Benedict on Family... Good and Bad

This past week, Pope Benedict gave some comments on same sex unions and wifely duties to officials from the city and province of Rome and the Lazio region of Italy. He spoke of the "penalizing" effect that same sex unions have on heterosexual marriages. I must admit that I don't understand how married couple are penalized. I have asked some married couples how they could possibly be penalized by the existence of legalized same sex unions and no answer was found. I look forward to comments from my conservative readers about how this occurs. I do not think that "It's not fair that they have the same rights as me," counts as penalization.

A bright spot in this speech was Benedict's emphasis on the need to make provisions in society for women who would like to work in addition to having the role of child rearing. Because society does not often honor working mothers, women often feel compelled to wait to have children. He stated that women should not be put in a position that makes them have to choose between one or the other. This is a significant departure from John Paul II (who should not be beatified). JPII was pretty clear in his writings that a women's place is with the children. It is part of their special womanly nature (another term not present in Benedict). JPII made concessions about the right of women not be be discriminated against in broader society, but a working mother was never ideal in his mind. Benedict, on the other hand, has never stated that mothers should ideally not work.

A Faithful Catholic

Milwaukee Archdiocese Files for Bankruptcy

As reported this afternoon on jsonline.com and per a video by Archbishop Listecki on the Archdiocesan website, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is filing for bankruptcy today. It had been known for a long time that this was an option on the table that might one day be executed. Listecki states that the process will probably take 12-18 months. He also states that this only involves the Archdiocese and NOT any parishes. I do not see how he can make such a claim just yet. Although the parishes of the archdiocese are separate corporations, it will be up to a judge to decide just how separate our parishes really are.

In one sense, it will be good to finally have all the expenses related to the sexual abuse scandal behind us. It will also mean a payday for victims. In another sense, it leaves bad taste in my mouth. There will be the conflicting interests of preserving the structures and monies of the Archdiocese that accomplish good works with the need to fairly compensate the victims. And how exactly do you fairly compensate someone who has been raped by a priest, especially one that should have already been removed from ministry. In addition, I feel uncomfortable anytime the Archdiocese makes use of lawyers. I have nothing against lawyers per se, but dioceses usually use them with the sole purpose of protecting themselves when it comes to the issue of sexual abuse (see the movie "Deliver us From Evil"). I pray that this gut feeling is wrong in this case.

A Faithful Catholic