Conscience articles from March 2006

Conscience archives from March 2006

Editor's note.(Vatican's instruction against gay entry in seminaries)(Editorial)
March 22, 2006... THE VATICAN'S "INSTRUCTION" DENYING GAY MEN THE right to enter seminaries has dominated much of the Catholic press and gained considerable attention on the airwaves and in the mainstream press. Those who would prefer a leaner, meaner Catholic...

Aid [nearly equal to] help.(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... DAVID SOGGE'S ARTICLE, "Aid [nearly equal to] Help" (Winter 2005-2006), exposed many little-known truths. In country after country in the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America citizens are forced to endure structural adjustment...

What is abortion?(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... I AGREE WITH AMY RICHards (Winter 2005-2006); the major failing of the women's reproductive rights movement has been in not realizing the power of language. The use of rigid language that, frankly, turns a lot of women away from the movement is...

A fear of failure.(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... WE ROMAN CATHOLIC women who have been active locally, nationally and internationally for many years in efforts to enhance women's status around the world have had our eyes opened wide about the Vatican's politics of control. Our church's ruling...

Paying for abortion.(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... MARLENE GERBER FRIED (Winter 2005-2006) sharply illustrates the impact of funding restrictions on women who seek abortion and on the clinics that provide them with care. The economic realities of abortion contribute to and are compounded by a...

Vatican steps up witch-hunt against gay priests.(The Church and Homosexuality)
March 22, 2006... THE VATICAN'S CONGREGATION for Catholic Education has issued its much-leaked and long-awaited "Instruction concerning the criteria of vocational discernment regarding persons with homosexual tendencies, considering their admission to seminary...

"Skewed polls?".(Come Again?)
March 22, 2006... "Harris says it telephoned 1,012 adults, of whom 442 identified as pro-life and 512 as pro-choice. Might not that skew the findings seven percent in the pro-choice direction?" Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the conservative journal First...

Priming the pump.(Come Again?)
March 22, 2006... It might "skew the findings," or it might reflect that there is a prochoice majority in the US. Neuhaus clearly wants to prime the pump when it comes to polling.Why not exclude all people who say they are prochoice? Then he might get the...

Catholic school fires pregnant teacher.(The Church and Women)(Michelle McCusker of Lima School)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... A PREGNANT CATHOLIC schoolteacher in Brooklyn, NY, has been fired by a Catholic school because she is unmarried. A spokesperson for the Diocese of Brooklyn said that it supported the decision by the Saint Rose of Lima school to fire Michelle...

Canadian priest suspended for supporting women's ordination.(The Church and Women)(Rev. Edward Cachia, St. Michael's parish, Ontario)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... THE REV. EDWARD CACHIA, who served at St. Michael's parish in Cobourg, Ontario, has been suspended for suggesting that the ordination of nine women on a tour boat on the St. Lawrence River was "the beginning of a new and awesome change in the...

Italian government reveals antiabortion bias.(The Church and Abortion)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT has announced plans to place antiabortion advocates in state-funded clinics to discourage women considering abortion. Italy's health minister, Francesco Storace, who is also opposed to the use of contraceptive pills,...

Abortion reform in Latin America.(The Church and Abortion)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... THE CAMPAIGNS IN ARGENtina, Brazil and Colombia to legalize abortion in certain circumstances are ongoing, but have met with mixed fortunes. In Argentina, the campaign gained an influential supporter when health minister Gines Gonzalez...

Lithuanian parliament rejects bishop's anti-democratic plea.(The Church and State)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... THE LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT rejected a formal request from Archbishop Sigitas Tamkievicius to deny member of parliament Ausrine Marija Pavilioniene leave of absence to travel to Latin America on a factfinding trip. The trip to Peru and Brazil was...

European parliament issues statement on women and religion.(The Church and State)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... THE PARLIAMENTARY Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted, with a large majority, a resolution supporting women's rights and the separation of church and state. The resolution, "Women and Religion in Europe," calls on the Council of...

Vatican cancels singer for "pro-condom" statement.(The Church and HIV/AIDS)(Daniela Mercury)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... THE VATICAN HAS DROPPED an invitation to Daniela Mercury, a Brazilian singer who was to have sung at a concert in Rome, because of her support for the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDs. The annual concert will raise money for the...

A two-year government investigation has revealed more than 100 allegations of abuse against 26 priests in the Diocese of Ferns.(Ireland)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... A TWO-YEAR GOVERNMENT investigation has revealed more than 100 allegations of abuse against 26 priests in the Diocese of Ferns. The 26 priests represent nearly 10 percent of those who served in the period under investigation (1966-2005). ...

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has released the heavily redacted personnel files of 126 clergymen who have been accused of sexual abuse.(United States)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has released the heavily redacted personnel files of 126 clergymen who have been accused of sexual abuse. The files--some of which date from the 1930s--were produced as a negotiating tool in a case involving 560...

The Archdiocese of Hartford has agreed to pay $22 million to settle sexual abuse claims.(United States)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... The Archdiocese of Hartford has agreed to pay $22 million to settle sexual abuse claims brought by 43 people against 14 priests.

The Brazilian news-magazine Istoe has revealed the extent of the sexual abuse crisis in Brazil.(Brazil)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... THE BRAZILIAN NEWS-magazine Istoe has revealed the extent of the sexual abuse crisis in Brazil. In recent months, four priests have been charged and a further three have been convicted of the sexual abuse of minors. In addition, 10 Brazilian...

Come again?(IN CATHOLIC CIRCLES)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... A bill that "exceeds 100,000 [euro]" or $120,000, has been submitted to the Irish government by the diocese of Ferns to cover its "costs" during the government inquiry in the sexual abuse scandal there. No other entity involved in the...

Erratum.(IN CATHOLIC CIRCLES)(Correction Notice)
March 22, 2006... On page 12 of the Winter 2005-2006 issue, in Marlene Gerber Fried's article, "The Economics of Abortion Access in the US," the figure for the percentage of abortions that takes place after 24 weeks' gestation should have read 0.08 percent.

Catholic pride... and prejudice: the story behind the hierarchy's obsession with sexuality.(The Current State of Catholicism)(Periodical review)
March 22, 2006... THE CURRENT STATE OF CATHOLICISM is a story of pride and prejudice. Lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer (LGBTQ) Catholics and their supporters are proud to bring the elephant in the sacristy to public attention. Kyriarchal church officials...

On the unstable marriage of reproductive and sexual rights: the case for a trial separation.(OPINION)
March 22, 2006... SEEMINGLY A LIFETIME AGO, I was part of a feminist movement in the United States that galvanized around what we then were calling "reproductive freedom." Though a primary incitement to our organizing was the right-wing attacks on abortion...

Promoting bigotry, from cradle to grave: the religious right's anti-gay agenda.
March 22, 2006... ON NOVEMBER 8, 2005, VOTERS in Texas, where I live, and in 10 additional states passed constitutional amendments banning same sex marriage, joining 11 other states that had done the same a year before. The results of all these referenda, hardly...

Homosexuality: is it disgusting, or is it delightful?
March 22, 2006... THIS IS THE AGE-OLD QUESTION on this topic, and the Catholic church has been delightfully consistent in always condemning homosexuality as a grievous, grievous sin. Grievous, grievous. As we know, Christ came down to earth to instruct us in...

Two steps forward, one step back: LGBT and sexual rights activism.(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender )
March 22, 2006... One night, not so long ago, a mother was beating her daughter. She was placed in a sack, hung from the ceiling, and beaten by a broom again and again. On other occasions, the daughter was made to kneel on painful rocks or dry mung beans, arms...

Gland inquisitor: Pope Benedict's anti-gay tendencies.(Pope Benedict XVI)(Reprint)
March 22, 2006... THE VATICAN'S NEW POLICY on gay priests has been leaked. Officially, it proposes the incorrigibility of deeply rooted gay tendencies. Unofficially, it exposes the deeply rooted, incorrigible anti-gay tendencies of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, aka...

Talking sex, desiring justice: the denial of sexuality is a denial of humanity.
March 22, 2006... IN CULTURES STRONGLY INFLUENCED by traditional Christian norms about purity, women and sexuality, as one social theorist has quipped, sex is typically "presumed guilty until proven innocent" (Gayle Rubin, "Thinking Sex," 1992). Given this...

Overcoming prejudice.(ROUNDTABLE)(Panel Discussion)
March 22, 2006... OVERCOMING THE PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION that exists against gay people is a key element of the struggle for equality, and one Conscience supports unwaveringly. It is a sad fact that some religious individuals and groups are at the forefront...

How our minds have changed: a historical view of same-sex love.
March 22, 2006... SOCIETY HAS FUNDAMENTALLY changed how it views sexuality in general and same-sex love in particular. The Vatican would have us believe that all has changed for the worse and that our society's problems come from the sexual revolution. But we...

World religions and the struggle for equality.
March 22, 2006... MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN about the Vatican's "Instruction" refusing to allow openly gay men enter Catholic seminaries. The first press leaks about the document coincided with the formation of a new effort by the Religion and Faith Program at the...

Shifting the blame: the Vatican's campaign to purge gay men from Catholic seminaries is an attempt to shift the blame for the sexual abuse scandal away from the bishops.
March 22, 2006... THE "INSTRUCTION CONCERNING the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders," published on November 29 by the Vatican, is a...

The personal as political.(With Liberty and Justice for All: A Life Spent Protecting the Right to Choose)(Book Review)
March 22, 2006... With Liberty and Justice for All: A Life Spent Protecting the Right to Choose Kate Michelman (Hudson Street Press Penguin Group, 2005, 288pp) 1594630062, $24.95 IN 1969, A YOUNG CATHOLIC housewife in Pennsylvania found herself in a...

Bookshelf.(The Bingo Report: Celibacy and Clergy Sexual Abuse)(The Catholic Challenge: A Question of Conscience)(The Dream of the Perfect Child)(Gay Catholic Priests and Clerical Sexual Misconduct: Breaking the Silence)(The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of the Secular State)(Kicking and Screaming: Dragging Ireland into the 21st Century)(Opening Up: Speaking Out in the Church)(Prayed Out: God in Dark Places)(Religion, Politics, and the Christian Right: Post-9/11 Powers and American Empire)(The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War over Religion in America)(Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide)(What if Your Mother)(Book Review)
March 22, 2006... The Bingo Report: Celibacy and Clergy Sexual Abuse Louise Hoggett (Center for the Study of Religious Issues, 2005, 262pp) While many have been quick to point out the hierarchy's willingness to misdirect the finger of blame and deny any...

The case for holding religions to account.(God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law )(Book Review)
March 22, 2006... God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law Marci A. Hamilton (Cambridge University Press, 2005, 397pp) 0-521853-04-4, $28.00 CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise...

Ruling on religion.(That Godless Court? Supreme Court Decisions on Church-State Relationships, 2d ed.)(Book Review)
March 22, 2006... That Godless Court? Supreme Court Decisions on Church-State Relationships Ronald B. Flowers (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005, 2nd edition, 228pp) 0-66422-8917, $24.95 WHAT ROLE DOES AND what role should religion play in public life? ...

Postscript.(Catholic clergy)
March 22, 2006... "We are trying to balance our communications strategy so as not to bring additional attention to the allegations--while appropriately responding with comments that question [the report author's] motivations." --Sister Carol Keehan, head of...

Index: on being a gay Catholic.
March 22, 2006... "Reading Benedict for a struggling gay Catholic like me is like reading a completely circular, self-enclosed system that is as beautiful at times as it is maddeningly immune to reasoned query. The dogmatism is astonishing. If your conscience...