Archbishop O'Malley won't attend dinner at which Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is honored

The Boston Globe ^ | 11.24.05

[Coleus]

Disagreement over Mayor Thomas Menino's views on abortion and same-sex marriage has prompted Archbishop Sean O'Malley to cancel plans to attend the annual Catholic Charities Christmas dinner next month.

Also, O'Malley is sending a letter to every parish in the archdiocese in which he says the church's opposition to gay marriage should not be interpreted as hostility toward homosexuals, and Catholics should strive to end discrimination toward gays and lesbians.

The Catholic Charities fundraising dinner is honoring Menino, an outspoken advocate of abortion rights and gay marriage.

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, a conservative Catholic group, has called for a boycott of the dinner to send a message that Catholic leaders in public office should not be honored if they ignore the Vatican's teachings on major social issues, The Boston Globe reports.

O'Malley's decision puts him among those who argue that to honor Menino would contravene the basic principles of the church.

"In light of the Mayor's past statements concerning abortion and same-sex marriage policies, the Archbishop regrets that he cannot attend the dinner," said a statement dated Tuesday by Catholic Charities. "In doing this he acts in accord with the U.S. Catholic Bishops policy regarding public officials who are in conflict with Catholic teaching on specific issues, a policy formulated at plenary session of the Bishops' conference in June of 2004."

Catholic Charities provides discounted fuel, food and other services to 150,000 needy people every year.

In O'Malley's letter, dated Friday, he says the archdiocese's opposition to same-sex marriage "is not based on an animus against people with a homosexual orientation," but is rather an effort to defend the institution of marriage.

[Coleus]

He's done the right thing and can't wait until he does the same with the Kennedy's. Will he? I hope so.

[Gay State Conservative]

I applaud the Archbishop.Menino is a semi-literate buffoon
who pretends to be a Catholic when he is,in fact,a Unitarian/Universalist.

[Little Bill]

Mumbles is an opportunistic, illiterate, Hyde Park, piece of trash. Chuckey Turner, Felix Arroyo, Mumbles, and a hack named later, should be elected to the Down Fall of America Hall of Fame.

[Little Bill]

Has he been hanging around the Community Church again? What Church and what dates, I have to get pic's."

[buccaneer81]

He's done the right thing and can't wait until he does the same with the Kennedy's. Will he? I hope so.

Cardinal Cushing probably wishes he did the right thing. Hell is mighty warm.

[Sun]

Good for him!

Bump!

[Aquinasfan]

He's done the right thing and can't wait until he does the same with the Kennedy's. Will he? I hope so.

This is good news, but doesn't Bishop O'Malley have jurisdiction over Catholic Charities in his archdiocese? Couldn't he keep Menino away instead?

[ElkGroveDan]

"We do not want Catholics who have a homosexual orientation to feel unwelcome in the church," O'Malley wrote

It's a great move by O'Malley, and I applaud him for his courage. I am really getting tired of this orientation and discrimination stuff though.

Why don't they a talk about welcoming Catholics with a "kleptomania orientation" or those with an "adulterous orientation?" I wish they would simply state that sinners are welcome and leave it at that. There is nothing special about the sodomites that should make everyone tip-toe carefully around their filthy perversion any more carefully than any other sinner and their sins.