way, way out there

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Nov 01, 2005

It's Ex Corde Ecclesiae time, folks. Get your checkbooks out, tear off a check, and write "Santa Clara University" clearly in the payee line. All done? Good. Now read the following AP story:

More than 40 Catholic colleges were represented on Saturday at a conference that was billed as the nation's first on how gays and lesbians fit in at universities guided by a faith that says their sexual orientation is wrong. But rather than lamenting the Catholic Church's stand on homosexuality, the two-day "Out There" conference at Santa Clara University showed that plenty of gay-related scholarship and student affairs planning is going on in Catholic higher education, said co-organizer Linda Garber. ...

The conference drew about 150 people, most of them faculty and administrators who deal with gay subject matter or students. Topics included "Curriculum and Same-Sex Marriage in a Jesuit University" and "Can I Be Gay and Catholic?" ...

One sign of how far the universities have come in openly addressing gay issues is that the dean's office and campus ministry at Jesuit-run Santa Clara provided money for the event, while the school's president sent a welcome letter to participants, said Lisa Millora, assistant dean for student life.

"There are a lot of people who subscribe to Catholic values as they relate to academic work, but don't necessarily agree with how the Catholic Church carries out its work," Millora said.

Lisa dear, you took the words out of my mouth.

OK, pens at the ready? Now: on a separate piece of paper write down what you estimate it costs a priest with a vow of poverty to live for a month. Multiply that figure by the number of Catholic doctrines you understand "Jesuit-run Santa Clara" to have defended by sponsoring the "Out There" conference, write the result total on the payment line of your check, and pop it in the mail.

Oh, and send along your scrap paper so Campus Ministry can check your calculations.

(tip to Seattle Catholic).