Tuesday, August 05, 2014

"Thinker" Engler Not Thinking Clearly

Mr. Engler carries on about the non-excommunication of Illinois Democrats (such as the Governor) who established same-sex "marriage."  Apparently he's quite miffed that someone was fired from his position as a Catholic-church musician for attempting gay 'marriage.'

Engler deliberately misleads his readers.

...If you are a gay music director at a Catholic church and come out for same-sex marriage, you lose your job, but if you are a Democratic, Catholic politician responsible for making same-sex marriage legal in Illinois, the archdiocese looks the other way....

Umnnhhhh....nope.  The guy not only "came out for"--he actually got "married."  Big difference.

As to the second half of this graf...

...To fire one and not excommunicate the other sends a mixed message to Catholics in Illinois about same-sex marriage.

Good point.  However:  1)  we do not know what the Illinois Bishops may or may not have said to the politicians in private; and 2)  formally, excommunication is incurred by an individual without a declaration from the Church.  That declaration is merely 'the paperwork,' but is not a requirement.  In other words, the politicians may have excommunicated themselves through their action.  Their action is sufficient in and of itself; no "paperwork" or public announcement is required.

2 comments:

Terrence Berres said...

If Archbishop Dolan had no problem with Father Bryan Massingale's op-ed against the Wisconsin Defense of Marriage Amendment, some Illinois office-holder might wonder what his bishop would be upset about.

Dad29 said...

Yah, well, Abp. Dolan was on a mission, and this was only a short stop.