Catholics Participate in Prayer Service and Demonstration at Supreme Court

New Ways Ministry staff at the marriage equality demonstration outside the Supreme Court: Sister Jeannine Gramick, Bob Shine, Francis DeBernardo.

From New Ways Ministry Blog:

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on two marriage equality cases. The historic day began with an interfaith prayer service at the Church of the Reformation, a Lutheran congregation just behind the Supreme Court building.

The service, entitlted “A Prayer for Love and Justice,” featured prayers and rituals from a wide variety of faith traditions–Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, pagan, Native American–were all represented as part of the service. Catholics were represented by Sister Jeannine Gramick of New Ways Ministry and Rev. Joseph Palacios, who ministers at Dignity/Washington. The event was organized by the United for Marriage coalition.

Following the prayer service, participants processed to the Supreme Court building and joined the demonstration of thousands of people there who support marriage equality. Among those in the crowd were Jackie and Buzz Baetz, a Catholic couple from Monkton, Maryland, who displayed a sign showing Catholic support for marriage equality.

New Ways Ministry staff also participated in the demonstration outside the court building.

Today’s Must See: Alfredo’s Fire

Mar5 by D Gregory Smith

“It was the Italian Stonewall, absolutely, the Italian Stonewall…”

About The Film

ALFREDO’S FIRE is a powerful and timely documentary that tells the forgotten story of Alfredo Ormando, a gay Italian writer who set himself on fire at the Vatican to protest the Church’s condemnation of homosexuality.

As Pope Benedict XVI resigns this month, the time is ripe for dialogue aimed at building a more open and inclusive Church, in the hope that no more lives are extinguished by the effects of religious intolerance.

With successful backing, the film will be finished in the next few months. We expect it to premiere in a major film festival in the U.S. and in conjunction with Italy’s National Pride celebration, this year in Alfredo’s hometown of Palermo.

For more information about the project visit: www.alfredosfire.com

Alfredo’s Story

On January 13, 1998 Alfredo Ormando, a 39-year old Italian writer, arrived in Rome just as the sun was rising. After a long journey from his native Sicily, he found his way to the empty plaza of St. Peter’s Square and, facing the entrance to the Basilica, knelt down as if to pray. He made a rapid hand gesture and suddenly was engulfed in flames. Before the Church and God, Alfredo Ormando had lit himself on fire.

Not long afterwards, and overlooking the spot where Alfredo had set himself aflame, Pope John Paul declared that “homosexual acts are against the laws of nature.” Pope Benedict XVI has even more vehemently advanced anti-gay rhetoric and policies.

Shaped by Alfredo’s manuscripts and letters, as well as rich cinematography, and provocative interviews with Alfredo’s friends, family and intimate companions, our film reveals Alfredo’s longing and the struggle to reconcile his own faith and sexuality.

My Story

As someone who has similarly struggled to reconcile his sexuality and spirituality, I became obsessed with Alfredo’s story and his choice of fire. Alfredo’s gesture was simultaneously a self-annihilation, an expression of pent-up passion and rage, a communion with God, and a dramatic “coming out.”

When Alfredo lit himself on fire at the Vatican, he hoped that his protest would be witnessed everywhere. Instead, his story was silenced by the Church and downplayed by the media. In death, as in life, he was made invisible. With our film, I want his light to reach millions worldwide. It is a flame by which to remember, witness, and come out of the dark.

Watch the video here.

New Equality Organization For Catholic Students Launched

Oct12 by D Gregory Smith

Good news! From GLAAD, Thursday, October 11, 2012

LGBT and allied students at Catholics universities are using National Coming Out Day to launch a new association calling on the church to expand its acceptance of LGBT equality. The Catholic Association of Students for Equality (CASE) is made up of LGBT student groups from eleven Catholic-affiliated colleges.

Each LGBT student organization mailed a letter highlighting the benefits of LGBT and Catholic collaboration to their own Bishops, Diocese, and school administrators. The letters referenced how the Church’s stance on LGBT issues has been harmful, using passages from scripture and the Church’s catechisms. However, it focused on how the groups that make up CASE have been able to work with Catholic institutions to better their campus communities. CASE’s goal is to raise awareness about these instances of cooperation and acceptance.

“Before some of us were tall enough to even see over the pews, let alone understand our orientations, we were being raised with Catholic values. We were taught to believe in family, love, and commitment. To work to ensure respect, inclusion, and human dignity,” wrote Thomas Lloyd, Georgetown student and founder of CASE. “Therefore, it is only natural that as we grew into adults we would apply these values to how we viewed our LGBTQ identities.”

So far, participating schools include: DePaul University, Chicago; Georgetown University, Washington, DC; Fordham University, New York City; Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California; College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts; University of San Francisco;Loyola University, Chicago; Loyola University, New Orleans; Loyola University, Maryland;Boston College; and Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles. CASE is actively reaching out to LGBT students at other Catholic schools to grow the list of participating schools.

“These students are right in step with the strong Catholic support for LGBT equality that we see nationwide, “ said Ross Murray, GLAAD’s Director of Religion, Faith & Values. “At a time when the Roman Catholic hierarchy has only negative messages, these students remind us that the true Catholic values are about dignity and solidarity.”

More information can be found at CASE’s Facebook page. CASE and many of the participating networks will also be going purple for Spirit Day on October 19, to stand with LGBT youth and oppose bullying. Over time the group will post more photos, stories, and videos, to show how LGBTQ groups on Catholic campuses are helping their administrations and students better fulfill their catholic mission.

New Organization of LGBT Students on Catholic Campuses Is Launched (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
National Coming Out Day: What we owe to our LGBT Youth (pinkbananaworld.com)

Marriage Equality: A Tale Of Two Catholics

Oct4 by D Gregory Smith

This is, I imagine, an all-to-common-scenario:

Two Catholics: One Inside and One Outside the Church

by newwaysministryblog

Two stories came across my computer screen this week, both first person accounts by Catholics, both of whom support marriage equality, but both who have different relationships with the church. While it would be irresponsible of me to speculate further about why each of these writers has a different approach to Catholicism, I did find the juxtaposition of their two stories interesting since they raised a lot of questions for me.

Not In Spite of Being Catholic, But Because of Being Catholic

Dan McGrath

Dan McGrath, a Minnesota Catholic, wrote onSojourners magazine’s blog that he is voting “no” to the state’s proposed constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality, and his essay explains his decision:

“When I was 10 my parents divorced. A couple years later my mom came out to my family as lesbian. By then she no longer felt welcome at church and stopped going to mass, though she has remained a deeply spiritual person. This one case of social exclusion is deeply meaningful to me, but is nothing compared to political decision by church leadership to spend millions of dollars to limit the freedom to marry in Minnesota. By doing so church leaders seek to permanently exclude gays and lesbians from the civil rights and benefits straight couples enjoy.”

Like many Catholics who support LGBT equality, McGrath is often quizzed as to how he can remain loyal to his church:

“Some have asked how I can embrace a faith whose leadership has taken such a hard line against gay and lesbian equality, and which is painfully quiet on the threat to limit voting rights. I understand why people ask this question. For me, my decision to vote no is not in spite of my Catholic faith, it’s because of it. . . .

“I’m a religious person because I need help figuring out how to apply the values I believe in to the real world. Prayer, reflection, the sacraments, and regular attendance at mass are important elements of the Catholic faith. But a great thing about being Catholic is that there are also countless examples of how others live faithful lives that one can look to for inspiration.”

McGrath attributes his faith and his commitment to social justice to his aunt, Sister Kathleen Ries, a long-time community organizer. Her example helped him to see faith as an integral part of life, and it is that sense of integrity which still motivates him today:

“My choice to vote no has everything to do with being Catholic. The marriage amendment says that gays and lesbians should not have equal access to the financial and social rights and benefits my wife and I enjoy. Nothing in my faith experience justifies this. The voter restriction amendment will set in place permanent barriers to the civic participation of all voters. The fact that it will quiet, if not silence, the voices of those who are poor, homeless, unemployed, in foreclosure, elderly, people of color, and students makes this amendment morally out of bounds.

“Another great thing about being Catholic is that by practicing our faith in community we help each other live the values of the gospel. This is why we Catholics can see how our lot in life – and the fate of our souls – is tied to the fate of others. This sense of purpose and interconnection is what I want for my daughter. I’m voting no because that’s what my faith – and my family – have taught me to do. I’m voting no for my faith and my family.”

A Spiritual Refugee

Tom Moran

Tom Moran, a columnist for Newark’s Star-Ledger, is also a Catholic, and he also supports marriage equality, but his experience with church leaders has moved him in a different direction than McGrath.

In his column, Moran relates how his early faith formation from his father stressed faith as a way of serving the poor. Yet, he did not receive reinforcement for this aspect of faith from future church leaders:

“In the decades since, I have fled a million miles from the church, and have never found a new religious home. I am a spiritual refugee.

“One in three American adults was raised in a Catholic family, but fewer than one in four identify as Catholic today. No other church has shed so many followers, according to surveys by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“So if I am a refugee, I am walking on a road that is crowded with others who feel the same way.”

Newark’s Archbishop John Myers’ recent statements against marriage equality re-fueled the sense of alienation that Moran feels toward Catholicism:

” [Myers] said, all Catholics must embrace his views. And those who refuse should not take Holy Communion.

“I’ve gone through stages when it comes to the church, bouncing between anger, estrangement and exasperation. It started when one of my six sisters, at age 10, wrote the Vatican a letter asking why she couldn’t be an altar girl. She never heard back. But the dinner discussions on that planted seeds of revolt in all of us.

“They flowered as I began to understand the church’s views on birth control and divorce, which put even my mother on the wrong side of the law, and taught us how Catholics cope with the hierarchy.”

Moran relates the story of his mother’s decision to stick with Catholicism, but he is not so optimistic that others will follow her example:

“In the meantime, though, men like Myers will drive millions more onto the refugee highway. He had his own small share of complicity in the sex abuse scandal, transferring a priest who had confessed to abuse to St. Michael’s Hospital in Newark without telling the staff. He refuses to release the names of priests who have been credibly accused, as some New Jersey dioceses do.

“But the fixation on same-sex marriage may do even more damage in the long run. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that 53 percent of Catholics support same-sex marriage, a number that rises to 72 percent among those between ages 18 and 34. Remember, they shouldn’t be taking Holy Communion.”

Moran criticizes Myers for discussing marriage, but never mentioning poverty, and he notes that other Catholics probably do not share the archbishop’s priorities:

“ ‘Catholic citizens must exercise their right to be heard in the public square by defending marriage,’ Myers wrote.

“I doubt most Catholics will see this election in such pinched terms. They know how to sidestep this land mine, too.

“Because if you visit any poor neighborhood in New Jersey, you can see a more vibrant Catholicism at work in schools, hospitals and food pantries.”

Do These Stories Tell Us Anything?

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’m not going to play “armchair spiritual counselor” and imagine why these two men have taken such different approaches to their Catholic heritage. Similarly, I don’t intend to judge either one as better or worse than the other. I presume that each has faced his life experience in the way that they found revealed the greatest integrity for them.

Both, it seems to me, have retained their Catholic sense of passion for justice and strong distaste for hypocrisy of leadership figures. In my life and travels, I have met many folks in situations that are similar to each of these men. Some find it is the right thing to stay, some find it is the right thing to leave. What I find interesting, though, is that what they share in common is their belief that the Catholicism they were taught as young people stressed love and justice, and that both think that church leaders are not heeding those messages when it comes to the question of marriage equality.

What do you see in these two stories?

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Bishops on the Offensive in Chicago, San Francisco, Newark, and Minnesota (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
Moran: Raised Catholic, the church made me ‘a spiritual refugee’ (nj.com)
New Jersey Archbishop Urges Same-Sex Marriage Supporters To Refrain From Taking Communion (thinkprogress.org)
Swiss drifting away from religion (secularnewsdaily.com)
Newark archbishop: Catholics should refrain from Communion if they disagree with church’s marriage stance (nj.com)
Pope Benedict XVI Rebukes Obama: Bishop Letters Read To Every Diocese In The United States! (politicalvelcraft.org)
German Catholic Church Threatens Those Leaving Church (lezgetreal.com)

Posted Without Comment

Mar9 by D Gregory Smith

Apparently from the print edition of today’s New York Times: (click to enlarge)

Items From New Ways Ministry

Feb24 by D Gregory Smith

New Ways Ministry Blog offers some items of interest to LGBT-inclusive Christians:

1) Sister Maureen Fiedler, who blogs for the National Catholic Reporter, comments on the passage of the Maryland marriage equality bill by suggesting that “Catholic bishops should read the writing on the wall for same-sex marriage.”

2) In a HuffingtonPost.com essay, Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA, observes that “Same-Sex Marriage IS Dangerous — to Church Workers .” She is commenting on the recent firing of a Catholic parish’s music director, whichBondings 2.0 reported on here.

3) North Carolina’s two Catholic bishops are among the supporters of a proposed state constitutional amendment to define marriage heterosexually, according to “Both sides gear up in N.C. gay marriage fight,” which appeared on The Washington Post website.

4) Maryland’s Martin O’Malley and New Jersey’s Chris Christie, two Catholic governors who have opposing views about marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples, will square off on TV’s “Face the Nation,” Sunday, February 26, 2012, on CBS. While the topic for their segment is the 2012 presidential race, since both governors have been so visible about marriage equality, it will likely come up as a topic of discussion. For more details, check out The Washington Post’s article “O’Malley, adversary Chris Christie booked on ‘Face the Nation.’ “

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Guest Post: All Across The Land, Religious support For Marriage Equality Continues To Grow (dgsma.wordpress.com)
A Catholic Case For Same-Sex Marriage (dgsma.wordpress.com)
Maryland Moves One Step Closer to Marriage Equality Law with Senate Approval; DC Catholic Pastor Responds to Gramick and DeBernardo (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
Catholic Case for Same-Sex Marriage Is Part of Religion’s Next Great Awakening (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)

Catholics and Gays: Joel Connelly Calls Out The Church

Jan18 by D Gregory Smith

The Seattle PI’s Joel Connelly has an illustrious history of commentary in Seattle. I’ve enjoyed him for years. But in Monday’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer, he makes one of the best cases for the Catholic Church to give up the paranoid same-sex marriage rhetoric- and his seasoned, well-reasoned thoughts beg to be shared. Excerpt:

The bishops see themselves as shepherds, but American Catholics are not sheep. They think and act independently. A recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly three quarters of Catholics favor letting gays and lesbians marry (43 percent) or form civil unions (31 percent).

“Catholics are more supportive of legal recognitions of same-sex relationships than members of any other Christian tradition and Americans overall,” the survey concluded.

The church is also hurting itself: Its social activism, defense of human dignity and witness to peace should make it a beacon for all who seek justice. Instead, the church is pilloried as an instrument of reaction.

Its wounds are self inflicted, a classic case of clerical error. As the National Catholic Reporter put it, editorializing after New York legislators approved marriage equality last spring:

“Even if the bishops had a persuasive case to make and the legislative tools at their disposal, their public conduct in recent years — wholesale excommunications, railing at politicians, denial of honorary degrees and speaking platforms at Catholic institutions, using the Eucharist as a political bludgeon, refusing to entertain any questions or dissenting opinions, and engaging in open warfare with the community’s thinkers as well as those, especially women, who have loyally served the church — has resulted in a kind of episcopal caricature, the common scolds of the religion world, the caustic party of ‘no’.”

Connelly is taking a fair and balanced approach, using the Catholic tradition of social justice and charity to argue for the reality of human experience- in this case the reality of same-sex relationships. The very reality of them flies in the face of the “Natural Law‘ argument:

“Jesus befriended those who were marginalized because He knew it was only in the security of loving, unconditional relationships that hearts and lives are healed,” argues writer Justin Cannon, reflecting the Christian faith as taught to us by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Not only healed, but enriched. I’ve witnessed a warm, very traditional moment over the years. A goofy, dreamy smile crosses the face of a friend, who after years of playing the field announces “Well, I met this woman (or guy)!” It signals a readiness to settle down. My natural reaction is to say, “You lucky dog!” and to be there, in affection and support, when the knot is tied.

Life together is a natural passage in life. Yet, according to “natural law” the Catholic church frowns on my friends who fall in love with somebody of their own gender. It violates nature, according to a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops statement, because such “inherently non-procreative” relationships “cannot be given the status of marriage.”

The church’s positions are, as state Sen. Ed Murray put it Friday night, “hurtful” as well as contradictory.

Out of one side of its mouth, the church condemns “all forms of unjust discrimination, harrassment and abuse” against gays and lesbians. At the same time, the Cathechism of the Catholic Church describes “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” as “objectively disordered.”

As my critical thinking professor at Carroll College taught me, the Church’s argument is flawed. It can’t have it both ways. It either acknowledges the reality of same-sex relationships- the reality of the complexity of human love as a gift from God- or it becomes the ubiquitous symbol of fantasy, its credibility falling off the edge of its own absurdly flattened earth.

Connelly’s brave, full essay is here.

Across the Land, Catholic Support for Marriage Equality Grows (newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com)
Catholic Leaders Lash Out at Gay-Marriage Bill, but Do Seattle’s Liberal Catholics Have the Courage to Lash Back? (slog.thestranger.com)
The Catholic Hierarchy: “Suffer The Little Children.” (dgsma.wordpress.com)
A Woman Working for St. James Cathedral Grabbed My Hand and Tried to Steal My Pen to Make Me Stop Writing About the Seattle Church’s Campaign to Ban Marriage Equality (slog.thestranger.com)

Rick Santorum Is Not The Perfect Catholic He Claims To Be

Jan6 by D Gregory Smith

Rick Santorum has been touting himself as a Catholic of conservative values- toeing the line of Rome.

Hardly.

He’s conveniently forgetting to advocate for several key social justice positions of the hierarchy. He’s picking and choosing- much the argument that conservative Catholics accuse their more progressive brethren of doing. To wit: John Gehring’s breakdown in the Huffington Post (thanks to Enlightened Catholicism):

Image via Wikipedia

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a proud Catholic who often speaks about his faith on the campaign trail, is attracting some formidable buzz from pundits who view his strong showing in the Iowa caucuses as a sign that the former Pennsylvania senator might have enough mojo to rally a coalition of religious and blue-collar voters.

New York Times columnist David Brooks waxed poetic Monday about Santorum’s Catholic conservative sensibilities and touted the candidate as an authentic antidote to “the corporate or financial wing of the party.”Evangelicals are also taking notice. Writing on CNN’s Belief blog, Chris LaTondresse, the founder and CEO of Recovering Evangelical, calls Santorum a post-religious right candidate “whose concern for poor and vulnerable people” is “firmly rooted in his Catholic faith.”

It’s easy to see why Santorum might appeal to some culturally conservative Catholics and moderate evangelicals who are wary of Democrats but also turned off by the Republican Party’s cozy embrace of economic libertarianism and tireless defense of struggling millionaires. Santorum is more comfortable with communitarian language, has been a strong supporter of foreign aid to impoverished countries and connects with personal stories of his blue-collar upbringing.

But it’s a political delusion to think Rick Santorum is a standard-bearer of authentic Catholic values in politics. In fact, on several issues central to Catholic social teaching – torture, war, immigration, climate change, the widening gap between rich and poor and workers’ rights – Santorum is radically out of step with his faith’s teachings as articulated by Catholic bishops and several popes over the centuries.

Santorum is conveniently forgetting key Catholic teaching on poverty, immigration, torture, worker’s rights, financial inequity and climate change- obviously to court the Christianist voter.

But Catholics should not be fooled. Read the full breakdown here.

And don’t miss this: Rick Santorum’s Top 10 Most Outrageous Campaign Statements

Santorum receives endorsement from Catholic advocacy group (thehill.com)
Santorum’s Catholic Problem (huffingtonpost.com)
John Gehring: The Catholic Case Against Rick Santorum (huffingtonpost.com)
Conservative Catholics feeling the Santorum surge? (dailykos.com)
Santorum gets ‘Christian,’ not Catholic, surge (getreligion.org)

Petition: Cardinal George Should Resign For Comparing Gays To The KKK

Dec24 by D Gregory Smith

I admit it- I’m a petition signer. I like adding my voice to others to make a point about something I believe in. There’s strength in numbers, and it usually only takes a minute.

I signed this petition on Change.org as a gay man, a formerly active priest and as someone deeply concerned about the message that this sends to Catholics around the world about LGBT humans. It’s patently untrue and more than patently screwed up.

Background (from the petition site):

Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George foolishly compared the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. He has crossed so far over the line of basic decency that he couldn’t see it with a pair of binoculars. George’s over-the-top remarks were extreme to the point where they shredded his credibility and permanently damaged his ability to serve as a respected voice of reason.

This outrageous comparison of the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan was so degrading and hurtful that apologizing will not be sufficient. George’s only road to redemption is handing in his resignation. If he has a shred of dignity and a shard of class he will immediately step down. George’s offensive remarks came during a dispute over the scheduled starting time of the annual gay pride parade in June. The event was originally set to begin at 10am, but a priest bitterly complained that the starting time would interfere with morning services.

In an interview with Fox News in Chicago, Cardinal George said: “Well, I go with the pastor. I mean, he’s telling us that they won’t be able to have Church services on Sunday, if that’s the case. You know, you don’t want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So, I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that. Then I think that’s a matter of concern for all of us.”

Such backward and bigoted remarks cannot stand. We must stand up, speak out and fight back against the intolerance displayed by Cardinal George. If we don’t take a stand when we are compared to the KKK – when will we? The time to act is now by demanding that George immediately leave his post.

Now I’m really not so naive to think that the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago will look at a few thousand signatures and immediately resign his post, but it may give him something to think about the next time he opens his archepiscopal mouth to make ignorant comparisons. People expect more tolerance and compassion from the spiritual leader of a million people- at least I do- so I signed it. Because I also think Jesus would have expected better, too.

If you agree, sign the petition here.

Oh, and have a very Merry Christmas. Because it’s still all about love and redemption- even when the leaders don’t represent.

LGBT Activists and the KKK (queeringthechurch.com)
Chicago Cardinal Says Gay Rights Movement Is Just Like The KKK (inquisitr.com)
Cardinal George: Chicago Gay Pride Parade, LGBT Movement Could ‘Morph Into Ku Klux Klan’ (VIDEO) (alwaysquestionauthority.wordpress.com)

A Commentary on the “Reform of the Reform” of The Catholic Church

Oct12 by D Gregory Smith

I like Vatican II- The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, which occurred in Rome between 1962 and 1965. It brought in “fresh air” and strived to create a sense of unity- and the beginning of the effort of understanding between the church and the modern world. Relevancy being no small thing back then.

It seems to be a small thing now. Especially for those in charge of the Roman Catholic Church.

The wagons are circling. And the Pope is the one drawing them in- followed closely by the fanatics who use communion as a weapon, have no (and want no) understanding of the sciences of psychology or sociology or biology and simply want to hold on to the illusory power that disappeared with the Borgias….

Over at Enlightened Catholicism is discussed Eugene Cullen Kennedy’s piece at The National Catholic Reporter:

The Reform of the Reform may be better understood not as an exaggerated exercise in nostalgia as much as the debilitating side-effect on being unable to adjust to the Space/Information Age that has ended the division between the earth and the heavens that was the theoretical basis for hierarchical structures. By healing the centuries old presumed rift between earth and the heavens the Space/Information Age also healed the separation of the human person into antagonistic elements of body and soul, flesh and spirit. It is difficult for hierarchs to adjust to the Space/Information Age because they cannot get their bearings easily unless they sit atop an hierarchical array; they fear going into free fall in the universe in which there is no center, no up and no down, and so they want to reconstruct the times and places, the Time and Again of an age before Vatican II in which they feel that they will be comfortable again.

There is something poignant about these would-be time travelers who pull back from the future that is already enveloping them. They remind one of the travelers in the desert described by Freud in explaining the difficulty many people have in letting go of the past. When the sun goes down and the air turns bitter cold, such pilgrims long to return to the remembered warmth of campfires they had left behind them. They cannot return to them because they have cooled to ashes and the winds have mixed them with the billowing waves of sand. The Reform of the Reform is built on just such understandable but misplaced longing, is bound to disappoint those who invest their hearts in its success, may generate centrifugal pressures in the heart of the Church, and one day, long after it has failed, be judged not as an inviting oasis worth a long journey but a cruel and seductive illusion of the unforgiving sands of time.

But the blogger at EC speaks for me when she says:

It’s very very sad to me, that at a time when the collective consciousness of this planet is finally choosing to see that we are all inner connected and no culture can pretend to live in a hermetically sealed vacuum, the Vatican is attempting to recreate Catholicism’s own hermetically sealed vacuum. As Kennedy says, this is a cruel and seductive illusion of the long ago shifted sands of time. It really is destined to fail.

The last gasps of social relevancy seem to be coming long and hard right now….