A plea to U.S. Bishops: Please love enough to speak of the dangers of homosexuality

BY JOHN-HENRY WESTEN
Wed Jun 29, 2011 18:37 EST

June 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the same-sex ‘marriage’ debate plays out in the United States, with New York having recently fallen, I can’t help but think that it all feels strangely familiar. Back in 2003 and 2004 Canada went through these same debates.

The methods used by homosexual activists in Canada were actually exported to the United States (first to Massachusetts) and have been similarly successful. However, I cringe to see that the same unsuccessful approach to combating this agenda taken by religious leaders in Canada is being taken by U.S. leaders, with similar results.

To be sure, the efforts of the newly formed U.S. Bishops Conference office for the ‘promotion and defense of marriage’ are commendable. However, they are off target. The slick and beautiful videos they have produced for the promotion of marriage and family life are truly great. Thirty years ago they would have made a massive impact in fighting divorce and the contraceptive mentality.

Today, however, what we need to realize is that in the same-sex ‘marriage’ battle, the fight is not really about marriage. As it was in Canada, in the debates leading up to the passage of our same-sex ‘marriage’ legislation in 2005, the issue is about societal approval for homosexual acts.

Homosexual activists argue the need for ‘marriage,’ but most have no interest in the constraints that such a formalized union would entail in terms of exclusive partnership. However, the leaders among the activists have convinced the movement that they must attain marriage as a societal stamp of approval to homosexual behavior.

Continue reading →

It took the votes of three Republicans to pass the New York gay “marriage” law. The report below asserts:

From NY Times:

• “In the 35th-floor conference room of a Manhattan high-rise, two of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s most trusted advisers held a secret meeting a few weeks ago with a group of super-rich Republican donors.
• Within days, the wealthy Republicans sent back word: They were on board. Each of them cut six-figure checks to the lobbying campaign that eventually totaled more than $1 million.
• The story of how same-sex marriage became legal in New York is about shifting public sentiment and individual lawmakers moved by emotional appeals from gay couples who wish to be wed.
• But, behind the scenes, it was really about a Republican Party reckoning with a profoundly changing power dynamic, where Wall Street donors and gay-rights advocates demonstrated more might and muscle than a Roman Catholic hierarchy and an ineffective opposition.

Behind the scenes, Cuomo, Republican power brokers and the ACLU cut the deal.

Church leaders objected on esoteric grounds and did not join the fray. They did not protect the backs of the ones in the fight. As the Times reported:

• It was befuddling to gay-rights advocates: The Catholic Church, arguably the only institution with the authority and reach to derail same-sex marriage, seemed to shrink from the fight.
• As the marriage bill hurtled toward a vote, the head of the church in New York, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, left town to lead a meeting of bishops in Seattle. He did not travel to Albany or deliver a major speech in the final days of the session. And when he did issue a strongly worded critique of the legislation — he called it “immoral” and an “ominous threat” — it was over the phone to an Albany-area radio show.

Continue reading →

POPE: THERE’S PLENTY OF FOOD, BUT TOO MUCH EGOTISM

Addresses FAO on Problem of World Hunger

VATICAN CITY, JULY 1, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is citing the United Nations and other experts in affirming that global food production is capable of feeding the world population. But, he says, millions “do not have their daily bread” because of egotism.

The Pope stated this today when he received in audience participants of the 37th session of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The session concludes Saturday.

“Poverty, underdevelopment and hence, hunger, are often the result of egoistic behavior that, coming from man’s heart, is manifested in social action, in economic exchanges, in the market conditions, in the lack of access to food, and is translated in the negation of the primary right of all persons to nourish themselves and, therefore, to be free from hunger,” the Holy Father stated.

Continue reading →

In wake of judge’s ruling, Catholic Charities remains “deeply concerned” about looming shutdown’s effects