'very nuanced'

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Sep 27, 2010

Fresh from his triumphant proclamation that “I don’t know”—in answer to a question about whether the Church would ever recognize same-sex unions—Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has struck again. When a BBC host cited reports that the Catholic Church stands in opposition to the gay-rights agenda, England’s leading prelate replied: “That’s not true.”

Well, maybe it’s true that unenlightened Catholics in other countries are resisting the march toward public acceptance of homosexual unions. 

“In this country, we were very nuanced. We did not oppose gay civil partnerships. We recognized that in English law there might be a case of those. What we persistently said is that these are not the same as marriage.”

Very nuanced indeed. England’s Church leaders are not opposed to civil partnerships. They don’t endorse them, either. They recognize that there may be a case for such partnerships. On the other hand, they imply, there may not be. Is that sufficiently obscure?

I don’t know.