Category Archives: Commentaries

The “good” bishops apologizing? A nice idea, but ….

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Brian Cahill’s suggestion in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) that the small number of “good guy” bishops apologize for the harm done by the church leaders to gays and lesbians is intriguing. Unfortunately, I think it misses the bigger picture, and falls way short of what these “good guys” can and should be doing.

Here’s my comment.

Mr. Cahill,

The idea of an apology from church leaders for the ways in which the official church currently treats God’s LGBT children is certainly appealing. However, the problem with your suggestion — i.e. that this small group of “the good guys” apologize for the actions of others — is that it is inconsistent with the more complete idea of “reconciliation” and misses the point that, for reconciliation to be truly meaningful, it must be personal.

If my brother steals your car or harms you in any way, I can tell you that “I’m sorry this happened” or “I regret what my brother has done; he should not have done it,” but this is not an apology in the formal sense. It’s a statement of empathy, care, and concern for the harm you have experienced at the hands of another. Only my brother can truly “apologize” for the harm HE committed (sorrow for one’s actions), only HE can make right (penance) this harm, promising not to do it again (purpose of amendment), and only YOU can forgive him. These elements are what is necessary for reconciliation to occur.

  • What these “good guys” CAN do, however, is challenge — fraternally, respecfully, lovingly — the misguided “teachings” of their fellow bishops on the various issues surrounding homosexuality.
  • What they SHOULD do is embrace their teaching responsibility and fraternally correct their brother bishops who continue to misinterpret Sacred Scripture and ignore the truths from all current sciences about sexuality and sexual orientation.
  • What they SHOULD do is help their brother bishops form their consciences so that they — the bishops, including the Holy Father, who speak harshly and disrespectfully of God’s LGBT children — may allow their hearts to be unhardened, and they may find it in themselves to apologize for the wrong they continue to do.

Now THAT would be a good day in God’s Church!

My 5 Minutes of Fame — ADHD Awareness Week 2011

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Interview with Fox 5 for ADHD Awareness Week

In my job as the director of the National Resource Center on ADHD (NRC) at CHADD, I’m usually a behind-the-scenes kinda guy.  Last week (Oct. 16-22) was ADHD Awareness Week and the sponsoring organizations — including both CHADD and the NRC — were called upon by various media to do interviews, including ones that answer questions about recently updated guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics on the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of ADHD for kids age 4-18.  My boss, Ruth Hughes, would normally have done this interview with DC’s local Fox affiliate, but a scheduling conflict made that impossible. So, here’s my 5 minutes of on-air fame, captured for perpetuity!

Archbishop Dolan’s Letter Recognizes US Bishops Don’t Speak for US Catholics

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I just re-read the letter which Archbishop Timothy Dolan, current president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent to President Obama last month expressing concerns that the Obama Administration is no longer defending legal challenges to the constitutionality of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act).

Dolan repeatedly notes that he is writing on behalf of the “Catholic Bishops of the United States,” and that the views he is expressing are shared by “millions of citizens who stand with us on this issue.”

What the good archbishop does not say, however, is that these citizens are necessarily Catholic; nor that he is writing on behalf of Catholics in the United States.  Perhaps this is because, given whatever limitations the logic of his arguments might have, Archbishop Dolan at least is able to read opinion polls and he knows that the views he and his brother bishops are espousing are not the views of most American Catholics when it comes to recognizing that even gays and lesbians are God’s children, with all the rights and responsibilities this brings.

Fully Gay and Fully Catholic

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It’s because of crap like this (which also comes in a Catholic version through the programs called the Courage Apostolate) …

… that I feel so strongly the mission of DignityUSA and its chapters around the country should focus on the “gay issue” — and nothing else. Just look at this young man.  Clearly seeking something, wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone truthfully and faithfully and convincingly helped him to see himself as God sees him?

Young gay Roman Catholics need a place where they can learn that God created them as they are, that it’s not only OK but good and right for them to live their lives as the people God created them to be.  They need a place where they can be fully themselves — fully gay and fully Catholic. I pray that Dignity and its chapters continue to be such places — fully Gay and fully Catholic.

The Symbolic Significance of Vestments

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Although there was much to recommend and rejoice at during the recent DignityUSA Convention held here in Washington, DC, one of the things that troubled me was the ambiguity that seems to pervade some of the organization’s liturgical celebrations, both at the national level and in many local chapters. In particular, it seems that there is a lack of clarity between what a “presider” is and what a “presbyter” is. Nowhere was this confusion more evident than in the convention’s Eucharistic liturgy, as well as other liturgical celebrations.

Without delving in to the many elements of Roman Catholic Sacramental Theology as it relates to Eucharist and Orders, one not-so-small thing jumped out at me repeatedly. It seems that whenever anyone was leading a prayer, he/she wore a stole. Such loosey goosey use of liturgical vesture robs these important vestments of their liturgical value and contributes to confusion.

Liturgist Aidan Kavangh put it clearly:

“Vestments are sacred garments rather than costumes or billboards. They are meant to designate certain ministers in their liturgical function by clothing creatures in beauty. Their symbolic strength comes not from their decoration but from their texture, form and color. The basic vestment of major ministers is the stole, which bishops and presbyters wear around the neck and deacons wear over the left shoulder. No other ministers wear stoles in the Roman Rite,” [emphasis added]. (Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style, Aidan Kavanagh, Pueblo Publishing Co., 1982, p. 19)

Who is Joe Sacerdo?

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The Boston Globe reports that the Mass “marking gay pride” is back on.  A special liturgy with the theme “All are Welcome” was originally scheduled to be held at St. Cecilia’s in Boston on Sunday, June 19.  Pressure from conservatives — including a blogger under the pseudonym “Joe Sacerdo” — apparently lead to the Mass being canceled by officials of the Archdiocese of Boston just days before it was scheduled to take place. Now the Mass has been re-scheduled for July 10.  This is, indeed, good news!

When I saw the references to blogger “Joe Sacerdo” in the Globe stories announcing the Mass cancellation, I was surprised that an pseudonymous source was given such weight by a such a major news publication. Though I’m no journalist, it’s my understanding that media of a certain caliber have very strict guidelines on the use of “anonymous sources.” Globe reporters David Abel (see Canceled Mass outrages gays) and Mark Arsenault (see For one priest, the choice is clear) both admitted that they did not know “Sacerdo” was a pseudonym and that they would not have cited him as a source had they known this.

So the question is:  Who is ‘Joe Sacerdo’?

Possibly a priest (the Latin word for priest is “sacerdos”), one wonders why this person, whether priest or not, feels compelled to hide behind the veil of a made-up name. If you are a priest, what are you afraid of Fr. Joe? While there are many reasons for choosing to write under a pseudonym, it’s hard to understand what such a reason might be in this case.  The blog that Joe authors (Bryan Hehir Exposed) is “focused on sharing and exposing the actions and words of Fr. J. Bryan Hehir, Cabinet Secretary of Social Services for the Archdiocese of Boston and a key aide to Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap.” [Apparently Joe thinks that Fr. Hehir, a well-respected priest in Boston and throughout the country, is simply too liberal and needs to be “exposed”!]

Come to think of it, it’s rather ironic that Joe authors a blog about exposing someone else, while he himself remains pointedly unexposed.

Archbisop’s Argument Supports Gay Marriage Argument

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He doesn’t seem to know it, but Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York is actually expressing public support for the basic values and arguments in support of same-sex marriage. In a blog entry entry entitled The True Meaning of Marriage, here’s what Dolan wrote just the other day:

NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan“Last time I consulted an atlas, it is clear we are living in New York, in the United States of America – not in China or North Korea.  In those countries, government presumes daily to “redefine” rights, relationships, values, and natural law.  There, communiqués from the government can dictate the size of families, who lives and who dies, and what the very definition of “family” and “marriage” means.”

Gay Wedding CakeHis point seems straightforward and simple enough — governments have little business involving themselves in defining or limiting the most basic and fundamental of human relationships. Isn’t this what the supporters of same-sex marriage are seeking to do, namely to have existing state laws updated to reflect this “less government intrusion in the lives of individuals” approach?

Except in those situations where there is potential harm to individual or to society (as in the case of children, or close relatives, or those already married), what interest does government have in placing limitations on which two adults — male, female, gay, straight, young, old, black, white, citizen, non-citizen, etc. — may or may not enter into that most fundamental of human relationships in which spouses commit to one another to share their lives, their resources, and their very selves?

Archbishop Dolan, I’m with you!  Those government communiqués dictating limits on fundamental human rights need to stop. How best to do this?  By telling the government it can’t limit these rights and by supporting marriage equality for all in New York State!

Are All Truly Welcome in the Church?

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The Archdiocese of Boston has apparently decided to intervene in the liturgical life of St. Cecilia’s, a vibrant inner-city parish in the heart of Boston. As part of its outreach ministry committed to spreading the Gospel of Jesus, St. Cecilia’s had scheduled a liturgy for next weekend with the radical theme, “All Are Welcome.” Perhaps seeing this theme (which the parish bulletin did announce in conjunction with the celebration of Boston Pride 2011) as somehow contrary to that Gospel message, the archdiocesan powers-that-be forced the Mass to be cancelled.

Two ironies come to mind.

First, there’s the timing of it all.  By that I’m not referring to the cancelled liturgy having been scheduled during this season of Gay Pride celebrations around the country, but rather the fact that the institutional church decided to cancel an “All Are Welcome” celebration during this Season of Pentecost.  After all, Pentecost is when we celebrate the “birth of the Church” and are reminded in no uncertain terms that the Gospel message is intended not just for a few, but for all.

Second, there are the forces behind this action.  I don’t claim to have any inside knowledge and know only what I’ve read in the media. However, the Boston Globe’s coverage seems to rely, in part, on the writings of a blogger using the pseudonym “Joe Sacerdo,” author of the blog, “Bryan Hehir Exposed.”  It’s ironic that “Joe” (perhaps a priest, as “sacerdo” comes from the Latin meaning “priest”?) writes about “exposing” when he himself remains decidedly unexposed. To what can this be attributed other than cowardice, a mean spirit, or simply ill will? Veiling himself in secrecy, Joe seems to have no qualms casting aspersions on the good names of men like Fr. J. Bryan Hehir, one of the most well-respected priests in the country, and Fr. John Unni, the well-loved pastor of St. Cecilia’s.

I hope and pray that the Archdiocese will stand firmly with Fr. Unni, the Rainbow Ministry of St. Cecilia’s, and announce to the good people of the parish and the wider community that all, indeed, are welcome.

______________

Here’s what the parish bulletin said in announcing the liturgy:

“Liturgy to commemorate Boston Pride 2011
The Rainbow Ministry of Saint Cecilia Parish invites all friends and supporters of the LGBT community to a Mass in celebration of Boston’s Pride Month. The liturgy will take place on Sunday evening, June 19, at six o’clock, with a reception following. The theme of the liturgy, “All Are Welcome,” honors Christ’s message of hope and salvation to all people. We will also celebrate the diverse community that finds its home at Saint Cecilia and acknowledge, in a special way, the generous and warm welcome extended to the members of the Jesuit Urban Center in 2007. The Mass will be celebrated by Father John Unni and concelebrated by several of the priests who faithfully ministered at the Jesuit Urban Center for so many years. Please plan to attend this special liturgy and support the diversity that makes Saint Cecilia such a special place.”