘They do a lot of important work, but people are being sold a bill of goods, thinking that all this work is helping the needy when really it is going toward some pretty sinister stuff.’ “

Such revelations about the Knights’ involvement against marriage equality is not new, but what is new is how widespread and deep their involvement is.  Bondings 2.0 has carried previous stories about the Knights’ work.  They can be accessed by clicking on the titles below my signature.

The real question is how rank and file Knights will respond when they learn that the money they have been raising has been going to this type of work, and not to charitable organizations.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Related Posts

December 10, 2011: The Minnesota DVDs

February 6, 2012: Following the Knights of Columbus Money Trail

April 5, 2012: Just Say “No” to NOM

August 2, 2012: Knights’ Work Against Marriage Equality Tarnishes Their Catholic Tradition

 

 

 

Knights’ Work Against Marriage Equality Tarnishes Their Catholic Tradition

The Knights of Columbus’ history of charity is quickly becoming tarnished by their huge financial investment of funds in campaigns to defeat marriage equality proposals across the United States.

Michael O’Keefe, the former vice-president for the Knights’ insurance division, recently criticized this political involvement in an op-ed essay in Maine’s Portland Press Herald.

After recounting how the Knights of Columbus began as a ministry because of anti-Catholic discrimination and “to alleviate the suffering this discrimination caused and to create a life insurance program to protect the economic stability and security of these families,” O’Keefe goes on to observe:

“From 2008 to 2010, the Knights of Columbus has donated more than $3 million to weaken the stability and security of gay and lesbian families by funding campaigns to deny same-sex couples the freedom to marry. I urge the Knights of Columbus to remember its history and its pro-family principles and to stop funding campaigns that write discrimination into the laws of Maine and other states.”

O’Keefe is a person who is a natural “bridge” between the worlds of the Knights of Columbus and the LGBT community.  He explains:

“I am the proud father of seven wonderful sons, the youngest of whom is gay. I have enjoyed nothing more than to watch them all grow into the men, the husbands, the fathers and even the Knights they have become.

“I was saddened when I realized how much my youngest struggled to reconcile his Catholic heritage with being born gay. I struggled as well, but it was through love that I accepted and embraced him. This struggle made me a better man and father, and I will be forever grateful for that.

“I am extremely proud of the happy young man he has become and look forward to the day when I can celebrate his marriage just as I have the marriages of his older brothers.

“For 11 years, I worked for the Knights of Columbus, and before my retirement I was a vice president of the organization’s insurance division.”

And his purpose is not to “trash” the Knights, but to make sure that they uphold the best traditions of their organization:

“I was and still am deeply proud to see the fruits of our hard work change this world for the better. This is why I was so disheartened to learn that millions of dollars raised through our insurance programs for charity were being used to fund discriminatory political campaigns.

“In 2009, the Knights of Columbus was the third-largest donor in the drive to repeal marriage equality here in Maine. The Knights of Columbus has donated more than $1 million to the National Organization for Marriage, which is now in its third year of investigation by Maine’s ethics commission for allegedly violating the state’s campaign-finance disclosure laws.

“I fear the Knights of Columbus could jeopardize its charitable work if it continues to support an organization that might be breaking political laws.

“It is certainly within the scope of the mission of the Knights of Columbus to uphold the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding marriage as an example of sacrificial love. It is also within the rights and mission of the Knights of Columbus to present in a positive light a traditional view of marriage as we have known it.

“However, we should all guard against supporting political initiatives that institutionalize discrimination in any form. We must strike a middle ground that recognizes and respects differences of opinion and allows for real civil discourse.”

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

U.S. Bishops Launch Campaign to Bolster Idea that Religious Liberty Is at Stake

N.Y.’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan supporting the Fortnight for Freedom

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have launched their “Fortnight for Freedom,” a two-week campaign that will include prayer vigils, rallies, and media activity designed to send a message that religious freedom is under attack in the United States.

Support for marriage equality among many voters, states, and the federal government is cited as one of the reasons the bishops designed this project.  According to an Associated Press article in The Washington Post:

“While the religious freedom campaign includes protests against state laws and policies, the bishops’ immediate target is the mandate President Barack Obama announced in January that most employers provide health insurance that covers birth control. Federal officials said the rule was critical to women’s health by helping them space out pregnancies.

“Critics have accused the bishops of organizing the campaign as a partisan assault on Obama in an election year. But church leaders insist they have no partisan agenda and blame the timing on when federal officials approved the rule.

“ ‘In only the past few years, we’ve experienced rampant disregard for religious beliefs in this country,’ wrote New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in an e-book released for the ‘Fortnight’ effort. Among the examples he cites are approval for embryonic stem cell research, legal justification for torturing prisoners and support for same-sex marriage.”

According to an article in USA Today:

“The target audience is as much within the church as outside it, says political scientist and Jesuit priest Thomas Reese. Although bishops can call on every priest in every diocese to participate in Fortnight events, ‘those priests who agree and who don’t like Obama will preach on it every Sunday. And the ones who don’t agree will throw (the bishops’ materials) in the circular file.’ “

“Sister Pat McCann, blogging for the Sisters of Mercy, said, ‘Churches legitimately influence public debate and help to shape policy by raising a significant voice about moral implications of issues which beset us, but no church gets to establish policy one hundred per cent its own way.’ “

“Reese said Catholics are ‘voting with their cars’ by driving off to a church where they’re not ‘harangue’” on issues that make them uncomfortable.”

“Most Catholics (57 percent), like most Americans (68 percent), don’t buy the bishops’ case that the right of religious liberty is under threat, said a March survey of 1,007 adults by the Public Religion Research Institute.”

According to a Religion News Service article in The Houston Chronicle, the complex funding mechanism the U.S. bishops have used to pay for the “Fortnight for Freedom” campaign.  Cited in the article, criticizing the bishops is Steve Schneck, director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington:

“ ‘The Knights of Columbus are clearly one of the major sources of funding (against the mandate), as well as other fraternal organizations,’ Schneck said.

“The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charitable group based in New Haven, Conn., says it’s the world’s largest lay Catholic organization. Knights of Columbus life insurance sales neared $8 billion in 2010, and last year, it contributed $158 million to charity. In the last decade, the Knights have donated more than $1 billion to charity.

“The group’s 2010 tax forms show that the Knights gave more than $3 million to the Vatican that year, nearly $2 million to the U.S. bishops conference and $25,000 to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has guided much of the legal action against the contraception mandate.

“The group must disclose more recent donations in its 2011 tax forms. But Andrew Walther, a Knights of Columbus spokesman, said the group has asked for an extension in filing the documents, making them unavailable until the fall.

“In 2010, the Knights were also generous with their contributions to individual bishops, doling out nearly $350,000 for a variety of programs in various dioceses. Of that, $248,700, or 71 percent, went to Lori’s former Diocese of Bridgeport.

“Lori — who is the man most directly in charge of the Fortnight for Freedom campaign — has been the Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus since 2005.

“The Knights did not respond to requests for an interview about the organization’s involvement with the bishops’ campaign, but the organization has dedicated recent issues of its monthly magazine to the topic of religious liberty.

“John Gehring, Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, a liberal advocacy group in Washington, said while the Knights’ charitable works was ‘commendable … its leadership has steered a fraternal organization into political waters in ways that should raise questions.’

“Asked by reporters in Atlanta last week if the Knights’ involvement in the religious liberty campaign introduces at least the perception of partisanship, Lori said no. Other groups have contributed to the campaign, he said, mentioning Our Sunday Visitor and the Order of Malta.

“ ‘Think of what the Knights of Columbus does for the Catholic Church and for many other humanitarian causes,’ he said. ‘To try to say that is in some way partisan is … an injustice.’ ”

National Public Radio interviewed some lay Catholics in the Washington, DC region and found a number of them opposed to the Fortnight for Freedom:

“Marion McCartney, who attends the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, D.C., opposes the bishops’ campaign. She’s part of a group, Blessed Sacrament Families United in Faith and Action, that wrote a letter to its pastor, saying the partisan nature of the campaign is ‘a step too far.’

” ‘Nobody’s religious freedom is at stake. That’s just ridiculous!’ McCartney says. Is ‘[Health and Human Services Secretary] Kathleen Sebelius going to come and close all the church doors? I mean, it’s just foolishness.’

A”nother member of that group is Jim Zogby, who has worked on human-rights issues overseas. He says the U.S. bishops were spoiling for a fight over social issues with the Obama administration.

” ‘They declared war on the administration, and we the faithful are paying the price for it,’ Zogby says. ‘Our religious freedom, our ability to simply go to church, worship, feel a community, feel safe in that community’ has been compromised

” ‘We’re now being put in the middle of a partisan fight, and that’s wrong.’

“His wife, Eileen, says Blessed Sacrament, with its mix of liberals and conservatives, has always put politics aside. Not now. At a recent parish meeting about religious freedom, people began attacking President Obama, she says, getting more and more heated.

” ‘Until finally one person leaned forward and he said, “Well, I have seen cars in our parking lot with Obama stickers on them, and they are complicit in all of this.” And I thought, “Well I guess I’m not welcome here, because I have an Obama sticker on my car.” ‘ ”

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry