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Loading ...Bishop scolds school over gay-rights speaker
02.25.2009 8:40am EST
(Scranton, Pennsylvania) A Roman Catholic bishop in northeastern Pennsylvania wants a Catholic university to close a multicultural center because it hosted a visit by a gay-rights advocate.
Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino says Misericordia University shouldn’t have sanctioned a Feb. 17 visit by author Keith Boykin. He says viewpoints that contradict Catholic teaching should not be presented “under the guise of ‘diversity.’”The school’s Diversity Institute describes itself as an educational resource center that promotes multicultural understanding.
The school said in a statement that it “welcomes the opportunity” to discuss the matter with Martino.
While I sympathize with the Diversity Institute, the Bishop does have a point. Housing a “Diversity Institute” at a Catholic college puts a fake front on Catholicism, leading people to believe that it’s not the bigoted and intolerant religion that it is. It also fosters the notion that you can be Catholic yet not accept or live by all of the Church’s teachings, conveniently disassociating yourself from those you disagree with. The College has to decide for itself whether it really promotes the values of diversity, equality, and inclusiveness that the Institute represents, or whether it promotes the values of Catholicism. It can’t have it both ways.
Nick: as someone who goes to a Catholic undergraduate institution, I am afraid to say that you are right. I came here thinking that my college would be like any state or other type of private university, but it turns out that everyone here that is gay is closeted because their classmates are homophobes. Every time we try to build community among the patches of openly gay students here, we are thwarted by an administration afraid of “upsetting the bishop.”
It is just sick, sick, sick that this cult has universities, likely getting taxpayer support in the form of research grants and tax exempt status.
Don’t they have enough brainwashing time on Sundays?
The parents that send their kids are child abusers. These institutions should be shut down.
Must be interesting to go to a school that teaches NOTHING that ‘contradicts catholic teaching’. Or is the bishop discriminating and choosing which subjects that contradict Catholic teaching he will accept and which he wont? If it wasn’t for things that contradict Catholic teaching the world would still be flat.
Question: I still don’t know when God created dinosaurs… anyone help? Is there a REALLY OLD TESTAMENT?
Nick:
I have to agree with you. I was once RC but am now Episcopalian. The bishop is not doing or saying anything that is not his right to do or say under canon law. Catholics who have gotten spoiled by the ministry of less confrontational leaders had better realize that it is not the bishop that they have the problem with. Rather it is the doctrine and law of the church that is the real oppressor of their dignity as bel;oved children of God.
I have an idea – once the catholic church stops grabbing children since birth and brainwashing them into their cult – then we can have an intelligent discussion.
The Catholics built a Diversity center?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Now that’s just cheeky!
Stand up! Fight Back! Drop your ‘bibles’ and step away from the religion.
Sad to hear that the voices for understanding are being silenced in the Cathloic Church. Oh the Hypocrisy!
What I have seen done since this last Pope got elected has cured me of my last lingering respect for this Church.
It makes me want to bang my head against the wall that in 2009 we have people that can not be bothered with reason or science when it goes against
“Church Teaching”.
Faith Hope and Love are Great Things. The example of Christ accepting people is truly inspiring. Sad they are letting fear and hate rule instead.
Tom in Long Beach
Instead of censuring adults who love adults why doesn’t the Bishop focus on Protecting God’s children from abuse within the Catholic Church.See a documentary entitled “Deliver Us from Evil” Sun Dance Channel.All I can say is that I am Glad to be free from the nonpractical dogmatism of the Catholic Church. The earth is round and it is Ok to be homosexual. We all lust at imes and must learn to transition from living via lust to love in our relationships hetero as well as homo. Who knows maybe the Catholic church will one day teach sexual responsibility and not mere sexual regulation. It is sad that the biggest closet in the world is The ” Holy Roman Catholic Church”. Pax
We have to stop all of our associations with the Catholic Church to make it clear we will not tolerate this type of behavior. When I came out I wrote a letter to my parish priest, to my bishop, and to my diocesan charities explaining why I was leaving the Catholic Church, and why they would never receive a cent of my money again- and they have not. I also take every opportunity to educate people about why I will not support most Christian charities for their meddling in gay civil rights when they try to sell me candy bars for some church function outside of grocery stores. Don’t give these people a dime folks!
Patrick is right – and to all those GLBT people who go to mass each week and put money in the collection basket and delude themselves into thinking they are somehow making a difference for gays in the church… YOU’RE NOT – you’re only giving them more money to use against you.
I guess R.C. Bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, like so many more of his R.C. episcopal colleagues never heard of the amendments given free citizens the right to free speech and freedom of assembly. Is there any real difference between today’s R.C.Church and its bigoted,dictatorial counterpart, Islam?
I grew up Catholic and was an altar boy for many years back in the days of the Latin Mass.I have good memories of those days, but left the church when Karol Woytyla(PJP2) became pope in the late 70’s.In the ensuing years, the RCC has come to resemble a dictatorial mess, no longer giving even lip service to the concepts of goodness, mercy, and compassion.And it will remain the same or perhaps even get worse. You might want to read a Vatican document from the 1990’s , entitled ‘On the Care and Treatment of Homosexual Persons’. There is a brief reference to the platitudes about treating all people with respect , but it is striking for the fact that it says the no one should be surprised when gays are physically attacked for behaviour “to which no one has any conceivable right”.It was authored by the Cardinal Ratzinger , now ‘Benedictus decima-sexta’. When I first read the document , I sent an email to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops , to state that with this reasoning , no one should be surprised at all , if angry people kick the sh** out of pedophile priests.
Another quick comment….I’d like to commend previous comments that had me smiling , then laughing…like when did god make dinosaurs? “Is there a Really Old Testament”? I think the easy part of being RC when I was a kid was the fact that all church ceremonials were in Latin, and priests tended to be lousy speakers, so you didn’t get preached at about expiry dates and brimstone , and otherwise , no one had a clue what was being said. As altar boys , we could easily pick up on cues from the priest , when to fly through Mass as fast as possible ( we had to know all the responses), if it was a hot day or there was a ballgame that afternoon.Nowadays , …this is the era that proves beyong any doubt, how profoundly erroneous the church can be.
P.S. Are you sure the world is flat? I grew up on the prairies , and ….[Just kidding.]
As a student in a Catholic school, you have to remember the Catholic sexual ethic:
No sucking dick unless it’s attached to a Nazi sympathizer. I wonder how BXVI liked the taste of Abp. Williams’ cum?