Embarrassed To Be A Catholic (Again)

by Dick Mac

I read with dismay an article in the Times this morning, not because of the news it ultimately delivered about gay marriage in New York, but because of these paragraphs:

Roman Catholic bishops had consistently lobbied for its defeat, however, and after the vote released a statement applauding the move.

"Advocates for same-sex marriage have attempted to portray their cause as inevitable," Richard E. Barnes, the executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said in the statement. "However, it has become clear that Americans continue to understand marriage the way it has always been understood, and New York is not different in that regard. This is a victory for the basic building block of our society."
New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill

It's offensive to me that my church would refer to the marriage of heterosexuals as a "basic building block of our society." If heterosexual marriage is a basic building block of our society, then heterosexuals destroyed that building block long, long ago; and that basic building block of society is pretty much non-existent, even among Catholics.

According to everything parishioners are told, the Church is in financial dire straits. Every level of the Church needs more money. We have to close schools, we have to sell property, we have to lay-off workers, all because we have no money. Then suddenly, there's plenty of money for the Church to lobby in Albany against the rights of taxpayers who may or may not be Catholic.

Which is it: are we broke or are we flush? And what are our priorities: children and education, or politics and conservatism? And how are we supposed to win back the participation of lapsed Catholics when this is the message we are sending?

It is a sad day for me as a New Yorker, and as a Catholic. I am embarrassed to be a Catholic today. I am mute and apologetic.