As Dominic reported on the day of the Lord, Seattle Archbishop Peter J. Sartain told every Catholic church in Western Washington to print a statement against gay marriage in their bulletins.

So I called every Catholic church within Seattle city limits today to see if they honored the wishes of their archdiocese. I spoke to people at nine churches, six of which have published the statement or plan to in the near future (Christ the King, Holy Family, St. Bernadette, St. Francis of Assisi, St. George, and St. Peter). Two churches (St. Patrick and St. Paul) refused to tell me because they didn’t want to make a public statement. (If you ask me, publishing a statement in a bulletin seems pretty public.)

Over at St. Joseph on Capitol Hill, they published the statement in the Sunday bulletin, but Reverend John D. Whitney wrote a column responding to Archbishop Sartain. (Here’s the full St. Joe’s bulletin.)

“For many in our community, I know, this letter will bring great pain—in part because it seems bound to less considered positions,” Reverend Whitney writes. But he lets bishops off the hook—saying they were trying to be respectful—and then tells parishioners to “decide what ought to be done.”

I spoke to Reverend Whitney on the phone and he said Catholics in his parish should “let the archdiocese hear why they come to the conclusions they come to. It’s important that all people of faith feel welcomed here.”

29 replies on “St. Joe’s Asks Parishioners to Tell the Archdiocese What They Think About Marriage Equality”

  1. Now that’s a courageous, unequivocal statement of support for his gay/lesbian parishoners. I’m sure those folks will feel most welcomed when they read that bulletin about how they don’t deserve marriage rights.

  2. I am not quite grasping the part about the bishops “trying to be respectful.” Nope. Not getting it.

    Also, “respect,” I am sorry to say, has lost its power, esp when it is the veil behind which all kinds of nasty cruel dishonest abusive church business can be hidden away. Why should any of us respect any of it? Churches, by mere virtue of their existence, do not deserve respect, and the sooner we all accept and act on that fact the better.

  3. Granted, I just skimmed it (SO much blah blah blah…..), but the money shot, as it were, is in the last paragraph, and I read it as a call to action to people of good conscienses to let the diocese know where you stand on gay marriage. In other words, if you disagree, make you opinion known.

    But then again, I remember how to speak Catholic.

  4. Nicely done, from the parish where I was baptized. I love that further on the bulletin mentions you can eat gluten-free host if you like, just let somebody know. Ah, Capitol Hill.

  5. @1: did you read the bulletin? I just did. I know a lot of us would like to see a priest go against their superiors and fight the good fight (and lose their jobs, life, employ in the process) but Whitney wrote in a way that his readership will understand what he is saying, mainly that the Church authorities may say what they will, but each person is obligated to her/his own conscience.
    That is as close as he is likely to get to telling people to disregard the bishop’s letter.

  6. Fr. Whitney is a Jesuit, an order which represents the last bastion of intellectual vigor in the RC Church. His lengthy tome was about the best you can hope for from a RC priest, and his appeal to an informed conscience is exactly the right theological approach.

  8. There is nothing a Catholic could express to their leadership that would have even a fraction of the effect that leaving the church would have. If you choose to remain, you’re simply making a cold calculation that your spiritual comfort as a catholic trumps basic human rights.

  9. Have you confirmed that St. Pat’s published the archbishop’s statement? The bulletins are published on the parish website (can’t link here, but it’s stpatsseattle.org/about-st-pats/bulletin…;;).

  10. Also, don’t forget that St Joe’s is a Jesuit parish, run by the Jesuit order. Technically, it doesn’t fall under the authority of the bishop, but is under the authority of that order’s leadership. A pastor at a diocesan parish has less wiggle-room.

  11. Commentators have shown general surprise at recent findings of widespread support among Catholics for same-gender marriage and civil unions, laws against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and other LGBT-friendly policies.

    What may be a little surprising is that Catholic support is stronger than in other Christian denominations, with Latino Catholic support for civil unions or civil same-gender marriage crossing the 50 percent mark. (You can read the CNS story on the study here.)

    Critics have pointed out that white Catholics tend to prefer the civil union option, and critics have pointed out that 41 percent of respondents didn’t attend Mass often.

    http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2011/03/c…

  13. A key and little-discussed element here is the Catholic notion of the primacy of conscience, one of the good things that can be said about Catholic theology although it seems all too often deliberately obscured. Basically, it is to guard against corruption in the church hierarchy leading the faithful astray, and it says that if you rigorously examine your conscience regarding some moral choice or course of action and conclude that the path you choose is right and just, you cannot be condemned because of it even if the church authorities disapprove. The responsibility is on the individual as time goes on to continually revisit their actions in this vein, along with the resulting consequences.

    This process is what allows people in committed gay relationships who also feel drawn to Catholicism, to be active parishioners who attend mass and maybe take the sacraments and presumably do not repeatedly confess homosexual acts, because they are secure in the purity and rightness of their love. Maybe somebody who is an active and committed Catholic can comment on this further.

    When my now-deceased college English prof (whose sister was a nun and one brother a priest, who got me into community theatre, took me to my first gay bars, and generally introduced me around) first told me about this, it blew my mind. Sister Bernadette never brought it up in catechism.

  15. …I meant to bring this back to Fr. Whitney’s statement in the bulletin. It is primacy of conscience that he’s alluding to, and the ultimate moral autonomy and responsibility of the individual. That core message, though, is pretty well obscured in the fogbank of words.

  16. robi…re the primacy of conscience doctrine. So far as I can tell, nearly all Xtian faiths have a similar view. Indeed, the faith of my childhood, Mormonism, teaches this over and over again.

    The practical effect of this, however, is exactly opposite of what it would appear at face value. Essentially, this acts as delivery system for confirmation bias; you exist in a community of friends, family, income, etc. who all expect you to believe certain things, so you poke your conscience, and surprise! you tend to believe most things that this community you’re already hoping to be a part of believes.

    Prayer essentially operates on this principle, too. So does embedded journalism during wartime.

  17. @12 and @14:
    When you speak to them you say “Father NAME” (and thus when writing a letter, Dear Father NAME,”

    But when it’s just a name in print, then it’s “Rev. FIRSTNAME LASTNAME”

  18. I can vouch for what rob! says. Primacy of conscience was a huge part of my upbringing, from balancing my collections on my newspaper route, to pet care. It’s sort of the upside of Catholic guilt.

  19. I live in Toledo, and a couple years ago, the diocese here told all of the priests to read an essay in church at the end of mass that opposes domestic partnerships, and urged the flock to vote against them. The priest at my parent’s and Busia’s church refused to. He stated at the end of mass that he is morally opposed to discrimination against gays, that he refused to read the bishop’s essay, and that if they wanted to read it so badly, they could go to the back of the church after mass and find a copy next to the bulletins. (He only ended up printing out ten of them, heh.) The diocese wouldn’t do anything to him because he’s a well-established priest in his sixties who is one of only two canon lawyers in town, and too valuable to get rid of.

    He’s also pro-choice, pro-birth control, and believes that everyone who is a good person at heart that doesn’t do evil things to screw other people over or for pleasure, you’ll go to heaven. In his own words, “There’s no way in hell that Ghandi is in hell.” It makes me wonder why he’s in the Catholic church.

  20. @14 – “Reverend” is a form of title. “Father” is a form of address. (You can find trivial useless info. like that in the back of my ancient Webster’s Dictionary.)

  21. @16, I really think what you’re thinking of is peer pressure/tyranny of the majority/Stockholm syndrome. Those are all things that make people try to go along with what the whole group is doing.

    Primacy of conscience provides a formal and allowed mechanism to go AGAINST the current in the Catholic church, if conscience demands it. Some members of the clergy may not be happy about it, may try to convince you otherwise, may not properly explain it in the course of religious instruction, but they can hardly deny it—it’s enshrined at the deepest levels of the church, maybe because there were so many evil and blatantly corrupt popes in the course of history.

    Other, evangelical protestant denominations in particular seem to be much more authoritarian, and the more cultish they are, the more power they have to dictate actions and brook dissent. —In any case, this is a weird place for me to be in, explaining and in a way defending the Catholic church. I hope others will add to the discussion.

  26. Intern Research Tip –

    There are over 35 Catholic parishes in the city of Seattle!

    Assumption 6201 33rd Ave NE Seattle 98115 206-522-7674

    Blessed Sacrament 5041 9th Ave NE Seattle 98105 206-547-3020

    Christ Our Hope 1902 2nd Ave Seattle 98101 206-448-8826

    Christ the King 405 N 117th Street Seattle 98133 206-362-1545

    Holy Family 9622 20th Ave SW Seattle 98106 206-767-6220

    Holy Rosary 4210 SW Genesee Seattle 98116 206-935-8353

    Immaculate Conception 820 18th Ave Seattle 98122 206-322-5970

    Newman Center (University of Washington) 4502 20th Ave NE Seattle 98105 206-527-5072

    North American Martyrs 5816 15th Ave NW Seattle 98107 206-297-1571

    Our Lady of Fatima 3218 W Barrett St Seattle 98199 206-283-1456

    Our Lady of Guadalupe 7000 35th Ave SW Seattle 98126 206-935-0358

    Our Lady of Lourdes 10243 12th Ave S Seattle 98168 206-762-3343

    Our Lady of Mount Virgin 2800 S Massachusetts St Seattle 98144 206-324-8521

    Our Lady of the Lake 8900 35th Ave NE Seattle 98115 206-523-6776

    Sacred Heart of Jesus 205 Second Ave N Seattle 98109 206-284-4680

    St. Alphonsus 5816 15th Ave NW Seattle 98107 206-784-6464

    St. Andrew Kim 11700 1st Ave NE Seattle 98125 206-362-2278

    St. Anne 1411 1st Ave W Seattle 98119 206-282-0223

    St. Benedict 1805 N 49th St Seattle 98103 206-632-0843

    St. Bernadette 861 SW 126th St Seattle 98146 206-242-7370

    St. Bridget 4900 NE 50th St Seattle 98105 206-523-8787

    St. Catherine of Siena 814 NE 85th St Seattle 98115 206-524-8800

    St. Edward 4205 S Orcas St Seattle 98118 206-722-7888

    St. Francis of Assisi 15226 21st Ave SW Seattle 98166 206-242-4575

    St. George 5306 13th Ave S Seattle 98108 206-762-7744

    St. Ignatius Chapel (Seattle University) 901 12th Ave Seattle 98122 206-296-6075

    St. James Cathedral 804 9th Ave Seattle 98104 206-622-3559

    St. John the Evangelist 121 N 80th St Seattle 98103 206-782-2810

    St. Joseph 732 18th Ave E Seattle 98112 206-324-2522

    St. Margaret of Scotland 1408 W Dravus St Seattle 98119 206-282-1804

    St. Mary 611 20th Ave S Seattle 98144 206-324-7100

    St. Matthew 1240 NE 127th St Seattle 98125 206-363-6767

    St. Patrick 2702 Broadway E Seattle 98102 206-329-2960

    St. Paul 10001 57th Ave S Seattle 98178 206-725-2050

    St. Peter 2807 15th Ave S Seattle 98144 206-324-2290

    St. Therese 3416 E Marion St Seattle 98122 206-325-2711

    Vietnamese Martyrs 1230 E Fir Street Seattle 98122 206-325-5626

  27. FWIW, St. Paul, St. Edward and St. George are all under the same umbrella as a “tri-parish” community, with the same Pastor and underling priests. So if one responded that they DID print the letter, so did the other 2, I would guess. I know this because I have a relative who is a member at one of them, and yes, I’ve spoken to him about my disgust for the position the church is taking, and no, I was not successful in changing his mind.

  29. I am a big ol’ gnarly dyke and, though not a Roman Catholic, regular parishioner at St Joe’s. Every person at St Joe’s has always been entirely welcoming to me and my female (almost married) spouse-equivalent. Unfortunately, the bishops’ letter re gay marriage kind of made me want to scream and throw things and reminded me of reasons why one might not, alas, desire to become a Roman Catholic. The letter boiled my brain. There’s still smoke in my studio, sear marks on the walls of the home I share with my loving, patient, kind, long-suffering and god-given (almost married) spouse-equivalent (20 years and counting). For starters, the bishop’s letter “cleverly” sidesteps the issue of gay-ness altogether, as neither the word “gay” nor the word “lesbian” appear in the missive at all. Rather, the letter discusses marriage as — uh— uh—uh— I will need more time to drown what’s left of the smoldering cinders in my noggin to write about The Letter. But what I really need to do now is weigh in on the letter by Fr. John Whitney, the pastor of the church, in last week’s St. Joe’s parish bulletin. Fr. Whitney clearly, calmly and respectfully urges parishioners to use their consciousnesses (which, if you believe in God, she’s the one who gave you an effing brain, an an effing conscience, and and effing heart in the first place) to respond to the bishops’ letter. He did the right thing. He urged everyone to use their brains, their consciences and their heats.
    What was not apparent in Whitney’s follow-your-conscience letter in the St. Joe’s bulletin was the fact that during the homily/sermon he gave that same week, he twice referred positively, decently, humanely to gay people – once by including prayers for “same sex parents,” and once by referring equally respectfully to people “gay or straight” in a list of human beings deserving of decency whatever their race, gender, nationality, etc., etc. These words of inclusion would have been in his parishioners’ minds when they came to read and then respond to, according to their consciences, the bishops’ letter.
    This letter also appeared a few weeks after another letter Whitney wrote in another St. Joe’s weekly bulletin (January 8). That letter was in response to Cardinal Francis George of Chicago (former archbishop of Portland)’s comment comparing gay lib to the KKK, which if it had been a joke might have been funny, but unfortunately was not a joke and so was not funny at all. It was miserable, pathetic and pissed-off-making. Whitney’s letter, however, was characteristically respectful and intelligent. He wrote about what the actual KKK was actually about (including being anti-Roman Catholic, which I never knew before) and how gay lib is not, actually, like the KKK at all. He also said how saying that kind of crap (my word, not his) was “hurtful to all of us” (his words, not mine). Also, how Christ, the good guy, not the one highjacked by luna-bigots (my words, not his), tells us we are (his, Whitney’s words, not mine) “each one of us…in our flesh and in our spirit, a part of the image and likeness of God in Christ.” Then, how “This is true of all people; great or small, male or female, gay or straight, immigrant or native born, powerful or oppressed… and called to discern our deepest identity – i.e. the nature we have been given..” There are more of Whitney’s words in this letter that are also respectful and intelligent, so you ought to read them all.
    If only more religious and civic leaders could be so – dare I say? – Christian. If only a little more humane. Or maybe simply decent.

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