Forgive me if this has been diaried about already today. I tried to find something about this, and couldn't, but I believe this is an important story. I opened my door today to get my Washington Post (yes, I still subscribe to the paper version) and right on the front page was the headline: Catholic Church gives D.C. Ultimatum on Same-Sex Marriage Issue
Apparently the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC, is virtually attempting to blackmail the city council into changing the proposed same-sex marriage law that would prohibit them from discriminating against GLBT individuals.
Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.
The Church, through such arms as Catholic Charities, provides services for tens of thousands of Washingtonians, including 1/3 of the homeless population. Apparently it has decided that continuing its discrimination against GLBT individuals is more important than providing critical services to the less fortunate, especially in this horrible economy.
In the interest of self-disclosure, I am a Roman Catholic. I believe whole-heartedly in the Church's social justice teachings. I can see where in the Gospel the preferential option for the poor comes from. I don't recall, however, reading where Jesus said, "Thou shalt make sure two people who love each other can't get married". But he mentions caring for the poor in all 4 gospels, and often.
This story in WaPo this morning made me think of my first marriage prep session, which occurred last week. In that session, the priest, my fiancee, and I started talking about our spiritual lives. This discussion quickly devolved into a discussion on what my fiancee and I (who are very liberal Catholics) disagree with the Church on. I talked about how I get frustrated when the Church gets involved in politics, and brought up the Diocese of Portland donating so much money to the "Yes on 1" campaign while parishes are closing. The priests response: "Well maybe they think gay marriage would be more damaging to society than a few parishes closing" I was in shock. Preventing two loving people from spending the rest of their lives together is more important than tending to the spiritual needs of your flock, and the more material needs of the less fortunate of your community? It took all my resolve and love of my fiancee to stay in that seat and not walk out of that room and give up on the Church that day. (This wasn't the only problem I had with the session, but it was a biggie.)
These kinds of stories make me angry. First, I feel like it gives people plenty of good reasons to attack the Church, and there's something in me that gets defensive when the Church is attacked. I also feel like it reflects poorly on me when the Church I belong to (or maybe I don't belong?) acts so narrow-mindedly. While I believe in the basic values of the Church, and everything that we say in the Apostle's Creed, I can never believe that keeping two people from marrying is a Christian thing to do. If God is Love (as the title of one of Pope Benedict's encyclicals states), then why should we keep love from growing?
If/When the Archdiocese actually follows through and cuts off social services, it will stop getting money from me in the Sunday collection. Despite my conflict with the Church, I still give based on the services it provides to the poor. If it stops these services, I have no reason to give, since that money is going nowhere other than to support discrimination. Hell, they might make me Episcopal, I'm already on the edge of that line, and my fiancee and I have had discussions about raising our future kids in the Episcopal Church. Your call, Archdiocese.