Palm Sunday, Oscar Romero, and LGBT Human Rights in El Salvador

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, when we remember Jesus’ suffering and passion, in anticipation of the great victory of Easter.   This date, March 24th, also is the 33rd anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who was murdered by a military gunman while saying Mass at a hospital chapel.  Archbishop Romero had been an outspoken supporter of human rights in El Salvador, during a time of great repression and unrest that became a terribly bloody civil war.

Sister Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry make presentations at the first conference on LGBT human rights in El Salvador.

Peace exists now in El Salvador, but that nation is once again involved in a great human rights struggle, this time concerning LGBT issues.  A week and a half ago,  I had the great privilege to travel to El Salvador with New Ways Ministry’s Co-Founder, Sister Jeannine Gramick, where both of us participated in that country’s first national conference on LGBT human rights.  We made presentations there on the topic of “Religious Communities as Promoters of Human Rights,” speaking about how the Catholic Church’s human rights and social justice traditions compel Catholics to work to make sure that equality and justice exist for LGBT people.

It was a great honor to participate in this program, and to witness the courage and fortitude of LGBT people and allies who are daily faced with threats of violence if they dare to live openly and honestly about their identities.  The conference, entitled “Happiness and Sexual Diversity as Human Rights,” was sponsored by ALDES, an organization which works for human rights for LGBT Salvadorans both from inside that country and from the United States.   Speakers on the program came from both countries, representing legal, political, religious, and human rights backgrounds.

One of the most amazing things about the conference is that it took place on the campus of the University of Central America, in San Salvador, the capital.  This is a Catholic school, run by the Jesuits–the same place where six Jesuits and their two housekeepers were assassinated during the civil war.   Omar Serrano, the school’s vice-rector for social outreach warmly welcomed the over 300 participants to this revered Catholic institution.

Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte (center) with Sister Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo.

On the eve of the conference’s opening, the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, the Honorable Mari Carmen Aponte, hosted a reception for Salvadoran and United States conference presenters at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador.  Ambassador Aponte, who has written forcefully about the importance of LGBT rights in El Salvador, pledged her support for the conference and for continuing the dialogue between the U.S. and El Salvador on this matter.

Bondings 2.0 will provide further coverage of this important event, but it seemed appropriate to mark it on this day which commemorates the value of redemptive suffering.  The civil war is over in El Salvador,  but a new struggle for human rights and questions of sexual and gender identity have now taken center stage.  May the witness of Archbishop Oscar Romero, and all the Salvadoran martyrs, guide this new struggle peacefully.  May people of faith in El Salvador be as courageous and passionate in speaking up for LGBT equality as Archbishop Romero was in speaking up for the human rights of all people.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

CAMPUS CHRONICLES: Sr. Jeannine Gramick Speaks of Hope at Stonehill College

Sr. Jeannine speaking at Stonehill College (Credit: Daniel Gardiner)

Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, spoke with the Stonehill College community recently about her experiences in LGBT ministry and hopes for the future.  This event came at a critical juncture for colleges run by the  Holy Cross Fathers, whose campuses have seen signs of progress and regression in the last year around LGBT issues.

Over a hundred students and faculty filled the lecture hall, warmly receiving Sr. Jeannine for nearly two hours of dialogue. The event’s co-sponsors included PRIDE, the Moreau Honors Program, the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, the Moore Center for Gender Equity, and faculty members from the Religious Studies Department. Reviews from those in attendance extolled not only the importance of discussing LGBT issues within Catholic higher education, but of doing so in the hope-filled way Sr. Jeannine demonstrated.

An article in the campus newspaper, The Summit, captured faculty reactions for those who participated in the evening, including that of Fr. George Piggford who teaches English:

“I think that Sister Jeannine Gramick’s witness and her ministry is incredibly powerful…I have a great deal of respect for her willingness to live according to her conscience, and to discern, not just on her own, but in conversation with other people, how she feels God is leading her to minister to other people.”

Sister Jeannine Gramick

Students also responded positively over social media. Daniel Gardiner wrote a blog post titled “I am the vine; you are the branches” based on his reflections from the evening with Sr. Jeannine. He lauded the event for exposing students to new perspectives, writing about Sr. Jeannine’s lecture:

“Her message was strong and her passion was palpable…

“The bulk of her presentation was centered on ‘signs of hope’ which demonstrate what she believes to be a changing attitude in the Catholic Church toward the LGBT community. She speaks of the church in terms of the masses of people rather than the men who make up the hierarchy and cites polling that indicates a growing sense of support among Catholic people for LGBT individuals and even same-sex marriage. This was her first sign of hope.

“Her second sign of hope came through the success of the ministry which she founded. Gramick insisted that New Ways Ministry is not advocating for a triumph of new ideas over old, but rather, the simple idea that God loves all his children just the way they are. While this ministry has faced significant scrutiny since its inception during the seventies, there has also been tremendous support for the mission of New Ways and for Sister Jeannine herself.

“Another sign of hope has been the changes Gramick has seen in the institutional structures of the church…After citing scripture, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches,’ Gramick explained that we are all rooted in God’s love, there are individuals who comprise the right branches, like Pope Benedict, and individuals who comprise the left, like Sister Jeannine, but it is in our common point of origin that we can move the conversation forward.”

Stonehill’s invitation to Sr. Jeannine came in the midst of Holy Cross-run campuses across the country engaging LGBTQ issues due to growing student advocacy. The University of Notre Dame recently released a pastoral plan to address sexual orientation and gender issues in the wake of students agitating for fifteen years, while the University of Portland witnesses renewed controversy of disparaging comments by their president recently. Stonehill College itself just recently listened to student input by beginning to implement sexual orientation into College non-discrimination policies. In the midst of all this, student Gardiner blogged:

“Our institution was founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross and our Catholic identity is something of which we are very cognizant. By bringing Sister Jeannine to our campus and welcoming her discussion among our students, faculty and staff, we are sending a very clear signal that not only are we an open minded community but a community which fosters rich discussion on the topics that may be marked as controversial but we deem as important and worthwhile. Bravo, Stonehill.”

New Ways Ministry echoes Daniel’s applause and continues to support LGBT students and their allies at Catholic universities and colleges. For a full listing of gay-friendly Catholic colleges and universities, visit newwaysministry.org/gfc. For further information on New Ways Ministry’s efforts in Catholic higher education and to get involved or seek support, contact me at youngadults@newwaysministry.org.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

Pope Benedict’s Resignation Inspires Hope for an LGBT-Positive Catholicism

As Pope Benedict XVI resigns today, intensified analysis of his tenure at the Vatican continues while speculation over the next pope heats up. Undeniably, the outgoing pope’s record on LGBT issues is extremely negative. Looking to the Church’s recent history to help formulate the future is an essential task as we transition, and many Catholic commentators approach Benedict’s tenure within the larger context of a Church still uneasy with sexual orientation and gender identity.

Writing in National Catholic Reporter, Thomas Fox details the intricate relationship the institutional Church has had with LGBT matters, placing Pope Benedict XVI as a central figure in creating a hostile environment:

“For at least the last five decades, Catholic pronouncements on gay Catholic issues have been at least ambivalent and even sometimes contradictory. They have included exhortations on pastoral care and inclusivity and at the same time admonitions against gay lifestyles and warnings to gay Catholic organizations…

“Much of the current theological and social environment in which the church ministers — or does not minister — to gay Catholics was formed during the papacy of Pope John Paul II when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued statements on homosexuality.

“Repeatedly, Ratzinger placed doctrinal enforcement over pastoral considerations. In the process, he built the reputation of being ‘God’s Rottweiler.’”

Fox elucidates on the main documents and moments since Vatican II that have created a pendulum-like engagement by the bishops, heavily emphasizing that Cardinal Ratzinger, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led the charge against pro-gay Catholic organizations and figures. Now, as a new papacy is to begin, some of Pope Benedict’s victims speak optimistically of moving forward:

“New Ways Ministry’s executive director, Francis DeBernardo, said he is cautiously hopeful looking into the future. He said he hopes the next pope will be listener.

“[New Ways Ministry co-founder Sr. Jeannine] Gramick said she wants the papal war on gay people to end.

“‘The church,’ she said, ‘requires a future pope with a pastoral heart who is willing to listen and engage in dialogue.’”

At least in this sede vacante ["empty seat"] period, hopes for a positive papacy arriving in March persist. Theologian Hans Kung, speaking to the German magazine Der Spiegel, expressed the following desires for a new pope that would move Catholicism forward:

“A pope who is not intellectually stuck in the Middle Ages, one who does not represent mediaeval theology, liturgy and religious order. I would like to see a pope who is open first to suggestions for reform and secondly, to the modern age. We need a pope who not only preaches freedom of the Church around the world but also supports, with his words and deeds, freedom and human rights within the Church — of theologians, women and all Catholics who want to speak the truth about the state of the Church and are calling for change.”

In an interview, Terry Weldon of Queering the Church expresses a much longer-term desire:

“One day we will have a gay pope, as we’ve had before and that would be terrific…It’s probably too early now, but I would certainly expect that there will be a time when there will be a pope who is openly gay and willing to admit it. That would be a sign of health in the Church.”

Whether a openly gay pope emerges from the Conclave or not, LGBT advocates must now enter into a prayerful period that an accepting and welcoming Spirit will come upon whichever cardinal assumes the papacy.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

Christmas Party for New Ways Ministry Volunteers

At the New Ways Ministry Volunteer Christmas Party, staff and volunteers join “Santa” in sending a pro-marriage equality message. Standing: Vern Smith, Patrick McNelis, David Lamdin, David Vespa; Seated: Mark Clark, Thom Krupa, Bob Shine (dressed as Santa), Matthew Myers; Kneeling: Sister Jeannine Gramick

As Christmas draws near,  we’d like to share a little holiday cheer from New Ways Ministry by presenting this photograph of our annual dinner party for our dedicated volunteers.  We took a moment during the party to send a message of Catholic support for marriage equality to all.

Almost every Tuesday evening, a group of volunteers from the local Washington, DC metropolitan area stop by New Ways Ministry’s offices in Mount Rainier, Maryland, to help us prepare the bulk mailings that we send out to our constituents and supporters.  Without these volunteers,  our communications folks around the country and the globe would be much slower and more expensive.  These stalwart worker help spread the word about our programs of education, spiritual development, and advocacy on Catholic LGBT issues.

We are extremely grateful for their service.  If you live in the DC metro area and are interested in volunteering some time, please contact New Ways Ministry either by phone, 301-277-5674, or email, info@NewWaysMinistry.org, so that we can let you know what the upcoming schedule is.

The work is not difficult, and it’s a great way of spending an evening together with like-minded souls.  We always end each evening with pizza and soda as refreshments.

We’d love to see you some volunteer night in 2013!

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Blog Birthday Redux

At the end of last month, we celebrated the first anniversary for the Bondings 2.0 blog, with several posts marking this milestone.

New Ways Ministry co-founder Sister Jeannine Gramick poses with Bondings 2.0′s birthday cake!

Here at New Ways Ministry, we also had some “offline” celebrations, including a birthday cake for the blog!

If you are able to support the blog into the new year, we suggest two different ways:

1) Make a contribution to the blog by clicking the “Contribute” tab above.  Please make sure to write the word “blog” in the “Comments” box of the donation form to which you will be directed.

2) Take a moment to complete our survey of Bondings 2.0 readers by clicking the “Reader Survey” tab above.  Your answers will provide us valuable information so that we can make the blog more effective, meaningful, and convenient for you and other readers.

Thanks for your continued support of this blog and of LGBT Catholic issues!

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

Rest in Peace: Bishop Walter Sullivan

Bishop Walter Sullivan

With a heavy heart, we report the passing of Bishop Walter Sullivan, retired Ordinary of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia.   As a past president of Pax Christi USA, Bishop Sullivan is best known for his work on peace issues.  However, no less significant is Bishop Sullivan’s contributions to LGBT equality.  Here are  a few of his accomplishments:

1. Establishing the Sexual Minorities Commission, the first diocesan outreach to LGBT people, back in 1976
2. Writing the introduction to A Challenge to Love:  Gay and Lesbian Catholics in the Church (edited by New Ways Ministry co-founder, Father Robert Nugent, SDS).
3. Hosting the second national convention of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian/Gay Ministries in 1996.  (The organization is now called the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry.)
4. In1997, he hosted a Mass for LGBT people and their families and friends at the diocesan cathedral.  He opened the liturgy by saying,  ”You belong here.  It’s about time somebody says that to you.”

Also in 1976, Bishop Sullivan spoke out in support of lesbian/gay civil rights, stating in the Richmond News Leader:

“The issue before our community and the [human rights] commission, however, is not the morality of a person’s sexual orientation, but rather a person’s rights and protection under the law.  We believe that a person’s sexual orientation, whether it is one we approve or disapprove, is not a proper ground for depriving  that person of the basic rights and protections that belong to all human beings. “

From a statement such as this, we can see that Bishop Sullivan was one of the first Catholic bishops to apply the church’s social justice and human rights traditions to the LGBT community.

Bishop Sullivan was not averse to applying that tradition to church structures, too.  In his introduction to A Challenge to Love, he stated:

“. . . we cannot remain satisfied that, once we have clearly articulated the official Church position on homosexuality, nothing else remains to be done in the area of pastoral care for homosexual people and education on this topic for the larger human community, including the families and friends of homosexual people.  This is especially true in those cases where the teaching of the Church itself has been presented in such a way that it has been the source or occasion of some of the pain and alienation that many homosexual Catholics experience.  We cannot overlook those injustices, including rejection, hostility, or indifference on the part of Christians, that have resulted in a denial of respect or of full participation in the community for homosexual people.  We must examine our own hearts and consciences and know that each of us stands in need of real conversion in this area. “

Bishop Sullivan was a good friend of New Ways Ministry over the years.  When he first established the Sexual Minorities Commission, he invited our co-founders, Sister Jeannine Gramick and Father Nugent, to lead the first retreat for the commission members.

I had the good fortune to meet Bishop Sullivan on several occasions, both in the context of peace activities and LGBT ministry.  He always had a warm smile and a joke or two to share.  His good humor and expansive spirit was remembered by others in a National Catholic Reporter article about his life and his death:

“Sullivan will be remembered as ‘a happy and tireless warrior for justice and peace,’ said retired Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza of Houston, a former president of the U.S. bishops’ conference.

” ‘He truly believed in the priesthood of the laity and their essential role in the life and mission of the church,’ Fiorenza told NCR.

“Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese, a longtime observer of the Catholic scene in the country, concurred.

” ‘It would be hard to find anyone like Sullivan in the American hierarchy today,’ Reese said. ‘He was a liberal bishop passionately committed to social justice and peace.’ “

Though, as Fr. Reese notes, there are no other current bishops who share Bishop Sullivan’s passion and spirit, those of us who mourn his passing can take comfort in the fact that we now have a new saint in heaven to intercede for us in areas of peace, church reform, and LGBT equality and justice.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Maine’s Former Governor Serves Up Spaghetti to Raise Awareness of Marriage Equality

Maine’s former Governor John Baldacci serves spaghetti at one of his famous fundraisers.

Maine’s former governor, John Baldacci, a Catholic, will be hosting  spaghetti dinners in Bangor  and Portland to raise awareness about marriage equality and to raise funds to help the homeless.   Maine is having a referendum on marriage equality on Election Day.

New Ways Ministry’s Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder, and Francis DeBernardo, executive director, will be featured guests at the Bangor event, on October 17th, co-sponsored by Catholics for Marriage Equality and the Religious Coalition Against Discrimination.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Baldacci has been a firm supporter of marriage equality both in this campaign and in the previous referendum in 2009, when the proposal was defeated:

“ ‘I’m very committed to this issue because I believe in civil same-sex marriage,’ Baldacci said Monday in a telephone interview. ‘I know how important it is for Mainers to stand up against discrimination. My way to get involved was with these fundraisers. All I asked was that all the proceeds go to charity so that we put others before politics.’ “

Spaghetti suppers were a standard fund-raising event for Baldacci in all his political campaigns.  In the Bangor Daily News, he explains his support for marriage equality:

“Baldacci said Monday that his decision to sign the gay marriage bill into law was rooted in the Maine Constitution, not his Catholic upbringing.

“ ‘We grew up with President Kennedy running for office where he had to draw a very strict line between church and state,’ the former governor said. ‘[Protestant] ministers felt the pope would dictate policy. When I assumed office, I represented all people, regardless of their or my religious backgrounds.’

“In his weekly radio address that aired shortly after he signed the bill three years ago, Baldacci cited the Maine Constitution, which says that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person’s civil rights or be discriminated against.”

“The last spaghetti supper Baldacci hosted also was prompted by the battle over gay marriage in Maine. It drew more than 900 people. . . “

It’s no accident that the events are raising funds for the homeless.  The money raised will go to homeless shelters whose funds from the Catholic church were cut in 2009 because of their support for marriage equality.

Anne Underwood

Anne Underwood, the founder of Catholics for Marriage Equality, is one of the organizers of the event, and she explains her activism on the marriage issue as based on the social justice tradition of Catholicism:

“ ‘The liturgy forms for me a spiritual foundation to go forward with my social justice work,’ she said. ‘What I really loved when I converted was that, especially in the 1990s, the Catholic Church was such a wonderfully big tent. I could testify against [other Catholics] in Augusta on Wednesday and take communion with them on Sunday. We transcended all that political stuff.’ ”

“[Bishop] Malone’s activism in the 2009 campaign spurred her and other Catholics to action. She said Monday that her decision to go against the official teaching of the church was made after searching her conscience.

“ ‘The undergirding of Catholic intellectual history is the primacy of the conscience,’ she said. ‘There is an obligation on the part of Catholics to form one’s own conscience based on one’s own reading and one’s understanding of the Gospel and church teaching. If one’s conscience says I can’t do that, then one is obligated to follow one’s own conscience.

“ ‘How we live within the institution enriches us but also challenges us,’ Underwood continued. ‘If we go against the church, we must do so carefully, conscientiously and prayerfully. It is the duty of a Catholic to inform his or her conscience and follow it.’ ”

Both spaghetti suppers begin at 5 p.m.   The firs one is Wednesday, Oct. 17, at Bangor High School, 885 Broadway, Bangor.  The second one is Friday, Oct. 26, at the Maine Irish Heritage Center, 34 Gray St. in Portland. Suggested donation is $5 person, but larger donations are accepted.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

LCWR Will Continue to Work Towards Dialogue With Vatican Officials

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the American nuns’ organization that was censured by the Vatican earlier this year in part because of their support of LGBT issues, met in St. Louis this past week to discern what their response to the hierarchy’s critique would be.

Sister Pat Farrell, OSF

On Friday, Sister Pat Farrell, OSF, president of LCWR,  announced that the nuns’ group will continue to dialogue with church officials about the situation. The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) summarized Sister Farrell’s statement:

“Reading aloud from a prepared statement, which came after approval from the 900 sisters gathered at the assembly, LCWR’s president, Franciscan Sr. Pat Farrell, said LCWR membership wanted to use the occasion of the Vatican order ‘to explain to church leaders LCWR’s mission, values and operating principles.’ ”

NCR explained how the Sisters’ outlined what their next steps will be:

As part of the Vatican’s mandate, LCWR has been ordered to place itself under the authority of an ‘archbishop delegate,’ Seattle’s Archbishop Peter Sartain.

“LCWR national board is expected to meet with Sartain in St. Louis Sunday for about two hours. The focus of that meeting ‘will be on beginning to process with him and see how that unfolds,’ Farrell said at a press conference.

“The LCWR expect ‘open and honest dialogue’ with Sartain that ‘may lead not only to increasing understanding between the church leadership and women religious, but also to creating more possibilities for the laity and, particularly for women, to have a voice in the church,’ the statement said.

“ ‘Religious life, as it is lived by the women religious who comprise LCWR, is an authentic expression of this life that must not be compromised,’ it said.

“ ‘The assembly instructed the LCWR officers to conduct their conversation with Archbishop Sartain from a stance of deep prayer that values mutual respect, careful listening and open dialogue,’ the statement said. ‘The officers will proceed with these discussions as long as possible, but will reconsider if LCWR is forced to compromise the integrity of its mission.’ ”

New Ways Ministry’s Sister Jeannine Gramick (co-founder, right) and Francis DeBernardo (executive director, left) pose with LCWR president emerita, Mercy Sister Theresa Kane (center) at New Ways Ministry’s exhibit table at the LCWR Assembly in St. Louis. New Ways Ministry works for justice and equality for LGBT Catholics.

Sister Farrell explained to NCR her hopes for the discussion between the LCWR national board and Archbishop Sartain:

“Asked what she hopes to receive in dialogue with Sartain, Farrell said LCWR wants ‘to be recognized and be understood as equal in the church.’

” ‘And really we do want to come to the point of having an environment … for the entire Catholic church to search for truth together, to talk about issues that are very complicated. And there is not the environment right now.’

“The Vatican’s critique of LCWR said the Vatican congregation identified a ‘prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith’ in the group’s programs and ‘corporate dissent’ in the group regarding the church’s sexual teachings.

Farrell said during questioning from the press that ‘dialogue on doctrine is not going to be our starting point.’

“ ‘Our starting point will be about our own life and about our understanding of religious life,’ Farrell continued. ‘And the documents, in our view, misrepresent that.’ ”

Sister Farrell expressed hope that dialogue “may lead not only to increasing understanding between the church leadership and women religious, but also to creating more possibilities for the laity and, particularly for women, to have a voice in the church.”

During her Presidential Address to the LCWR meeting, Sister Farrell offered the Sisters’ leaders six ways forward in their continuing discussions with church officials:  through contemplation, with a prophetic voice, through solidarity with the marginalized, through community, non-violently, and by living in joyful hope.  

She closed her address by stating:

“We stand in the power of the dying and rising of Jesus. I hold forever in my heart an expression of that from the days of the dictatorship in Chile: ‘Pueden aplastar algunas flores, pero no pueden detener la primavera.’ ‘They can crush a few flowers but they can’t hold back the springtime.’

Support for LCWR outside the Assembly hotel in St. Louis.

The Nun Justice Project, a coalition of Catholic groups supporting the LCWR, issued a statement praising Sister Farrell’s remarks and LCWR’s response:

 “Today, the sisters stood in their integrity and, once again, responded to the needs of the people,” said Erin Saiz Hanna, spokesperson for The Nun Justice Project and Executive Director of the Women’s Ordination Conference. “As a young woman of faith, I find hope in their statement for the role of women in our church, and that dialogue is possible.”

“We commend the sisters on their prayerful discernment and response to the Vatican,” stated Jim FitzGerald, spokesperson for the Nun Justice Project and Executive Director of Call To Action. “Their actions speak to their faithfulness and the reasons why Catholics across the country support them.” 

The Nun Justice Project is comprised of American Catholic Council, Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church , Call To Action, Catholics for Choice, CORPUS, DignityUSA, Federation of Christian Ministries, FutureChurch, New Ways Ministry, Quixote Center, RAPPORT, Voice of the Faithful, WATER: Women’s Alliance for Theology Ethics and Ritual, and Women’s Ordination Conference. 

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Catholic Vice President Joe Biden: “Who Do You Love?”

Vice President Joe Biden’s statement in support of marriage rights for lesbian and gay couples on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday offered one of the simplest and most practical criteria for defining who a person should be allowed to marry: “Who do you love?”

Not surprising that such support comes from the first Catholic Vice President, since it so precisely reflects the views of at least 74% of American Catholics (according to a PRRI poll) who are in favor of marriage rights for same-gender couples.

A good news summary of Biden’s statements can be read by clicking here, or you can watch a video clip of the interview with Biden:

New Ways Ministry is delighted with Vice President Biden’s remarks.  He reflects the thoughts of millions of American Catholics on marriage equality, and it is great to have such a prominent Catholic lay person be the spokesperson of the laity’s views on this matter, which differ significantly from those of the Catholic hierarchy, whose voice is usually the only Catholic one heard. Biden’s comments may not be the fullest statement of support one could have hoped for from the Obama administration, but they certainly move the discussion one giant leap forward.

The vice president’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, has long been an advocate for LGBT equality, and we are delighted that these two Catholics are helping to spread the message of equality and justice which comes from our faith experience which promotes the dignity of all human beings.

Interestingly, Biden’s question, “Who do you love?” echoes the title of an article written three decades ago by New Ways Ministry’s co-founder, Sister Jeannine Gramick:  “With Whom Have I Fallen In Love?”  The article, published in a Catholic periodical, focused on how people can determine their sexual orientation.

How does the Catholic veep’s views reflect the the views of President Obama?  Opinion is divided.

Political analyst Josh Marshall, editor of TalkingPointsMemo.com, thinks it might be a foretaste of what is to come:

“. . . I’m curious whether today’s remarks by Joe Biden on marriage equality are another example of Biden’s off-the-cuff indiscipline or something more like the White House trying to moon walk the President’s position on the issue, i.e., nudge and ease the president’s position forward while seeming to walk it back, so we’ll wake up one day and it will simply be different without ever being able to point to a day when it changed.

“Needless to say, we all know at this point that President Obama supports gay marriage but thinks the political tides aren’t quite safe enough to come out and say so. Lots of presidents telegraph this kind of equivocation but I have seen few cases where it’s been done so out there in the open.”

Pam Spaulding, writer/editor of Pam’sHouseBlend.com, did not think the remarks were significant because she felt that he was only endorsing support for civil unions, not marriage:

“I guess you could see this as yet another attempt to placate the LGBT community (i.e. open the gAyTM), or a hint that the President is about to tip-toe out of the closet, perhaps after the election. I don’t hold my breath for such things. . . .

“Biden’s comments are interesting in that they represent the President’s exact view – that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same civil rights, save the whole bit about the word ‘marriage.’ Talk about threading the political needle.”

Joan Walsh, editor at large for Salon.com, asked some interesting questions of the situation:

“It seemed an important step for an administration that can’t seem to get the president all the way there. President Obama is going to have to come out for gay marriage one of these days – can anyone honestly believe he’s against it? — but having the Catholic Biden endorse it helps, too. The group Catholic Democrats immediately Tweeted the little known fact that Catholics are the most pro-gay marriage of all Christian groups. Yet the backwards politics of the U.S. Bishops means most people don’t know that, and thus view gay marriage as a no-fly zone during an election season when the  Catholic swing vote is particularly important. So Biden’s comment mattered.

“Then the Vice President’s office issued a clarification:

‘The Vice President was saying what the President has said previously – that committed and loving same-sex couples deserve the same rights and protections enjoyed by all Americans, and that we oppose any effort to rollback those rights.  That’s why we stopped defending the constitutionality of section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in legal challenges and support legislation to repeal it.  Beyond that, the Vice President was expressing that he too is evolving on the issue, after meeting so many committed couples and families in this country.’

” ‘He too is evolving.’ Actually, it seemed as if Biden had finished evolving, and actually supported ‘men marrying men, and women marrying women.’  For a moment, I actually thought having Biden step out ahead of Obama was a deliberate, maybe even slightly cynical campaign move. But apparently the campaign isn’t ready to take that chance. Why would it be a problem to have the grandfatherly Irish Catholic VP a step ahead of the president on this one, anyway? I don’t know, but backtracking seems like a lose-lose to me.”

Let’s hope that the next steps will continue to be steps forward, as Biden’s original statement certainly was.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

 

 

Message to Nuns: ‘Be Not Afraid’

The initial news cycle centered on the Vatican’s attempted suppression of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the leading organization of U.S. nuns, seems to be dying down.  However, make no mistake: the story is not over! The most important piece of it is yet to come:  How will the nuns respond to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) decision to place an archbishop in charge of their conference, in effect, displacing the women’s leadership of themselves?

At New Ways Ministry, which has had its own encounters with the CDF, it is clear that the recent statement from this hierarchical office is designed to silence dissent by instilling fear, not only from the LCWR, but from other sectors of the church, too.  The Vatican no longer has a Grand Inquisitor to physically torture or jail people it calls “dissenters,” so the only tool left to silence them is fear.

We have seen this time and again at New Ways Ministry.  Whenever the Vatican makes a strong statement against LGBT people, one of the most widespread reactions and responses from church people is to be afraid.  Yes, there are many who express anger and outrage, but many, many more respond quietly by silencing themselves, afraid that if they speak out that they, too, will experience the wrath of Church authorities.

Fear, however, is not the full story.  I believe that though church authorities might be instilling fear through their actions, there is another reality present in these situations.  I believe that when fear is present,  God is calling us to courage.  Though it may seem that the LCWR has few options at this juncture (see the posting about canon law guiding this case), they do, in fact, have the option to respond courageously, relying on God’s power instead of the power of human beings–themselves or their oppressors.

When the CDF tried to suppress Sister Jeannine Gramick, New Ways Ministry’s co-founder, by telling her that she could not do pastoral work with lesbian/gay people and that she could not speak about the Vatican’s investigation of her ministry, she responded with a simple statement filled with eloquent courage, “I choose not to participate in my own oppression.”

Those who see the injustice of the CDF’s attempt to suppress LCWR need to respond with similar courage.  Now is not the time to be afraid, worried, or despairing.  We must rely on our God who promised to be with us and guide us in our times of need.  The only thing we can ever change is ourselves and our responses, not other people or situations.  We have the choice at this juncture to respond with courage.

The LCWR leadership has announced that they will be consulting their members, the heads of women’s religious communities around the country, as to how to respond to the CDF announcement.   One thing that ordinary Catholics  can do is to exercise a ministry of en-courage-ment by writing to the leaders of nuns’ communities that we know and love, and letting them know that they have the support of Catholics in their time of need.   We need to let our Sisters know that they are not alone, and that the Catholic people stand courageously in solidarity with them.  If we want LCWR to respond with courage to this situation, we must en-courage the Sisters that we know and love.

(If you do not know the names and addresses of the leaders of the community of nuns who have ministered to you, ask a local nun for their contact information or call/email New Ways Ministry, and we will help you get that information.  New Ways Ministry phone: 301-277-5674; email: info@NewWaysMinistry.org .)

You don’t have to write a long letter.   Just let the Sisters know that you are praying for them, that you are grateful for their ministry, that you want them to continue to be prophetic, and that you will support them.

In doing so, you will be spreading one of Jesus’ most consistent Gospel messages:  “Be not afraid.”

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

 

Previous Bondings 2.0 posts on the CDF-LCWR story (with some of the links each post contains):

1) April 18:  “Vatican Action Against U.S. Nuns; New Ways Ministry’s Response“
Links: Associated Press article; CDF document.

2) April 19:  “Sister Joan Chittister & Sister Simone Campbell Respond to Vatican Action Against U.S. Nuns“
          Links: National Catholic Reporter (NCR) article; Religion News Service article by David Gibson; New York Times article.

3) April 20:  “Can There Really Be “Collaboration” Between the Vatican and LCWR?“
          Links:  Cardinal Levada’s letter; NCR article on how LCWR learned of the Vatican’s action; NCR article on canon law relevant to the case.

4) April 21:  “Support for U.S. Nuns Spreads Quickly Among Catholics and Others“
Links:  Online petition in support of nuns; New York Times editorial supporting nuns; U.S. Catholic magazine analysis of CDF document.

5) April 22: “Comments on LCWR Action from National Catholic LGBT Organizations“
Links:  MSNBC interviews with New Ways Ministry’s Sister Jeannine Gramick and DignityUSA’s Jeff Stone; Washington Post article.