Marquette Likes Gays and Lesbians Now

Marquette University put out a statement earlier today that beginning in January 2012, the University will extend the same benefits that are currently offered to the spouse of an employee to a same-sex registered domestic partner of an employee. Although the statement does not mention it, this action is obviously in response to the criticism that Marquette received last year for rescinding a job offer to Jodi O'Brien, an openly lesbian professor at Seattle University.

After the disgrace, which can be remembered in a blog entry from last year, Marquette promised to work more diligently to make gays and lesbians more welcome on campus. For a while, it seemed as if Marquette was dragging its feet and not making an substantial moves to make a penance for their terrible actions last year.

Now at last, this is a very substantial contribution toward making up for last year's fiasco. Bravo Marquette!!! It's about time. Maybe there doing this during the season of Lent makes their action more appropriate.

A Faithful Catholic

Vatican Technology

The average American probably thinks of the Vatican being behind the times. Although that may be true in some instances, it has not been the case as concerns technology. This has especially been true during the pontificate of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Recently, the Vatican put up a Facebook page in honor of John Paul II. Click here to see it. They have also begun posting speeches of JPII on youtube, which are accessible from the Facebook page. It is good for the Vatican and Catholics in general to be spreading the good news of their faith on the internet as well as on street corners.

Nevertheless, the distribution of resources by the Vatican for a facebook page dedicated to the cause of one proposed saint does raise some questions. Although John Paul II was himself known for including more saints from non-consecrated life as well as those from outside of Europe, at the end of day, clericalism still matters. Our Church is trying to fight a supposed war on secularism by putting forth the worship of the pope and cleric. This same clericalism is found in many of the coming liturgical changes (those comments will be forthcoming). I suppose clerical emphasis is what conservative Catholics believe makes the Catholic Church unique, therefore we MUST emphasize it.

Although pope, bishop, and priest serve a necessary unifying function in our Church, the cult of the cleric indicates the false belief that a priest is needed to access God. This is not the case.

A Faithful Catholic

The Sex Abuse Scandal is NOT over.

It is just amazing to me that bishops in the United States can still be choosing to protect priests with substantial allegations of sexual abuse against them. The Cardinal in Philadelphia, Justin Francis Rigali, suspended 21 priests earlier today that a grand jury investigation found have credible allegations of sexual abuse against them. Why were these priests not put on a leave of absence earlier? Why does the heavy hand of the law need to be brought in to strong arm certain bishops and Cardinals to protect children? Oddly enough, there was an article in the National Catholic Reporter last week indicating that there has been discussion about loosening the restrictions that the bishops put in place 10 years ago to protect children from sexual predators in the Church. This situation seems to indicate that the restrictions should be greater. The District Attorney praised Rigali for his response to the report. Why is he praising a bishop for doing something that he should have done years ago? This scandal adds insult to injury and makes the teaching authority of the bishops less credible and newsworthy than before.

A Faithful Catholic

Catholic Year of Revisions...

As most readers of this blog probably know, beginning Advent 2011, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee will begin using the Third Edition of the Roman Missal. There is be changes to a number of responses for the person in the pew and almost all the prayers for the priest. Many of the changes are biblical and makes sense, other make less sense: "And with your spirit" instead of "And also with you." Here is a good article that explains this specific change. It makes sense, but probably does not justify the change.

Also, next month the New American Bible Revised Edition is set to be released. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon among other places. It replaces words that were the 1970 edition, such as cereal, booty, and holocaust. It is the first time since 1970 that an entire new edition will be released. Until now, separate parts had been updated. This translation is for private use and will not be used at mass. With any translation, there are senses of betrayal. I will share some of mine in the coming months as we get closer to Advent. Nevertheless, I do hope that most of the changes serve us well as a Church and bring us closer to Christ.

A Faithful Catholic

Listecki: Must Protect Union Rights

Archbishop Listecki, on behalf of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, released a statement today defending the rights of workers to unionize and bargain. He quotes Caritas in veritate #25, where Benedict speaks of the need to especially protect the rights of organized labor during this difficult economic time. He also quotes John Paul II's Laborem exercens #20, where the previous pope wrote on the necessary rights of workers in protecting the social order.

I applaud Listecki for this statement. It is an unexpected surprise. The statement is timely and I hope that it can have some impact on the current situation. I disagree with Archbishop Listecki regarding a few church policies, but in this instance, I am very glad to call him my shepherd.

A Faithful Catholic

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