St. Paul Cathedral. Source: Wikipedia

Catholics from both sides of the issue are weighing in on the plan by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to create ad hoc committees in every Catholic church in Minnesota to push the state’s constitutional same-sex marriage ban.

One lay Catholic who works for a church-affiliated organization, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing their job, told the Minnesota Independent that the organized campaign in support of the marriage amendment was “offensive, divisive and against the image of Christ we see in the Gospels.”

“But honestly after the sex abuse scandal and the cover-ups made by the hierarchy, nothing they do shocks me anymore,” the source said. ”After watching the Catholic Church use funds to pay for their lawyers, pay off victims and now shove through this amendment, I’ve decided to withhold my tithe from the church. I do not want to provide them more money to defend themselves or lobby against me and those I love. Instead, I will give that money directly to services in Minnesota that provide food and housing for the poorest among us.”

The move by Archbishop John Nienstedt is out of touch with many lay Catholics, according to a large survey of Catholics released on Monday that showed only 35 percent of Catholics oppose same-sex marriage.

The decision has riled some Catholics who oppose the religion’s opposition to same-sex marriage rights.

“Minnesota bishops have just taken the unusual step of urging parish priests across the state to form committees to help pass the proposed anti-marriage amendment in 2012,” wrote Freedom to Marry, a national group that supports marriage rights for same-sex couples. The group recently registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to work on the campaign to defeat the amendment.

The group continued with an appeal for money: “This isn’t the first time we’ve faced a multi-million dollar campaign funded by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to ban the freedom to marry. With your help, this time we will be prepared.”

The Rainbow Sash Movement, a national group working to protest the church’s policies on LGBT people, called Nienstedt’s plans an “abuse of authority.”

“Above and beyond all this, Archbishop Nienstedt appears not to have any concern about the unity of the Archdiocese in his drive to stigmatize the gay marriage as threat to society. He is naive if he thinks that Catholics will buckle under his political direction in this,” wrote Bill O’Connor, spokesperson of the Rainbow Sash Movement. “If anything has damaged marriage in our society, one only has to look to divorce. Perhaps this where the Archbishop should put his energies rather than trying impose an interpretation of marriage that is not grounded [in]  today’s reality, by making gay people scapegoats.”

Scott Alessi, writing for U.S. Catholic, which is published by a Roman-Catholic community of priests and brothers called the Claretian Missionaries, said Niensted’s decision was “unusual.”

“Nienstedt has made clear that for priests in his archdiocese, fighting to ensure that the state defines marriage in the same way as the church is today’s top priority,” Alessi wrote.

Alessi wondered if anti-gay marriage amendment was the most appropriate use of resources: ”If an archbishop can call upon all his pastors to form grassroots committees, appoint parish leaders, and organize a large-scale effort, is this the issue on which to do it? What if every parish developed an unemployment committee dedicated to helping out of work people in the parish community find jobs?”

St. Paul Cathedral. Source: Wikipedia

As Catholics for Marriage Equality (CME) were hosting their first major event Thursday, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a statement slamming the group for confusing and misleading Catholics on the issue of marriage equality for same-sex couples.

A joint statement by the Archdiocese and the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), the church’s public policy arm, condemned the equality group’s message:

A group calling itself “Catholics for Marriage Equality MN” seeks to confuse Catholics and the public about authentic Church teaching related to matters of marriage and sexuality. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Minnesota Catholic Conference wish to make it known that this group does not speak for the Catholic Church, is not an agent or entity of the Archdiocese, MCC, or the universal Church, and has no authority to determine what does and does not constitute Christian doctrine and morality. The Archdiocese asks that Catholics avoid associating themselves with this group, and not be deceived by its messages, which are in conflict with the fundamental teachings of the Church.

The Archdiocese also accused the group of trying to mislead Catholics:

“Catholics for Marriage Equality MN” attempts to convince Catholics that they can be in good standing with the Church and oppose Church teaching about human sexuality and marriage, which centers on the complementarity of the sexes and the mutual self-gift of loving spouses in marital union. The group also misleads people by proposing a false ecclesiology that undermines the legitimate authority of the bishops and the Magisterium as the authentic guardian, interpreter, and teacher of the faith handed to the apostles by Jesus Christ.

And the Church urged Catholics to show “loving support” to people “struggling with same-sex attraction.”

“The Catholic Church desires that all persons enjoy the same basic rights consistent with their human dignity,” the statement said.

Jason Adkins, in a separate statement from the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said that gay and lesbian people should not even engage in the full spectrum of romantic love and should instead remain abstinent.

“Homosexual persons are to be fully respected in their human dignity and encouraged to follow God’s plan with particular attention in the exercise of chastity,” Adkins said. “[C]alling for respect does not justify the legitimization of behavior that is not consistent with moral law.”

Adkins encouraged Catholics to vote for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“The Catholic Church, in keeping with Catholic teaching, reason and natural law, and in concert with many other faiths, strongly supports maintaining the current, traditional definition of marriage by voting ‘yes’ for the amendment during the November 2012 election,” he said.

The Catholic Church has put millions of dollars towards Minnesota’s same-sex marriage ban.

Catholics for Marriage Equality consists of “Roman Catholics who advocate for civil marriage for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.”

“As Catholics we value compassion, justice, family, truth-telling and love, and we witness all of these qualities and values in the lives and relationships of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. In other words, we see the face of God in the love of same-sex couples and families,” according to the group’s website.

On Thursday evening, Catholics for Marriage Equality debuted a series of videos with Minnesota Catholics talking about their support for marriage equality and opposition to the anti-gay marriage amendment.

In a statement about the event, director Mary Kay Orman said the group’s hope is that people who watch the video will “prayerfully reflect” on the negative impact of the proposed same-sex marriage ban.

Pointing to recent polling, Michael Bayly, coordinator for the group, said the project reflects the views of a majority of the Catholic laity.

“In Catholicism, the hierarchy, theologians, and the wisdom of the laity are equally recognized as authentic sources of truth,” said Bayly. “A teaching cannot be considered authentic unless genuine dialogue among all three has taken place. When one considers what Catholic theologians and the Catholic people are thinking and saying about the issue of homosexuality and same-sex relationships, then, at the very least, we have to acknowledge the possibility that the Vatican’s teaching on this issue may not actually be the authentic Catholic teaching.”

Bayly said that gay Catholics get married for the same reason as anyone else: “to make a lifetime commitment of love and responsibility, and to celebrate that solemn promise in front of God and their families.”

“The defeat of the ‘marriage amendment’ won’t make gay marriage legal in Minnesota and no church will be required to change their views or practices, but its passage would be the only time that the constitution has been used to restrict and deny rights and not expand them,” Bayly said.

The opinion pages of the Star Tribune have become embroiled in a war of words over efforts to “cure” gays and lesbians of their homosexuality.

Last week, the Rev. James Livingston, a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis penned a column titled “Some people can make the gay go away” asserting that being gay is a “weakness” that can sometimes be cured through therapy and prayer. On Thursday, OutFront Minnesota offered a rebuttal: “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are not broken. We are not in need of repair.”

Livingston, who heads a support group for men and women with same-sex attractions, penned his column in response to a previous editorial by Ron Bates, “Growing up Catholic and gay in Minnesota.”

“For years and years, I would prostrate myself on the floor and ask God to change me. Maybe if I just pray more, fast more, do more ‘works of charity,’ the male attraction will go away,” wrote Bates. “After more than 30 years of trying to ‘burn’ the evil out of me, I finally came out at age fifty four.”

Livingston responded that non-heterosexual orientations are a product of dysfunctional upbringings:

The plain truth is that people with same-sex attractions experience them differently.

For some, those desires are deeply rooted and long-lasting, while others experience them as symptoms of something else: loneliness, lack of confidence or frustrated childhood bonding with same-sex parents or peers, just to begin the list.

In other words, some people really do find developmental and environmental roots to their same-sex attractions. And yes, some find release from them through therapy or through the mysterious grace of a spiritual awakening.

Livingston said that gay marriage should never be legalized.

“Traditional marriage is rooted in this ancient if inconvenient truth, and it can’t be scolded or legislated away by one misguided generation. History is not and never will be on the side of gay marriage,” Livingston wrote. “Minnesota citizens, you can support traditional marriage and be a friend to persons with same-sex attractions. It’s not an “either/or” issue.”

Rebecca Waggoner, anti-violence program director for OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy organization, and the Rev. Oby Ballinger of OutFront’s Minnesota People of Faith Roundtable, disagreed with Livingston‘s take on the issue.

“Rev. Livingston is wrong: true friendship means valuing friends for who they are,” they wrote. “We cannot call ourselves friends to LGBT people if we work to deny their love, erase their identities, and exclude them from marriage.”

“In reality, many people of faith affirm the inherent human dignity of all people, including those with LGBT identities,” they continued. “They recognize that, instead of asking how we can change a child’s identity, we should ask how we can change our world so children will be supported as they are and be free to make the best choices for their own lives as they become adults.”

Livingston’s words also brought condemnation in the paper’s letters to the editor.

“Livingston’s commentary is an example of a problematic type of ‘soft bigotry’ that many exhibit toward the LGBT community,” wrote Patrick Finnegan of Minneapolis. “Although he purports to show compassion to people with same-sex attraction, it is predicated on the assumption that such attraction is a dysfunction to be suppressed and corrected.”

Chad O’Leary of St. Paul shared his story in the paper’s letters section:

Being told that I could “pray it away” set me up for what I could least afford: failure. I considered myself a failure in the eyes of God and, at the age of 14, sat with a bottle of aspirin by my bed considering ending it all.

After seven years of youth ministry within the Catholic Church, I know firsthand that there are teens on the brink of ending it all, who see themselves as disgusting anomalies for wanting to love someone of the same sex and build a family with that person. I think that perpetuating this self-loathing is the epitome of sin.

Ben Smith of Minneapolis wondered why Livingston’s column was ever published in the first place.

“While everyone is entitled to their opinion, the Star Tribune does not have to publish every illogical, ill-conceived, bigoted and fact-free bit of insane drivel that comes its way, whether it’s from a religious figure or not,” Smith wrote. “From its assertion that much same-sex attraction comes from ‘loneliness or lack of confidence’ to its ridiculous claim that gay identity is being forced onto young people who are then imprisoned by it, Livingston’s article is filled with nonsense with zero basis in reality.”

Every year on Good Friday, Pro-Life Action Ministries hosts a protest outside a Planned Parenthood clinic on Ford Parkway in St. Paul. This year, the leader of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis showed up- the first time someone of his stature participated, protesters said.

Planned Parenthood set up a “pledge a protester” system that allowed supporters to donate a set dollar amount for each anti-abortion protester that turned out. When the archbishop brought out additional anti-abortion activists–reports say several hundred–the level of donations for the Planned Parenthood clinic increased. The clinic raised $14,000 on Friday and received carloads of food donations for local food pantries.

“The day went well and we know that the majority of Minnesotans are supportive of our work in communities across the state,” said Kathi Di Nicola of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS). “We’ve been able to take that day back by reaffirming our commitment to serving women, raising money for the clinic and joining with the community to take action that improves the lives of women and families. That’s our mission.”

One anti-abortion protester, Megan Noll, told Minnesota Public Radio that the archbishop’s presence was responsible for the large crowd. “I think it makes a huge difference, I think this is probably the biggest crowd I have ever seen here,” Noll said.

The money raised at the expense of anti-abortion protesters will go toward family planning services at the clinic. PPMNS said it provided more than 300,000 units of contraception and 20,000 breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings to women in Minnesota and the Dakotas within the past year.

Miles is the author of “Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror,” and on Sunday he was scheduled to speak more generally on the topic during the adult education time that precedes mass. With a chuckle, he describes the talk, “Torture and the Courage to Be Inconvenienced” [pdf], as “a serious church chat.”

“I was writing it for a religious context, so it’s not like a progressive editorial,” he said. “I do a lot of church chats, so I’m a little taken aback to find this one so controversial.”

The controversy isn’t torture (although St. Joan’s description of the talk said, “Polls show that American Catholics are more likely to endorse torture than the public at large”). In fact, archdiocese communications representative Dennis McGrath commended Miles’ work on the topic, adding, “We’re not anti-Steven Miles.”

Still, Miles notes a sad link. “The interesting thing here is that torture causes abortions,” he said. “Women who are tortured abort during the application of torture. Furthermore, women with PTSD choose abortion after they survive torture.” Plus, it is just the kind of “sanctity of life” issue the church often addresses.

But it’s pro-life or no deal, Miles says. “The position the MCCL is taking is that no voice can address any subject within the church unless that voice is anti-abortion, which would seem to cut the church off from a fair amount of social dialogue.”

In fact, that’s the church’s stated policy, too.The archdiocese’s official statement reads:

This decision was necessitated solely because of Dr. Miles’ public advocacy of abortion, which is fundamentally contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. It is also consistent with guidance offered by a task force of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at a meeting on Faithful Citizenship in Dallas in 2004. This guidance states that ‘the Catholic community should not provide speaking platforms for those who act in defiance of our basic moral principles.’ The decision is in no way a repudiation of Dr. Miles’ commendable work in the area of torture and torture victims.

Reached by phone late Friday, McGrath acknowledged that Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life had a role in getting the talk shut down. Miles has an inkling, which he calls “pure speculation,” why the organization has it in for him. Several years ago, MCCL was instrumental in getting language added to the Minnesota Department of Health’s materials that linked abortions to the risk of breast cancer. “They got that through the Legislature essentially on a pro-life, anti-choice argument,” he says. “I got it taken out by restructuring the public discussion: that we need a credible health department and that it was too deep a price to pay to sacrifice the credibility of the health department for this political agenda, because of all the other issues we depended on them for for information.” He says Minnesota’s action in pulling the questionable information led several other states to do the same.

The talk will go on. St. Joan’s peace and justice coordinator Julie Madden called up another Catholic institution and asked to use their space. Next Tuesday night, Miles will give a presentation at the Carondelet Center, owned by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, in St. Paul.

Madden wouldn’t comment for this story, except to say, “I will do everything I can to ensure that Dr. Miles’ commitment to ending state-sanctioned torture is heard by as many people as possible.”