A new direction for the Catholic Church?
Pope Francis has shocked his flock and the world with his recent comments concerning “gays,” abortion and contraception. The pope, in an interview with the Jesuit religious magazine America, stated that the church has become obsessed with moral issues to the detriment of the great good that could be done to help the poor and the marginalized.
“We have to find a new balance,” the pope continued, “otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.” That sounds to me like a step in the right direction.
What Pope Francis has realized is that for the Catholic Church to be viable in the long-term, it must move forward with society. When countries full of the Catholic faithful approve same-sex marriage like Spain, Belgium and Argentina, softening the rhetoric is in the best interest of the Catholic Church.
Given that “lapsed” Catholics would be the second largest denomination in the world, Pope Francis is attempting to re-engage these former Catholics by modernizing the church and its message. Let bygones be bygones.
Well just as progressive Catholics, as well as progressives of all stripes, were breathing a small sigh of relief, Pope Francis became a politician. He told his flock about a new focus yet his actions were in direct conflict with his words.
An Australian priest, Greg Reynolds, has been excommunicated by the Vatican over his liberal views, according to reports in the Telegraph and the Huffington Post UK. Reynolds has reportedly been both defrocked and excommunicated over his support for women priests and the LGBT community. So much for letting bygones be bygones.
Of course, the pope knows he can have it both ways because of the concept of papal infallibility. In essence, the pope can never be wrong or make a misstep. So Pope Francis can say the church is too focused on “gays,” abortion and contraception but still excommunicate priests for their views on the same issues.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
From boycott to buycott
While on vacation in Cabo, I was able to catch the 2001 HBO movie Boycott. Boycott is the story of the bus boycott that led to people like me being able to ride in the front of public buses throughout the United States.
For 381 days in Montgomery, Ala., the African American citizens refused to ride city busses to protest segregation. Due to the action started by Rosa Parks and led by Rev. Martin Luther King and other ministers in the city, the Supreme Court desegregated public facilities in 1958.
While boycotts were an appropriate direct non-violent action last century, their effectiveness has waned over the decades. Why? We have become a society that wants it now. The concept of shared self-sacrifice has gone out the window. So we need to change our political activist mindset.
LGBT Weekly has developed the concept of the “buycott.” A buycott is where members of the LGBT community will support those businesses that support us. In essence, those businesses which are willing to publicly state their support for LGBT equality and offer a special one day discount to Pride cardholders will be eligible for a buycott.
Through the Pride Card email blast, cardholders will be alerted to the buycott, the location of the business offering the special discount and the hours cardholders can redeem their discount and show support of the business that supports LGBT equality.
The Pride Card is moving to a virtual card for your mobile device, so only existing cardholders will be eligible for buycotts over the next eight weeks. Expect to see restaurants, retail clothing stores, spa services, medical services, as well as a host of other businesses that will be participating in buycotts.
Some businesses will have limited availability, so you may need to act fast. For example, a massage therapist may only have eight slots for massages on the day of the buycott. So don’t dilly dally, get on it if space is limited. We don’t want you to be disappointed.
We also hope to get Pride cardholders discounts at specialty stores that are not traditional Pride Card partners. Let’s alert businesses that we appreciate their support in our pursuit of equality, by voting with our wallets. We are counting on the nearly 15,000 Pride cardholders to show their buying power and the strength of the LGBT community. Ready, set, shop!
STAMPP CORBIN
PUBLISHER
San Diego LGBT Weekly
