New Report on Catholic Attitudes Towards LGBT Issues

Thanks much for your data which encourage me to continue my current working guideline. I still get to hang out with rank/file faithful, breathing the sweet air created by informed/discerning Catholic consciences; and only have to get the bullet proof mylar on and pray lots when a bishop or other official shows up? I emphasize that this is just a helpful strategy, a work in progress as it looks like different things are changing at very different rates and for quite a range of compelling/silly factors in play. Still. Really nice not to have to distance from my Catholic friends, to protect them from abuse if not also to protect my own self from the abuse that the Vatican regularly publishes, aimed at me as a gay man. The Catholic social justice teachings are, for example, often a deep breath of fresh good air, though of course I have to read myself as included in both words, social, and ... justice. God is good after all? Just sayin'

I have heard conservative Catholics say that God intended marriage for the sole purpose of procreation. Well, now that the population of the earth has exceeded 6 billion people, and we are sucking the planet dry of it's natural resources, we might need to consider the possibility that God's intentions for us may have changed.

Catholicism and other religions would lose nothing of their role in sanctioning the kinds of unions that they find in keeping with their beliefs. For nonbelievers and those who find the sacramental nature of marriage less or unimportant, the civil license issued by the state would be all they needed to unlock the benefits reserved in most states and in federal law for married couples. That has been done in most of Europe for many years with the full complicity of the Catholic Church and life as we know it has not ended.

This precedent already exists in the U.S. with divorce laws as well as differing laws within states regarding at what age a person is eligible to enter into a state-sanctioned marriage.

What is telling is that Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Focus on the Family that “it’s clear that something like same-sex marriage — indeed, almost exactly what we would envision by that — is going to become normalized, legalized and recognized in the culture. . . . It’s time for Christians to start thinking about how we’re going to deal with that.”

May I add that it is time for bishops and other Catholics to also start thinking about how they are going to deal with that.

There are fewer older Latinos in the US among Latino families, since many are recent immigrants and people who immigrate are likely more socially liberal because of both youth and openess to change.

Studies like this give bishops the Willies, since eventually Catholic families will demand that gay unions are blessed, even if they are originally contracted civilly. Indeed, many post divorce unions are "blessed" this way, even if there has been no annullment.

The number of gay priests makes this a problematic one for episcopal discipline. I have a feeling more than a few priests have the attitude that what the bishop does not know, won't hurt him.

In a generation, many of those priests will be bishops and once they compare notes in private, you will see profound doctrinal change on this issue.

All comments about relativism aside, the Church only exists in the conversations people have about it. When the conversation changes overtly, there is not much CDF can do about it - if CDF even survives the predicted (and quickly upcoming) destruction of Rome by both St. Malachy and Our Lady of Fatima.

Isn't the point that informed Catholics listen to the Church.

If we follow the logic of some of the article, and some subsequent comments, shouldn't the Church actaully bless weapons of Mass destruction, and execution chambers, as many Catholics agree with them? think not.