Gay-rights group targets US bishops in pressure campaign to influence Synod

November 25, 2014

A leading gay-rights group is targeting several Catholic bishops, hoping to influence the results of the 2015 Synod of Bishops, the National Catholic Register reports.

The Human Rights Campaign has prepared a pamphlet encouraging activists to plan public events and distribute literature in order to put pressure on eight bishops, identified by the organization as the prelates “most outspoken in their rejection of LGBT Catholics, their civil rights and their rightful place in the Church.”

The pamphlet—which contains several factual errors, and claims that Pope Francis will announce “new doctrine” after the October 2015 meeting of the Synod-- urges gay activists to make “the voice of the people” heard, demanding support for homosexual Catholics.

The bishops targeted by the Human Rights Campaign are:

1. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, who will host the World Meeting of Families in September 2015;
2. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who chairs the US bishops’ committee on marriage;
3. Cardinal Francis George, the recently retired Archbishop of Chicago;
4. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, the president of the US bishops’ conference;
5. Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, who chairs the bishops’ committee on religious freedom;
6. Archbishop John Nienstadt of St. Paul-Minneapolis;
7. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; and
8. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati.

 

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Further information:

• In Synod-Related Effort, Homosexual-Rights Activists Target Eight U.S. Bishops (National Catholic Register)