By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Catholics for Equality, an organization founded by prominent Catholic dissenters, is seeking to oppose the U.S. Bishops “discriminatory” treatment of homosexuals by calling on the faithful to report “anti-equality activity” in Catholic parishes.
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting that according to the website of the new group, it is dedicated to “support, educate, and mobilize equality-supporting Catholics to advance LGBT equality at federal, state, and local levels.”
One page on the site contains a template of a submission form entitled “Report anti-equality activity” and asks informers to describe the “anti-equality” activity that took place, and whether it was in the parish, diocese or community. The information from these submissions will then be stored as “an entry into a private ‘report’ database.”
CNA reports that Catholics for Equality was formed by members of another dissenting Catholic group, DignityUSA, with the intention of focusing “on influencing legislation and the behavior of Catholic voters in a way that DignityUSA cannot” because of its tax designation.
Mark Matson, president of DignityUSA, reported in a March 2010 newsletter on the group’s website that an organizational meeting for the new group took place on January 30 and 31 in Washington, D.C.
“He said the meeting was convened to address the ‘increasing role’ of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and state bishops’ conference in opposing ‘LGBT’ political causes,” CNA reports. “Another purpose of the meeting was to ‘coordinate efforts to shift Catholic public opinion and voter behaviors’.”
Other attendees at this initial meeting included known dissenters such as Sr. Jeanne Grammick, co-founder of another pro-homosexuality group, New Ways Ministry. Grammick’s teaching on the subject of gays and lesbians was found to contain grave doctrinal errors by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1999 when she was ordered to stop her work with New Ways Ministry. She refused.
Grammick was joined at this meeting by other members of New Ways Ministry and DignityUSA, as well as representatives of another homosexual advocacy group known as the Human Rights Campaign.
Catholics for Equality will focus on all issues pertaining to homosexual “rights” including same-sex marriage. It also opposed the U.S. bishops’ opposition to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and advocates repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy.
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