News Notes: June 2, 2014

Here are some items that you may find of interest:

1) Carlos Bruce, the Peruvian legislator behind that nation’s civil unions bill, has come out nine months after Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima insinuated as much in a radio interview. Bruce is the first openly gay legislator in the highly conservative Catholic nation, and has faced criticism for seeking to advance LGBT rights.

2) Mark Zmuda, the gay vice principal whose firing from a Seattle Catholic high school last December prompted sustained nationwide protests, has been hired by the Mercer Island School District in Washington State. He will be an assistant high school principal and athletic director.  Zmuda’s lawsuit against his former employer and the Archdiocese of Seattle on wrongful termination grounds can go forward in court, a judge ruled recently.

3) America magazine recently profiled prominent theologian and priest James Alison, whose scholarship includes four books on a more positive approach to homosexuality. Alison has previously endorsed marriage equality in the United Kingdom and Bondings 2.0 covered an extensive interview with him on LGBT issues..  You can access the America article by clicking here.

4) Catholic bishops are fighting the flurry of legal advances for marriage equality. Bishop Paul Bradley of Kalamazoo, Michigan has responded to a federal judge’s ruling that the state cannot enforce the state’s ban on same-gender marriages by calling it “unfortunate and regrettable.” In Virginia, the state’s Catholic conference filed a legal brief  supporting that state’s ban against same-gender marriage.  A federal appeals court case will be considering whether or not to overturn the ban.

5) A controversial series of photographs, titled “Sí, Quiero,” (Yes, I love)  which depict gay couples kissing inside Rome’s Catholic churches will be shown in New York City. The Vatican threatened to sue artist Gonzalo Orquin last year, which forced the photographs to be covered, but now the artist is saying: ” ‘Pope Francis said he is not one to judge others, and that (at) the church are all welcome…Then what does the church seek to do? Condemn all as usual? Or embrace everyone as Jesus did?’ ”

6) LGBT Catholics in Chicago celebrated the life of Jerry McEnany, founder of the Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach (AGLO) and leader of Dignity/Chicago, in May. McEnany fought for civil LGBT rights, opposing Church officials at times, but will be most remembered for his groundbreaking efforts with AGLO, an organization recognized by the Archdiocese of Chicago which offers pastoral care to this day.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry