Posted on 10/09/2012 6:48:26 AM PDT by marshmallow
Sixty-three former Roman Catholic priests in Washington state will announce on Thursday that they support Referendum 74, which would make Washington the nation’s seventh state to legalize marriage between same-sex couples.
The stand comes as the state’s four Catholic bishops intensify a campaign of pastoral statements and videos urging parishoners to vote against marriage equality.
In the latest pastoral letter, Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of the Diocese of Yakima told his 41 parishes that Referendum 74 “jeopardizes freedom rather than expands it” and “endangers our religious liberty and the rights of conscience.”
“Once marriage is redefined as a genderless contract, it will become legally discriminatory for public and private institutions such as schools to promote the unique meaning of marriage . . .This law will challenge our right to educate about the unique value of children being raised by his or her own mother and father in a stable home,” Tyson wrote.
The 63 former priests, with collectively more than 800 years of service to the Church, beg to differ.
“We are uneasy with the aggressive efforts of Catholic bishops to oppose R-74 and want to support the 71 percent of Catholics (Public Religion Research Institute) who support civil marriage for gays as a valid Catholic position,” they said in a statement.
Former priest Pat Callahan, who organized the statement, added: “This is the first public action we’ve taken.” Callahan was in the Catholic priesthood for 15 years.
Washington, Maryland and Maine will vote on marriage equality this November. Minnesota is voting on a constitutional amendment that would enshrine marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.
The ex-priests in Washington are taking a lesson from the playbook of their counterparts in Minnesota.
Minneapolis-St. Paul Archbishop John Nienstedt has warned any active priests opposing the gay marriage ban to.......
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.seattlepi.com ...
How many of them are gay.
The heterophobes are coming! The heterophobes are coming!
Probably all members of NAMBLA as well. (North American of Man/Boy Love Association, the homosexual organization seeking to remove age restrictions about having sex with children.)
like asking 63 ex-wives,
about their former husbands...
Game, set and match. Might as well end the thread now cuz there aint nobody gonna top that one.
Thousands of priests left the church in the 1970’s. These 63 “ex-priests” seem intent on publicly promoting the homosexual agenda and attacking the Catholic church. I wonder if the reason they left (or were asked to leave) was because they were homosexuals.
They really ARE ex-Catholics.....priest or not.
While it’s possible and even likely, it’s also the case that this group are generally radical liberals to begin with.
63 ex-priests for just the state of Washington. It raises the question of how they got in. Aren’t there any vetting processes for new priests?
We already have equality. Any unmarried man, whether gay or straight, can marry any unmarried woman he wants to, subject to certain restrictions on close relatives. Any unmarried woman, whether lesbian or straight, can marry any unmarried man she wants to, subject to certain restrictions on close relatives. Even under the most extreme proposals from the far left, there would still be restrictions on marriage to those who are underage or already married. Why is it "equal" to leave just those restrictions than to leave those restrictions along with the 5,000 year-old tradition and definition that marriage requires male and female?
What does anyone want to bet that nearly all of these “former priests” are Catholics in good standing?
Strangely, they may serve a good purpose: to show the world what spiritual disintegration looks and sounds like.
It's a good thing they're out of the priesthood and thus limited in the damage they can do. May the Lord grant them repentance and redemption.
there’s a reason they are “ex”
the good thing is that it’s changing — that’s why these guys are ex-priests
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