RNS Digest
c. 2010 Religion News Service

Archdiocese of Boston welcomes children of gay parents in schools

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

(RNS) — The Archdiocese of Boston says that children of same-sex couples are welcome in its schools, after a local school rejected a student with lesbian parents.

Superintendent of Catholic Schools Mary Grassa O’Neill said the archdiocese will develop a policy to eliminate any misunderstandings about its openness to children of gay parents.

“We believe that every parent who wishes to send their child to a Catholic school should have the opportunity to pursue that dream,” O’Neill said in a statement released Thursday (May 13).

Press reports earlier this week quoted an anonymous woman who said administrators at St. Paul Elementary School in Hingham, Mass., had denied admission to her eight-year-old son because his parents’ relationship was “in discord with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

O’Neill said she spoke Thursday with Rev. James Rafferty and principal Cynthia Duggan, who oversee St. Paul Elementary School, about their decision. She then contacted one of the child’s parents, who according to O’Neill indicated that she would consider sending her son to a different Catholic school in the upcoming school year.

Whether to enrol schoolchildren of same-sex parents is a matter of some debate among the nation’s Catholic dioceses. The Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Boulder, Colo. refused to re-enrol a child after they learned the child has same-sex parents last winter. The Archdiocese of Denver supported their decision.

“Parents living in open discord with Catholic teaching in areas of faith and morals unfortunately choose by their actions to disqualify their children from enrolment,” said a March statement from the Archdiocese of Denver.

Gay rights advocates applauded the Boston archdiocese’s policy announcement.

“We agree 100 per cent with that decision” to welcome children of same-sex couples in Catholic schools, said Pam Garramone, executive director of Greater Boston PFLAG, a gay rights education and advocacy group.

Lesbian bishop consecrated in Los Angeles

By Daniel Burke

(RNS) — The Episcopal Church consecrated its secondly openly gay — and first lesbian — bishop on May 15, provoking a relatively modest reaction from fellow Anglicans overseas.

Episcopal leaders portrayed the consecration of Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool, 56, as a suffragan (assistant) bishop in Los Angeles as an affirmation of its aim to be “inclusive” regardless of sexual orientation.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, last December called Glasspool’s election “regrettable” and warned it would affect the Episcopal Church’s role in the communion.

But Williams did not comment after Glasspool’s consecration on Saturday, and reaction from the rest of the Anglican Communion was relatively muted compared to the response after the first gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, was consecrated in 2003.

Anglican Mainstream, a conservative group based in England, called on the Episcopal Church to withdraw from the Anglican Communion, and for a new, conservative church to be recognized instead. A group of evangelical Anglicans in Ireland also expressed displeasure over Glasspool’s consecration.

Thousands show up to support beleaguered pope

By Francis X. Rocca

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — More than 150,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square on Sunday (May 16), to show support for Pope Benedict XVI after months of controversy over clergy sex abuse.

The unusually high turnout, which the Vatican estimated at 200,000, came in spite of unseasonably rainy and chilly weather. Buses and trains organized by a consortium of Italian Catholic groups brought people from all over Italy to hear the pope’s weekly recitation of the Regina Coeli prayer.

Banners hanging around the square bore slogans such as “Together with the pope.”

Benedict has been the target of charges that, as an archbishop and cardinal, he personally mishandled cases of pedophile priests. Organizers portrayed Sunday’s event not as a reaction to outside attacks, but as a gesture of solidarity with the pope’s efforts to purify the church.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops conference, offered a prayer for sex abuse victims shortly before the pope’s appearance.

Benedict, echoing remarks he made a few days earlier, emphasized the church’s responsibility for the crisis over clerical sex abuse.

“The real enemy to be feared and fought is sin, spiritual evil,” Benedict said, “which at times, unfortunately, also infects members of the church.”

Most Americans say moral values in decline

By Fernando Alfonso III

(RNS) — Three-quarters of Americans say the country’s moral values are worsening, blaming a decline in ethical standards, poor parenting, and dishonesty by government and business leaders, Gallup reports.

The number of Americans who say the nation’s moral values are in decline grew by 5 per cent since last year. Other reasons Americans mentioned were a rise in crime, a breakdown of the two-parent family and a moving away from religion or God.

Only 14 per cent of respondents believe that the country’s moral values are getting better. An increase in diversity and Americans pulling together in tough times are two of the reasons these respondents gave.

Pollsters also found 45 per cent of Americans believe that current moral values are in a poor state. This number is equal to last year’s, which was the highest since 2002. Only 15 per cent of Americans believe the country’s morality is in an excellent or good state.

A majority of Republican respondents — 52 per cent — said the country was in a poor moral state, followed by 48 per cent of independents and 35 per cent of Democrats.

The US adult findings are based on May 3-6 telephone interviews with 1,029 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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