Catholic Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz said that gays could serve as priests in the Catholic Church provided they passed the required academic and psychological tests.

From The Philstar News Service (quotes in bold translated from Tagalog):

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said the Church imposes no ban on effeminate or those perceived to be gay men who want to be priests.

“They are the same just like everybody. So there’s no discrimination,” Cruz said in a radio interview this morning.

He said it all depends on how the person controls his sexual urges when he is already in the seminary or convents.

“Just like gay people we as priests also have to fight the temptation towards women,” Cruz said.

He noted that there are gay priests serving in the Churches but they have passed the required academic and psychological tests.

The archbishop said there are many heterosexual men who have not been allowed to enter the seminaries because they failed to meet these requirements.

This is not the first time Cruz has voiced support for the gay community, having favored the rights of gays to join religious processions.

From the Manilla Standard…

But Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz disagreed, saying he did not oppose gays joining the religious procession as long as they acted with dignity and wore formal dresses.

“If they are devotees, they are religious and they look decent, I believe they have the right to join in,” Cruz said.

“I think it would be better for us to see gays who act formally and decently in the Santacruzan rather than young and beautiful women who are not clean and [are] immoral,” he said.

I am try so desperately hard to avoid jokes about heterosexuals unqualified to be priests and unclean, immoral women. But I must resist. 🙂

In any event, this is as “gay friendly” an attitude we are likely to get from the church in one of the most Catholic countries on the planet. Bravo Father Cruz! Bravo!

Visit the Archbishop’s blog…

Note: Thanks to my husband for providing the translations…

Unhappy with the “tenor and  doctrinal content of addresses given at annual assemblies,” former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada,  now head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF),  has initiated an investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the largest women’s religious leadership organization in the country.

From the National Catholic Reporter…

The Vatican assessment has become necessary, according to Levada, because at the 2001 meeting between the women’s leadership conference and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which took place in Rome, the women were invited “to report on the initiatives taken or planned” to promote the reception of three areas of Vatican doctrinal concern: the 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis, the 2000 declaration Dominus Jesusfrom the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and “the problem of homosexuality.”

…

In a 1986 letter written by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, to the world’s bishops, he wrote: “Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”

I’m glad at least that they can look at my disorder objectively.

The LCWR has long been at odds with Vatican over their more open and modern attitudes toward gays and lesbians. Back in 1999 they expressed sadness over the termination—by the CDF no less—of gay-supportive services provided by the New Ways Ministry in Maryland.

We respectfully acknowledge those congregations’ longstanding support of their members’ efforts to educate and challenge society to recognize the human rights and pastoral needs of persons who are lesbian or gay. Sister Gramick and Father Nugent, in the course of their long ministry, have consistently affirmed the essential dignity of each human being and have worked to change attitudes that, unchecked, have led to derision and physical violence against lesbian and gay people.

We regret the suffering and sense of alienation experienced now by those who have found ministry a reflection of God’s love for them in the ministry of Sister Gramick and Father Nugent.  We applaud the SSND (School Sisters of Notre Dame) decision to establish a fund that will support an individual in pastoral ministry to those who are lesbian and gay as an authentic expression of the congregation’s  charism.

The current Executive Director of LCWR Sister Jane Burke, helped establish that fund. Later in 2002 LCWR issued a letter to the New Ways Ministry …

In the spirit of lived eucharistic communion, we members of the national board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious wish to express our gratitude to you and your staff for your compassionate presence in ministry to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in the Church.  We recall the words of our bishops in their pastoral letter, “Always Our Children,” affirming that all are children of one God.

I applaud LCWR for moving their faith into the 21st century, and hope they and their ideals can survive until a more inclusive and sympathetic Pope becomes head of the Catholic Church. In response to the investigation LCWR has issued the following statement:

“At this time, LCWR knows neither the process nor timeline for completion of this assessment. As more information is made available to LCWR, the conference will take the appropriate steps to prepare for its participation in the assessment. LCWR faces this process with confidence, believing that the conference has remained faithful to its mission of service to leaders of congregations of women religious as they seek to further the mission of Christ in today’s world.”

Prefect William Levada should be wary of what closet doors he chooses to open, as he has a host of skeletions hiding in his own closet.

It’s amazing the lengths some religious types will go to convert people to their flock, even calling up the employees of Circuit City who are shepherding the store through its final days.

Below is one such exchange (it’s a big long, but worth the read):

See, for some reason some folks seem to love bragging about God, being one of the folks who have to call people you’d be amazed how many voice mail boxes you get with people going “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good”, or “God loves you!”, or and I shit you not, the voice mailbox plays some Christian style music, used to drive me nuts! So, on one of my last day at the store I decide to work the front register and this one lady calls up the store and I happily pickup the phone

Me: “Thank you for calling Circuit City, how can I help you today?”
Her: “Yeah, I wanted to know what the discounts were at now on laptops?”
M: “They’re 10%”
H: “But the sign says 30% outside?”
M: “Up to 30%, laptops are still 10%”
H: “Oh, is it true you guys are going out of business?”
M: “Yes man”
H: “Wow, you guys have been around for ever
M: “Yeah, #2 consumer electronics retail store and we’re forced to close our doors because the economy failed us and now 34,000 employees are without jobs, all because people didn’t wanna go out and spend money to we could keep operating.”
H: “Wow, that’s terrible what’s your name?
M: “Ted”
H: “Well Ted, are you a Christian?”

Now, like I said above, it’s not so much a bad customer, so much as an example of policies going out the window. There I am on the phone with a lady who, while polite and all, was about to do something I did not want to deal with on my last day. She was about to preach to me about how God does things for a reason, and God has a plan, blah, blah, I have no interest in listening to this, customer like this drive me nuts. Really, God made Circuit City fail so that 34,000 other people could lose their jobs, among other companies doing lay offs and such. While I am Christian, I was not in the mood for this. I hung up on her. Wow, that was rude of me, probably one of the worst things I’ve done in retail, especially to a customer who was trying to be polite and caring and what not, I just had no interest in hearing it. So I stand at the register for a couple moments and the phone rings again, so I decide to try something slightly different, so in as thick a Russian accent as I can put on I answer the phone.

M: “Zank you for callink Zirkuit Zity, how kan I help you?”
H: “Hi, I was just talking to Ted a moment ago”
M: “Zorry ma’am but Ted valked avay, how kan I help you?
H: “I wanted to know if Toshibas were on sale?”
M: “Yez ma’am, Toshibas are all 10% off, as are all laptops”
H: “Ok, well I know it’s you Ted and I just wanted to mention that you’re an asshole”

Uh oh, the gig is up

M: “Alright, thanks ma’am buh bye!”

And hang up again. For a christian about to preach to me she sure didn’t mind calling me an asshole, while probably not the story you were expecting I want you to play that out in your head and tell me that’s not hilarious. The way she said it “I know it’s you Ted”, man it was awesome. Prime example of the rule book being tossed. I actually used the name Ted too, every person I talk to finds the story funny cause she was like “I know it’s you Ted”.

Nice zinger at the end, and how very Christian of them.

More stories from Circuit City employees at Gizmodo.

GayAtheist revealed a document this morning providing proof that the Church of Latter Day Saints donated $30,354.85 to ProtectMarriage.com on 11/3/2008, the day prior to the election. The Late Contribution Report was not filed until January 15, 2009.

View the Late Contribution Report.

They cannot hide behind the lies any longer. This is probably one of the main reasons why ProtectMarriage.com filed a lawsuit asking that late Prop 8 donors not be disclosed publicly, which was thrown out yesterday. It also adds even more credibility to the charges leveled by Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate and the investigation by the CFFP.