Salvatore Cordileone is the Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco and will be a speaker at NOM's March for Straight Marriage on the 19th of this month. A letter has been written to him by supporters of marriage equality, including San Francisco mayor Ed Lee and California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. The letter does not ask him to support marriage equality; it asks him not to appear alongside a group of virulent homophobes like NOM, FRC and CAAP:
By standing alongside these individuals and organizations, you appear to be endorsing their troubling words and deeds, which directly contradict the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' pastoral teaching that "God does not love someone any less simply because he or she is homosexual. God's love is always and everywhere offered to those who are open to receiving it." (Always Our Children, 1997)
Many people of faith who have different opinions on the question of civil marriage for same-sex couples have come together in respectful dialogue and discernment to discuss those differences. Sadly, the actions of NOM and its invited speakers push us farther apart rather than bringing us together.
We ask that you will reconsider your participation and join us in seeking to promote
reconciliation rather than division and hatred.
NOM's
not happy:
The mayor of San Francisco, liberal politicians, and a group of radical activists who call themselves Christians are attempting to shame Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for his involvement with the March for Marriage.
"Who call themselves Christians"? Just further proof that their concern for people of faith is one way.
Ironically, in a letter to Archbishop Cordileone, the group quoted both Pope Francis and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, implying that Archbishop Cordileone's support for marriage is somehow at odds with his duties as a Catholic archbishop.
Wrong. The letter never asked him to support marriage equality, or claimed that opposing marriage equality was in conflict with the Catholic Church. It claimed that by standing alongside virulent homophobes, Cordileone is in conflict with the Catholic Church's teaching of respect for LGBT people. (It technically exists, but
they don't seem to live by it.) The letter points to the Catechism's call for gay people to be "accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity", Pope Francis' statement that "If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" and the aforementioned passage of
Always Our Children, 1997.
One more time, slowly for NOM: The letter claims he is conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church not by opposing marriage equality, but by standing alongside virulent homophobes.
This next part's good (emphasis added):
Completely ignoring the parts about searching for the Lord and having good will, the leftists wrote, "...while not all of us agree with official Catholic teaching on marriage and family, we appreciate the many statements from Catholic leaders defending the human dignity of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, especially the recent words of Pope Francis: 'If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?' Pope Francis' words echo the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that lesbian and gay people 'must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.'"
Is "cchretien" blind, or just lazy? Those parts were mentioned explicitly.
The irony in this is unmistakable. The letter goes on to imply that refusing to accept the redefinition of marriage is "unjust discrimination," and that advocating for the redefinition of marriage is somehow an action of goodwill. (Newsflash: Pope Francis has spoken repeatedly about how redefining marriage is an attack on the family, the importance of children growing up with mothers and fathers, and the sanctity of marriage.)
Back to my original point: the claim of "unjust discrimination" is not about marriage equality, but about virulent homophobes and Archbishop Cordileone's allying with them. NOM's claim is a complete straw man, fabrication and lie.
The letter ends with a suggestion that Archbishop Cordileone not speak at the March for Marriage and instead "join us in seeking to promote reconciliation rather than division and hatred." Ironically, the signers of the letter are the ones promoting division by trying to divide the Catholic Church, which has always and will always teach that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, a Sacrament ordered toward bringing the sexes together to create new life.
How exactly is that the case, NOM? How are the writers of this letter promoting division? You don't say how. You don't substantiate your claim. Indeed, in the third paragraph of the blog post, where NOM erroneously claimed that the letter called for the Archbishop to support marriage equality, the sentence immediately before what they posted (which was excluded) was this:
We understand that people of good will may have genuinely heartfelt differences on the question of civil marriage for same-sex couples.
That's the opposite of divisive. It's civil and respectful, unlike
what NOM's put out before. It was right before what NOM did post. Cherry-picking much?
Furthermore, there is unity among faithful Catholics and Christians in regard to marriage--there is agreement that it is quite possible to protect marriage, and the basic human truths it reflects, without being "hateful" toward anyone. In fact, Archbishop Cordileone spoke about this at last year's march.
Yet the letter never claimed that opponents of marriage equality are hateful, only that virulent homophobes promote "division and hatred". And remember, the official teaching of the Catholic Church is anti-homophobia.
The signers could have been much clearer about their intentions by simply writing, "We ask you to join with us in opposing the teachings of your religion under the guise of 'promoting reconciliation.'"
Was I not slow enough the first time, NOM? The letter,
in my view, correctly claims that Archbishop Cordileone is in conflict with the anti-homophobia teachings of the Catholic Church by allying with virulent homophobes. They ask him to follow a teaching of the Catholic Church, not oppose one. The letter does not ask that he support marriage equality.
Is this willful and deliberate misunderstanding, or just, for whatever reason, extremely inaccurate interpretation? I'll put it to a poll.
9:55 PM PT: I misidentified the author of the NOM post. I assumed that it was NOM Staff; 99% of the posts not written by Brian Brown are by them. It's actually someone named "cchretien", not NOM staff as I previously claimed. The diary has been updated accordingly. My apologies for the error.