California diocese ‘the most gay-friendly in the nation’
November 25, 2009
A Silicon Valley newspaper is reporting that under the leadership of Bishops Pierre DuMaine (1981-98) and Patrick McGrath (1999-present), the Diocese of San Jose has become “the most gay-friendly in the nation.”
A priest particularly involved in this effort, Father Jon Pedigo, has blasted critics of President Obama’s Notre Dame honorary degree as “the Catholic Taliban” and criticized California Catholics for their successful efforts to support Proposition 8, which defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
“There are new challenges and questions for the church regarding marriage and sexuality,” Father Pedigo writes on his blog. “The Church can respond to these newer and more nuanced questions by repeating the same answers to an increasingly skeptical, disillusioned and frankly unbelieving audience, or the Church will have to engage in further theological investigation in the area of sexuality and marriage.”
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Further information:
- Gay Catholics Come Out (Metro Silicon Valley)
- Gay & Lesbian (Diocese of San Jose)
- St. Julie Billiart Parish, CA. A Diverse & Progressive Roman Catholic Church community
- Obama, Notre Dame and the New Catholic Taliban (Father Jon Pedigo’s blog)
- Crossing the Line? (Father Jon Pedigo’s blog)
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Posted by: Gil125 -
Nov. 25, 2009 10:12 PM ET USA
This, by the way, is not too surprising. McGrath was pastor of the Cathedral in San Francisco when it was known as one of the most gay-friendly churches in the country. And was promoted to the episcopacy by Archbishop John Quinn, now retired.
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Posted by: -
Nov. 25, 2009 9:55 PM ET USA
I heard Fr Pedigo preach at St Joseph's in San Jose a great many times & listened to him one on one or in small groups & I can vouch for the fact that he was conspicuously heterodox back in 2001. He has a highly creative way of interpreting Scripture -basically, it doesn't mean what it says- and doesn't believe in many of the miracles on record. He was well liked for his casual, down-to-earth attitude - read- he had no respect for his office. I was not sorry to see him go.
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Posted by: RamseyDonald2557 -
Nov. 25, 2009 4:22 PM ET USA
I DON'T understand WHY our Church does not obey God by THROWING these APOSTATES out of the Church !!!
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Posted by: cummingspm6120 -
Nov. 25, 2009 3:08 PM ET USA
Obviously the Vatican has to clean house. The current Bishop is in need of formation and should be sent back to the seminary for a long refresher course. The Bishop and priests of this diocese that are teaching falsely will have to answer for their poisoning of the flock.
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Posted by: Gil125 -
Nov. 25, 2009 2:45 PM ET USA
Hal is absolutely wrong. San Jose is in northern, not southern California. Everything else he says is, however, absolutely right.
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Posted by: Hal -
Nov. 25, 2009 10:45 AM ET USA
Umm, and this guys is a Catholic priest exactly.....why? The thing I love about these guys, from reading their statements, is that they think the Church has *never* considered these issues before. These issues have *never* come up in the over 2000 years since the Resurrection and certainly *never* before THAT, and we are all so lucky to be able to experience the *enlightened* thought of some priest in SoCal, our obvious moral and intellectual superior . Bah. Now I'm in a bad mood.
