Seemingly in response to critics, like Rhode Island Senator Donna Nesselbush, who took issue with the recent firing of Michael Templeton, the Music Director at the Church of St. Mary in Providence due to his same-sex marriage, Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Providence Diocese has written a short defense of sorts. In his piece, Tobin disputes the idea that Pope Francis is somehow softening the church’s approach to non-heterosexuality.
Tobin doesn’t defend the church’s position of intolerance to homosexuality but instead seeks to demonstrate that Pope Francis can not be differentiated from the church’s anti-gay agenda.
“When Church leaders have to respond to situations involving persons living an openly ‘gay lifestyle’ these days, we’re often scolded and told that we should be ‘more like Pope Francis,’ presumably the ‘Who-am-I-to judge’ Pope Francis,” writes Tobin, before listing four examples of the Pope actively not “gently advancing” the cause of gay rights and gay marriage:
- “Perhaps those critics should also remember the Pope Francis who said that same-sex marriage is destructive of families and is the work of the devil.
- “And the Pope Francis who has now supported the Mexican Bishops’ campaign to oppose gay marriage in their country.
- “And the Pope Francis who rejected the nomination of the Ambassador from France because the Ambassador is openly gay.
- “And the Pope Francis whose administration immediately fired and disciplined a priest who was working in the Vatican upon learning that the priest was gay and involved in a relationship.
“It seems to me, then,” concludes Tobin, “that when we uphold the faith and teachings of the Church about homosexuality, we are indeed a lot like Pope Francis.”
Lawyers for Invenergy have 
In their motion requesting a 45 day extension of the deadline to intervene, FANG and BASE argued that, “At the December 9th 
During the recent visit of Pope Francis to the United States, in every city he visited, (Washington DC, New York City and Philadelphia,) there were people at the fringes of the largest crowds wearing bright yellow shirts, often carrying large yellow signs, handing out literature proclaiming the end of the world for today, October 7, 2015.
“We gather here today as one human family to raise our moral voices and to welcome Pope Francis and his message that true faith is not a disengagement from the challenges of the world but an embrace of those very challenges,” began Barber.
“In this history of the United States, a moral critique has been always been at the center of any challenge to the structural sins of society—slavery, the denial of women’s rights, the denial of labor rights, the denial of equal protection under the law, the denial of voting rights, and the promulgation of unchecked militarism. We have never overcome any of these evils without a moral critique that challenged their grip on the heart and imagination of our society.
“We must make a moral demand, shifting the energy supply strategy from coal, oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels to solar, wind, geothermal, and other clean renewable energy sources.
“We must choose community and care of the earth over chaos and greed.
“Four to five percent of U.S. deaths have been found to be attributable to poverty. That is nearly 120,000 people, each of them created in the image of God. Each of their precious lives matters. Their death is the scandal the Pope is exposing.
“This is the scandal a moral critique must expose: the poor are destroyed, society is destabilized, and our shared humanity is terribly diminished.
“To our ears, the Pope’s message resonates with the ancient Jewish text that says, ‘Woe to those who legislate evil and rob the poor of their rights.’ This Pope sounds a lot like Jesus, who said in the Gospel of Matthew that love, mercy, and justice ate the weightier matters of the law.
“This deafness to the Pontiff’s purpose suggests that Jesus himself would not be welcomed by them in America. Their complaints reveal the serious moral crisis we find ourselves in.
“And so, to those who complain that the Pontiff is engaging in politics, we say, prophetic voices must rise up and challenge immorality in every age. It’s our time now. So let us join the Holy Father not in the politics of Democrat and Republican but in God’s politics of love and justice.
It took time for the police to arrest the protesters, but when they did they seemed to do so with the utmost concern for the safety of those involved. Those arrested include Janice Sevre-Duszynska, 65, from Lexington, KY Roy Bourgeois, 76, of Columbus, Georgia, Jane Via, 67, of San Diego, Maria Eitz, 75, of San Francisco, Donna Rougeux, 55, of Lexington, KY, Felix Cepeda of New York and Franciscan Jerry Zawada, 77, of Wisconsin.
In addition to women’s ordination, Via believes that priests should be able to be married. Her husband was marching ahead of her. She also believes in full LGBTQ equality and birth control. These are, to be sure, major departures from official Catholic teachings, but this might be because, “Women have no say in what happens in their church,” according to Via.
Not everyone loves this pope. A group of people with signs are blaring nonsense about the pope being an Anti-Christ. This annoys Maria, who frowns at the negativity. A mom and dad hustle their daughters past these street preachers. The girls are confused by the men with the signs. These men have made an impact on these girls, though I suspect it’s not the one they wanted to make.
The pope has been justifiably accused of critiquing capitalism, but that hasn’t stopped what might be hundreds of entrepreneurs from crowding the streets hawking pope tee shirts, buttons, flags, rosary beads and other bric-a-brac.
The people cheering aren’t necessarily those who traveled hundreds of miles to get here. They aren’t the pope’s hard core followers. They are the workers and citizens of Washington DC, prevented from crossing the street until the motorcade passes, people used to this kind of interruption in their lives. But they are cheering and waving.
