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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2005)
20 Just OUt _» may 6.2QQ5 rTT7TïT7ÎTI news In a sermon delivered before his fellow car dinals April 18, immediately before they met to The College of Cardinals of the Roman elect a new pope, Ratzinger decried “a dictator Catholic Church quickly selected German Car ship of relativism.” He said the modem world dinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope April 19. He has jumped “from one extreme to the other— from Marxism to liberalism to liber tinism, from collectivism to radical individualism, from atheism to vague religious mysticism." He offered a traditional values approach. Reaction from the gay com munity was swift and uniformly negative. “The elevation of Cardinal Ratzinger is being seen by many GLBT Catholics as a profound betrayal by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and betrayal of one of the most funda mental teachings of Jesus Christ as the loving good shepherd who reached out to the ones separated from the flock,” said Sam Sinnett, president of DignityUSA. Matt Foreman, executive direc tor of the National Gay and Les bian Task Force, pulled no punches “as a longtime Catholic from a staunchly Catholic family.” “Today, the princes of the Roman Catholic Church elected as pope a man whose record has been one of unrelenting, venomous hatred for gay people.” He called The new Pope calls homosexuality an “intrinsic moral evil.” Ratzinger “the driving force behind a long string of pronouncements using the term ‘evil’ to describe gay people, chose the name of Benedict XVI and was homosexuality and marriage equality." installed in the office April 24. —Bob Roehr The Italian press has referred to him as “God’s Rottweiler” for the fierce, tenacious manner in which he enforced doctrinal disci U nited C hurch of C hrist pline for the papacy during the past 24 years as to C onsider M arriage R esolution head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of The l.3 million-member United Church of the Faith, the successor organization to the Christ announced April 21 that it will consider Inquisition. a landmark resolution at its General Synod this Conservatives within the Roman Catholic July that could make it the first mainline Chris Church were pleased by the selection, but they tian denomination to support marriage equality were nearly alone in that rejoicing. Most mem for same-sex couples. bers of the queer community were dismayed. The resolution, titled “In Support of Equal Ratzinger, 78, was raised in Nazi Germany Marriage Rights for All, ’ was submitted by the and drafted into the army in the closing months Southern California/Nevada Conference anti of World War II. He was ordained as a priest in marks the first time the UCC’s General Synod 1951 and began a career as a theologian and has been asked to directly address the issue of professor. He was named cardinal of Munich in marriage equality. If approved, the resolution 1977 and was called to the Vatican in 1981 by would declare, among other things, that the Pope John Paul II, with whom he became close. church’s 25th General Synod “affirms equal He has been one of the leading anti-gay access to the basic rights, institutional protec voices within the Catholic Church. In a 1986 tions and quality of life conferred by the recog pastoral letter to bishops, he called homosexual nition of marriage” and would call on congrega ity “an intrinsic moral evil” and “an objective tions “to prayerfully consider adopting wedding disorder.” policies at their churches that do not discrimi More recently, in a Ixxik published last fall, nate against gay and lesbian couples.” he joined those voices seeking to restrict mar —Sarah D( Higher riage to solely that of a man and a woman. He wrote, “To create a legal form of a kind of homo S upreme C ourt to H ear sexual marriage, in reality, does not help these S olomon A mendment C ase people.” The U.S. Supreme Court will decide Ratzinger sought to downplay the impor whether the federal government can force law tance of allegations of sexual abuse within the schtxtls to help military recruiters on campus or church and to protect priests rather than aid lose federal funding. The schtxds have argued their victims. In a 2002 interview with the that is a violation of their principles of nondis press, he said, “I am personally convinced that crimination against gays and of their freedom of the constant presence in the press of the sins of speech. Last November a lower federal court Catholic priests, especially in the United States, agreed. is a planned campaign, as the percentage of The court said May 2 that it would hear the these offenses among priests is not higher than appeal of Rumsfeld vs. Forum for Academic and in other categories, and perhaps it is even Institutional Rights (FAIR) during its session lower.” that begins next October. A decision is likely in Some members of the clergy have pushed for the spring of 2006. a loosening of the church’s strictures against the The issue has been bubbling for a genera use of condoms, particularly wijhin the context tion. FAIR argued that law schools historically of preventing HIV infections in Africa, where have had a policy of nondiscrimination and the epidemic is rampant. But Ratzinger has through the years have extended that to include been dogmatic in his demands for adherence to sexual orientation. In 1990 the American Asso opposition to condoms. ciation of Law Schools unanimously voted to C onservative H omophobe E lected P ope B enedict XVI sandro n egri ‘‘Sandro’s Tuscany” Showing May 3rd - 3 I st. 2005 Opening reception for the artist Come meet Sandro in person Friday. 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