strange allies

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | May 11, 2004

Jim Post, the head of Voice of the Faithful, has scolded Boston's Archbishop Sean O'Malley for opposing same-sex "marriage."

"We look with dismay at bishops who openly criticize the homosexual community and criticize gay rights," says Post.

You can read the whole story in the Boston Globe if you really want the details, but by now you must know the drill.

The Globe periodically reminds readers that VOTF does not take stands on controversial Church issues. Those reminders are sprinkled into a news story about Post's talk-- in which he takes stands on various controversial Church issues. (Can you guess where he stands on Communion for Kerry?) Post says that VOTF takes no position on same-sex unions, but that opposition to same-sex unions is harming the Church. Got that? He's neutral, and you know where he stands. The fan-dance continues.

At the end of the Globe story comes this unexpected tidbit:

Voice of the Faithful, which has at times been at odds with various bishops, won a strong endorsement last night from Kathleen L. McChesney, the executive director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

Hmmm. What's that sentence doing there?

The Globe offers no further details. Why did McChesney endorse VOTF? What form did the endorsement take? Why is it relevant? We don't know.

We do know this: The Globe likes VOTF. Evidently McChesney likes VOTF. And if McChesney has anything else in common with this virulently anti-Catholic newspaper, the US bishops have some unpleasant surprises in store for them.