Stand Alone Pages on 'Musings of an Old Curmudgeon'

26 October 2020

Cardinal Flip Flops on Civil Unions

Did O'Malley take an acting course in lying with a straight face? It certainly looks like it as he says his own earlier statements were wrong. He's basically said that he believes Francis has changed the Teaching of the Church.

From Catholic Action League of Massachusetts

In response to remarks by Pope Francis endorsing civil unions for homosexual couples, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the Archbishop of Boston, issued a statement yesterday defending the Pope and asserting that civil union legislation is not something which the Church opposes.

The Cardinal's statement reads in part: "The Pope’s endorsement of civil unions is not an endorsement of homosexual activity. Just as the Church does not campaign against civil laws that allow for common-law marriage or second marriages....the Holy Father recognizes that in civil society there can be cogent reasons to enact such laws providing for civil unions which are not the same as the institution of marriage. Pope Francis has seen civil unions as a way for governments to provide protections and health care for couples in long-term, committed relationships..."

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts characterized the Cardinal's statement as "a defense of the indefensible, compounded by an acute case of institutional and personal amnesia." 

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "What Cardinal O'Malley fails to explain is, if there are 'cogent reasons' for civil unions, why did the Archdiocese of Boston, its newspaper, The Pilot, and the Massachusetts Catholic Conference---representing the four Catholic ordinaries in the Commonwealth---spend twelve and a half years, from April 1991 to November 2003, campaigning against domestic partner and civil union proposals?"

"In October, 1992, the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts condemned a decision by Governor William Weld to extend domestic partner benefits to state employees. In October, 2003, the bishops---led by Sean O'Malley--- condemned both domestic partner benefits and civil unions. The statement signed by O'Malley said 'Domestic partnership bills would recognize homosexual relationships for the purpose of extending various socioeconomic benefits. The Church opposes this recognition.' Was the Cardinal wrong then or is he wrong now?"

"The involvement of the Catholic Action League in this issue, culminating in our successful lawsuit before the Supreme Judicial Court against municipal domestic partner programs, Connors v. City of Boston, originated in a telephone call from the Massachusetts Catholic Conference. The late Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, Lawrence J. Riley, personally lobbied Boston City Councilors against a domestic partners ordinance proposed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino."

"Sean O'Malley's reversal on civil unions reminds us that for the modern Catholic hierarchy, in any conflict between Catholic morality and institutional loyalty, the company wins every time."
 

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