The news wasn’t surprising, but that didn’t rob it of its sting.
Last week, the two bishops of the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle let it be known that church resources will be used to collect signatures for Referendum 74, the November ballot measure that aims to repeal same-sex marriage in this state.
The politically divisive announcement was made during Holy Week, of all times, adding an unfortunate touch of irony to the church’s stand.
Still, the intellectual and moral complexities of the issue deserve respect: This is no territory for sound bites or slogans. We have witnessed Catholic Gov. Christine Gregoire’s struggle to come out in favor of same sex marriage as a matter of conscience.
Which is, ultimately, what this is about.
That the Roman Catholic Church, possessing a formidable tradition of intellect and good works, has produced the likes of Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis of Assisi, Dante Alighieri, Dorothy Day, Daniel Berrigan, Thomas Merton and Oscar Romero — figures who have, at times, dissented from official Church positions — is one of its most invigorating gifts to the world.
In a global economy where people are reduced to ciphers of production and consumption and the commercialization and trivialization of sex reveal the spiritual poverty of our times, the Catholic Church serves as a salutary counterweight.
But the church’s position on Referendum 74 undermines the better angels of the institution. We only wish the Church could have mustered as much passion about confronting the sexual abuse that has riven its ranks as it has on same-sex marriage.
All the Church’s legalistic sophisms on Referendum 74 miss the mark. State Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) a Catholic gay man who was lead sponsor of the Marriage Equality Act, Senate Bill 6239, strongly supported by State Sen. Jeanne Kohl Welles (D-Seattle), offers a dissenting perspective from the lawmaker’s bench and church-goer’s pew: “Here in Olympia,” he said, as reported by P-I.com columnist Joel Connelly, “I am watching Republicans press for a budget that takes money from the Disability Lifeline and the emergency food-assistance program, yet there is no letter from Catholic bishops or the Catholic Conference stressing the importance of these programs.”
Murray then cut to the chase: “As I read the Gospels, there is a great deal of talk about the poor, and none about homosexuality.”
Amen to that.