RNSbriefs_10_24

RNS Briefs

Report: Knights of Columbus and allies are leading funders of anti-gay marriage drives

By DAVID GIBSON
©2012 Religion News Service

The Knights of Columbus, a wealthy and influential Catholic charitable organization, is a leading funder in the push to make same-sex marriage illegal in four states that have ballot measures on the issue this fall, a coalition of gay rights groups announced Oct. 18.

The Knights have contributed millions of dollars directly to several of the campaigns to stop the legalization of gay marriage and have channeled money through other Catholic groups. They also have provided extensive financial support to the National Organization for Marriage, according to the Human Rights Campaign, one of four advocacy groups that compiled the research.

“In the aggregate, the (Catholic) church and NOM are the single largest funders of discrimination, responsible for funding nearly 60 per cent of all anti-equality efforts in Minnesota, Maryland, Maine and Washington,” HRC said in a statement.

The two groups have spent a combined $2.5 million, the report says, with much of it coming from the Knights, a group that has become increasingly involved in conservative culture war issues under the leadership of Carl Anderson, a longtime Republican activist.

“Carl Anderson is using the good name that the Knights have developed over generations as cover while pursuing policies and making alliances that many Catholics find deeply troubling when they learn about them,” said Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, an organization of gay Catholics that was part of the coalition behind the report.

The report, which culled information largely from the Knights’ Internal Revenue Service filings, found that the Knights donated $6.25 million to fight same-sex marriage initiatives between 2005-2012. Close to $2 million of those funds went directly to NOM.

The Knights of Columbus responded that while they have helped fund the fight against same-sex marriage initiatives as a reflection of their principles, that funding represents a small fraction of their spending.

“The Knights of Columbus supports Catholic Social Teaching and the bishops of the Catholic Church, and some resources have long been dedicated to promoting that teaching on moral issues,” read a statement released by the group Thursday.

“This report mentions $6.2 million donated by the Knights over the past seven years, during which time we also donated more than $1 billion to charitable causes, with more than $225 million of that coming from our Supreme Office.”

Archbishop who oversaw nuns probe transferred to Indianapolis

By ALESSANDRO SPECIALE
©2012 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 18 appointed a high-ranking Vatican prelate as archbishop of Indianapolis after he played a key role in trying to bridge the gap between Rome and U.S. nuns.

Archbishop Joseph William Tobin, a 60-year old Detroit native, was called by Benedict only two years ago to take the role of secretary, or the No. 2 position, of the Vatican department that oversees religious orders all over the world.

In that role, Tobin had struck a notably more conciliatory note than Cardinal Franc Rode, who headed the department until 2011.

In 2008, Rode opened a controversial "visitation" of American nuns, telling Vatican Radio he was worried by their feminist views and secularized mentality.

The visitation was led by Mother Mary Clare Millea, the superior general of the Catholic Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but the Vatican has yet to issue an official report on its results.

A parallel, independent investigation on the largest umbrella group for U.S. nuns, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, was launched by the Vatican doctrinal office. That probe led to the appointment of Seattle Archbishop Peter J. Sartain to overhaul the LCWR's practices and perceived theological ambiguities.

In an interview with National Catholic Reporter soon after his Vatican appointment in August 2010, Tobin said his experience had offered him a "different picture of American women religious than the one that has been presented in Rome. My own impression is extremely positive."

Coming from a family of Irish descent with 12 brothers and sisters, Tobin served as the head of his religious order, the Redemptorists, from 1997 to 2009.

At a news conference on Thursday morning in Indianapolis, the new archbishop sported a Colts scarf and greeted Latino Catholics in Spanish.

"It is humbling for me to receive this mission in a place where the Catholic Church predates the United States," he said.

Tobin admitted being surprised by his appointment, but added that neither the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, nor the head of Vatican department for bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, linked his transfer to Indianapolis to the investigation of American nuns.