c. 2008 Religion News Service
Lay group honors controversial Australian bishop
(RNS) A prominent lay Catholic group is presenting an award to retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, whom U.S. bishops have barred from speaking on church property for questioning the church’s authority.
Voice of the Faithful, a reform movement spawned by the Catholic sexual abuse crisis, is presenting its “Priest of Integrity Award” to Robinson on Thursday (May 22) in Manhasset, N.Y.
VOTF is also sponsoring several events on Robinson’s U.S. speaking tour, which continues through mid-June, according to spokesman John Moynihan.
Robinson, a sexual abuse victim and auxiliary bishop of Sydney until 2004, led the Australian bishops’ investigation of its own clergy sex scandal.
But the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has denounced Robinson’s 2007 book,“Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church,” for “doctrinal difficulties.”
The book’s “questioning of the authority of the Catholic Church to teach the truth definitively” improperly puts in doubt Scripture, tradition and the authority of the pope and creeds, the Australian bishops’ conference said in a statement May 8.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, citing the Australian bishops’ concerns,asked Robinson to cancel his U.S. speaking tour, including his June 12 trip to Los Angeles. Ten other U.S. bishops have also asked Robinson not to speak in their diocese, according to Catholic News Service.
Dan Bartley, president of Voice of the Faithful, who will present Robinson with the award, said: “Is this the way American bishops respond to Pope Benedict’s call to do everything possible to heal the church?”
“Why is a loyal Catholic bishop prevented from asking honest questions in his search for the truth in the aftermath of the worst scandal in the modern church?” Bartley asked.
_ Daniel Burke
Court backs Oregon gay marriage ban
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday (May 21) upheld the ban on gay marriage that state voters approved by a wide margin in 2004.
The court rejected two procedural arguments that attacked the scope of the initiative, known as Measure 36, and whether it ever should have appeared on the ballot.
There are two ways to change the Oregon Constitution: by initiative, which allows citizens to propose discrete changes; and by revision, which allows the Legislature to propose sweeping changes.
Gay-rights advocates argued that Measure 36 was a revision because it fundamentally altered the Constitution.
“Our Constitution was created to perpetuate liberty and establish justice,” said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, the gay-rights group that brought the legal challenge. “And Measure 36, by denying a portion of our community access to equality of the law _ that’s a serious change in what the Constitution promises.”
But the Court of Appeals said Measure 36 “is not so far-reaching” that it should be overturned as a revision.
Supporters of Measure 36, which passed by 57 percent to 43 percent, applauded Wednesday’s ruling.
“Marriage between one man and one woman is the ideal for raising children,” said Nick Graham of the Defense of Marriage Coalition. “And the government should be in the business of promoting the ideal for children and families.”
Gay-rights advocates promised to appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court.
_ Ashbel S. (Tony) Green
Quote of the Day: A new ad campaign from the Episcopal Church
(RNS) “Get closer to God. Slice carrots.”
_ A new “Put Your Faith to Work” ad campaign from the Episcopal Church, which urges members to put their faith into action by, among other things, working at a soup kitchen.
KRE/RB END RNS
