Pope Francis I made headlines around the world yesterday for his supportive comments of gay people, especially gay priests. Whereas his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI literally declared an international holy war against gay people, homosexuality, and same-sex marriage, Pope Francis asked, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
It wad a shot — of tolerance and love — heard around the world.
“Francis’s words could not have been more different from those of Benedict XVI, who in 2005 wrote that homosexuality was ‘a strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil,’ and an ‘objective disorder,'” the New York Times today said. “The church document said men with ‘deep-seated homosexual tendencies’ should not become priests.'”
“At a certain point, tone becomes substance if it’s seen as revitalizing the prospects of the church,†said John L. Allen, Jr., a Vatican expert at The National Catholic Reporter.
The Times added, “the fact that he made such comments — and used the word “gay†— was nevertheless revolutionary, and likely to generate significant discussion in local dioceses, where bishops are divided over whether to accept priests who are gay but celibate.”
So of course, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and thus the top-ranking Roman Catholic in America — the man literally responsible for leading America’s Catholics, and the Pope’s de facto representative in the U.S. — worked quickly to claim the Pope’s message is nothing new, as opposed to his own never-ending campaign of hate against LGBT people.
You’ll remember that Cardinal Dolan had his St. Patrick’s Cathedral officials call the NYPD and have them block the entrance to the Church one Sunday a few months ago, in his petty fight over getting gay people to literally wash their hands before entering to worship.
Dolan, who is also the Archbishop of New York, this morning appeared on CBS News’ “This Morning,” telling Charlie Rose that Pope Francis said nothing new, claiming that he and the Church have always called for tolerance and respect for LGBT people.
“I think we got a question of emphasis and tone,” Dolan said on CBS:
“That may be something people find new and refreshing. I for one don’t think it is and I hate to see previous popes caricatured as not having that.”
Which is a ludicrous whitewashing.
Just last month, Dolan called the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage a “tragic day for marriage and our nation,” and “a profound injustice†that threatens the “preservation of liberty and justice.â€
“After lobbying against New York’s marriage equality law, Dolan prohibited by decree any Church personnel or property from being utilized for same-sex marriage ceremonies under penalty of ‘canonical sanctions,’ calling the state’s law ‘irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine law,'” Igor Volsky at Think Progress reports:
He has also compared the “threat†posed to marriage by gays and lesbians to that of polygamy, adultery, forced marriage,communist dictatorships, and incest. Dolan responded to the Supreme Court’s decision striking down a section of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act by claiming that the spread of marriage equality will threaten “the common good of all.â€
In May, an anti-gay hate crime wave hit New York City, with nine violent anti-gay attacks, including a murder with a gun at point-blank range. Nine anti-gay attacks in one month and 27 for the year, twice the rate of the year previous. Cardinal Dolan ignored the anti-gay hate in his own backyard, while issuing a directive to all Catholic dioceses to focus their sermons on “traditional marriage†and opposing the “redefinition of marriage†to include LGBT people, in the hope that somehow his prayers would reach the Supreme Court.
They did not.
Yes, instead of denouncing anti-gay violence, instead of even acknowledging it, instead of calling for tolerance and love, Cardinal Dolan issued a directive to preach anti-LGBT hate in Church.
And it was only after The New Civil Rights Movement and other called him out for his silence that he spent 17 seconds acknowledging the violence, on a local radio show.
And did nothing more.
Here’s Dolan this morning:
http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf
Related:
Cardinal Timothy Dolan Hid $57 Million From Church Sex Abuse Victims
Cardinal Dolan Calls For Anti-LGBT Sermons In Shadow Of Violent Anti-Gay Hate Crime Wave
Timothy Dolan Wants You To Fast For Those Who Are Marching In Hate Against Your Marriage
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