MY NEW HERO
Fr. Michael Ryan
Earlier this month, two Catholic bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle wrote a letter asking parishioners to take part in a campaign to repeal Washington state’s recently enacted marriage equality law. Calling the effort “critically important,” Archbishop J. Peter Sartain and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo argued that denying same-sex couples the rights of marriage does not constitute discrimination since gays and lesbians are inherently “different” from straight relationships. But at least one Catholic leader — Father Michael Ryan of St. James Cathedral — is resisting the effort and refusing to “circulate petitions inside his parish for the campaign to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law”….
My antipathy towards the Catholic Church is no secret- not Catholics, mind you, but the out of touch, Neanderthal males in the Vatican and throughout the Church hierarchy. Though ostensibly claiming to be about the teachings of Jesus Christ, most of the Catholic clergy seem more intent on enforcing the Vatican’s special brand of hatred, intolerance, and bigotry. All in the name of Jesus, of course. This is particularly true when it comes to issues like abortion and gay rights. When it comes to hot-button social issues, the Catholic Church is often the most hateful and intolerant kid on the block.
Yes, I’ll freely admit to being no fan of the Catholic Church. That said, I want to be certain to recognize those in positions of authority with the Church who take positions of responsibility and decency because it’s the right and humane thing to do.
Father Michael Ryan could have gone along with his superiors and circulated their petition to repeal Washington’s marriage equality law. Gay marriage, after all, is anathema to the Catholic Church. Fr. Ryan, whom I can’t imagine being a fervent supporter of marriage equality, nevertheless understands the conflict that many Catholics feel on this issue. The Church officials opposes marriage equality even as a significant cross-section of American Catholics support it. Fr. Ryan understood that circulating the petition ran the risk of creating divisions and animosity within his parish and wisely declined the request of his superiors.
Dear Friends,
Archbishop Sartain has written a letter in which he has expressed his support for Referendum 74 and for the collecting of signatures in parishes. Media reports regarding this are somewhat misleading. While the Archbishop has given his support to the effort, he has wisely left it up to each pastor to decide whether to allow the collection of signatures in his own parish.
After discussing the matter with the members of the Cathedral’s pastoral ministry team, I have decided that we will not participate in the collecting of signatures in our parish. Doing so would, I believe, prove hurtful and seriously divisive in our community.
Father Ryan
I don’t know what his decision will mean for his job security or future prospects in the Church, but Fr. Ryan demonstrated himself to be a man of decency, principle, and compassion- a rare thing in the Catholic hierarchy these days. I can’t begin to understand why Archbishop Sartain allowed individual pastors to determine whether to circulate the petitions; normally that sort of thing isn’t optional and certainly not left to individual pastors to decide. In this case, though, Fr. Ryan was allowed the leeway to make his own decision, and he erred on this side of not being hurtful and divisive. For that he should be commended, and I’m certainly willing to do so.
Would that more Catholic bishops would do the same.
