YA GOTTA LOVE IT

The lesbian teenager from Mississippi who challenged her school district's ban of same-sex prom dates will serve as grand marshal of the annual gay pride march in New York City.

Organizer Heritage of Pride, Inc., announced Wednesday that Constance McMillen will appear in the parade on June 27.

It commemorates the 1969 Stonewall riots in which patrons at a Greenwich Village gay bar fought back against a police raid. The 18-year-old senior says she's honored to be part of the celebration.

Go, Constance! Justice served in the here-and-now Kingdom.

I loved reading the story with my breakfast. What an upper to start my day.

Here's the sad story of the arrangements made by Constance's classmates and their parents at prom time.

As the good book says:

For everything there is a season...

...a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A BRAVE PRIEST

From Boston.com:

An East Longmeadow priest called yesterday from his pulpit for Pope Benedict XVI to step down, demanding greater protection of children and greater accountability from the Catholic Church hierarchy.

The church’s top leader has not been truthful, said the Rev. James Scahill of St. Michael’s Parish, violating an important tenet of the faith. His strongly worded sermon echoed sentiments he shared with parishioners several weeks ago, but this time, he spent more time and spoke with greater conviction on the controversial subject.
....

“If we cannot get a pope that’s going to give us the truth, then our church is dead,’’ Scahill said.

Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the Diocese of Springfield, was quick to distance the diocesan leadership from the comments made by Scahill.

“It in no way represents the position of the bishop,’’ Dupont said. “We find his statements to be unfortunate.’’

Scahill, he said, has not properly recognized measures to ensure safety undertaken by the American Catholic leadership, which has “led the world in their efforts,’’ as well as steps the Diocese of Springfield took over the years to deal with the issue of sexual abuse.

Below is a video interview with Fr. Scahill.



H/T to Paddy Anglican for the video.

MARCIAL MACIEL OF THE LEGION OF CHRIST

From NOLA.com by Bruce Nolan:

Jason Berry, the New Orleans writer, reported this week that the founder of the Legion of Christ, a global order of Catholic priests, for years deployed lavish gifts and envelopes of cash to powerful Vatican cardinals and other officials to win support for his work before his eventual exposure as a predator.

Berry said the gifts help explain why the Rev. Marcial Maciel Delgollado and his fast-growing order enjoyed powerful allies at the Vatican, even after nine men filed formal charges in the late 1990s that he had sexually abused them as young seminarians.

The two-part report on Maciel’s gifts, published last week and Monday in the National Catholic Reporter, comes after the Legion’s admission last year that the charismatic Maciel led a secret life, fathered a daughter in his native Mexico and supported her and her mother with donations diverted from the Legion.

The order has also acknowledged that Maciel molested the seminarians. And it has not disputed the claims of two men in Mexico who said they are his sons by a second woman, also supported by donations to the Legion.

Jason Berry covered the child abuse stories in south Louisiana back in the 1980s. Links to stories by Berry from 1985 in the Acadiana Times on Gilbert Gauthé, a notorious priest-abuser are here and here.

Berry has also published books on the subject:

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Vows of Silence

"CONFRONTING SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH"

In an essay at the Daily Episcopalian, Ann Fontaine addresses the recent history of child abuse in the Episcopal Church and the policies which have been put in place to prevent further abuse and to address current allegations of abuse.

General Convention began to act. In 1985, a resolution passed to request Dioceses to conduct workshops on recognizing child sexual abuse. In 1991, a Committee on Sexual Exploitation was established. During this period several women clergy and some attorneys who had been providing legal counsel for abuse victims/survivors developed training for Bishops and other leaders to teach the church about the issue and how to deal with perpetrators and victims/survivors. It was clear that TEC did not have canons or procedures to guide this work, so several of us proposed a resolution for the next General Convention.

The bishops did not think the time was right for this action but we pressed ahead. The women of the Episcopal Church – Episcopal Women’s Caucus, Episcopal Church Women, Daughters of the King, and others mobilized to lobby both Houses and to talk their bishops about the importance of immediate action by the church. Abuse victims/survivors came to testify, often the first time they had told their stories in public. 1997 saw a number of resolutions including the revision of Title IV (disciplinary canons) passed. (The history of resolutions is here.) The Bishop’s Pastoral Office led by the Rt. Rev. Harold (Hoppy) Hopkins was a key supporter of funding, education, developing training and facing the issues of abuses and exploitation.

How refreshing to read that the influence of the women's groups in TEC sped along the process of getting workable resolutions passed. Rome, are you listening?

Ann's entire essay is well worth a read.

PORNOGRAPHY FOR THE BLIND

From the Telegraph:

A pornographic magazine for the blind has been launched - complete with explicit text and raised pictures of naked men and women.

The book, the brainchild of Lisa Murphy and called Tactile Minds, is designed to be 'enjoyed' by the blind and visually impaired - and is on sale for £150.

Among the 17 raised images include a naked woman in a 'disco pose', a woman with 'perfect breasts' and a 'male love robot'.

The magazine is pricey, but I expect that a good many sighted folks will want a subscription.

Leave it to Lapin to send me the LOL link early in the morning.

Photo by Lisa Murphy.

TED DEUTCH (D) WINS HOUSE SEAT IN FLORIDA

From the AP:

Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch has handily won the first U.S. House race since Congress passed President Barack Obama's massive health care overhaul.

With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Deutch had 62 percent of the vote compared to 36 percent for Republican Ed Lynch late Tuesday.

The Associated Press called the race about two hours after polls closed.

Yes! A Democrat replaces a Democrat.

WHAT IS EASTER?

Three blondes died and found themselves standing before St. Peter. He told them that before they could enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they had to tell him what Easter was.

The first blonde said, "Easter is the holiday where they have a big feast, give thanks and eat turkey."

St. Peter rolled his eyes, said, "Blondes!" and banished her to Hell.

The second blonde said, "Easter is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus and exchange gifts."

St. Peter said, "Wrong," and he banished her to Hell. St. Peter looked at the third blonde and said, "OK ... Tell me."

She said, "Easter is a Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover. Jesus was having Passover feast with His disciples when he was betrayed by Judas, and the Romans arrested him. The Romans hung Him on the cross and eventually He died. Then they buried Him in a tomb behind a very large boulder."

St. Peter was surprisingly impressed. "Verrrrry good," he said.

The blonde continued, "Now every year, they roll away the boulder, and Jesus comes out. If he sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of basketball."

St. Peter fainted.

Don't blame me. Blame Ann.

VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS OVER PROPERTY DISPUTE BETWEEN TEC AND CANA

John Chilton was in the courtroom today when the Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the dispute over property between the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and CANA over church property. Read his account at The Lead.

The Loudoun Times reports on the day in court with brief commentary from both sides in the dispute.

NOW FROM SAN ANTONIO

From San Antonio.com:

A Catholic priest from a rural parish west of San Antonio is accused in a lawsuit filed Thursday of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy at gunpoint and during private catechism sessions two years ago.

The suit, which names outgoing Archbishop José Gomez as a defendant and claims he sought to conceal the matter, comes three days after the Vatican named Gomez as the next archbishop in Los Angeles.

He is transferring to California next month. Gomez said recently through a spokesman that his five-year tenure involved no new sex-abuse allegations.

The suit claims that Father John M. Fiala repeatedly assaulted the youth from January to August 2008 while Fiala was working as administrator at Sacred Heart of Mary in Rocksprings.

Archbishop José Gomez takes up his office in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles under a cloud of litigation.

Besides which, he is a member of Opus Dei, which some say is a cult. I'm inclined to agree.

H/T to Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish.

LETTER FROM THE BISHOPS IN CONNECTICUT

The Roman Catholic bishops in Connecticut posted a "legislative alert" letter on the website of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport.

Dear Parishioners and Friends:

As the Bishops of the Catholic family of the State of Connecticut, we are requesting your immediate attention to House Bill 5473, which may be voted on in the General Assembly during the next week or two.

This bill would retroactively eliminate the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits related to allegations of child sexual abuse. Connecticut already has the longest retroactive statute in the United States – 30 years past the age of 18. Over the past several years in states that have even temporarily eliminated the statutes, it has caused the bankruptcy of at least seven dioceses. House Bill 5473 would make Connecticut the only State without a statute of limitations. This bill would put all Church institutions, including your parish, at risk.

The nature of bankruptcy litigation puts all assets at risk, even if your parish has had no past incidents, reports or allegations of child abuse. That is why it is important for you to join other Catholics across Connecticut in opposing this legislation.

If you think I'm persecuting the Roman Catholic Church, you should read Andrew Sullivan.