The Secret Gospel Of John

Catholic tolerance and same sex marriage laws

The vote legalizing same sex marriages in New York state was opposed by Archbishop Timothy Dolan , head not only of the state’s largest archdiocese but also president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). I understand the archbishop’s use of hyperbole in predicting dire consequences for this “assault” on the “sacred” meaning of matrimony, but in my opinion nothing like that is going to result. Here is why.

Catholic marriage is a sacrament . Such is not the case with Protestants who may consider marriage a “holy state” but often see it as a social contract, such as now sanctioned for couples of the same gender. Catholic theology, however, keeps the bishops exempt from such contract laws. A state-legalized marriage between persons of the same gender can never be mistaken for the Catholic sacrament. New York state can change its requirements for issuing a certificate of marriage, but on that account does not diminish the bishops’ teaching authority in matters of the sacrament of marriage.

It would be another matter, however, if this law encroached on other aspects of Catholic practice, so it will be interesting to keep track of issues like adoption and Catholic agencies. It is important to remember that few would call the church “corrupt” for obeying the law: it is more likely the church would be seen as corrupt for not obeying the law, e.g. about turning in pedophiles.

Does marriage for gays and lesbians overturn the standards of public morality? Blessed Pope John Paul II committed the church to the evangelization, not only of individuals, but of cultures. He urged us to construct society upon Gospel principles. But I would argue that legalized same-gender marriage poses less risk to public morality than legalized divorce. Note that a generation ago in Catholic countries like Italy and Ireland, fierce battles were waged against allowing divorce. In reaction, the public often distorted matrimony as depicted in the movie, “Divorce Italian Style,” where couples getting married used to pre-sign a document testifying to coercion. This was a get-out-of-marriage-free card that gave grounds for a Catholic annulment. This practice, however, put a secret deal behind so many church weddings it effectively made matrimony a farce.

stephan huller's observations: Why I Am So Interested in the Mar ...

I am still waiting for a number of digital scans of handwriting samples from seventeenth and eighteenth century manuscripts which I hope will finally solve this long-standing 'mystery.' I hope to get them by the beginning of next week.  So until then I am forced to fill in some time speaking frankly about my seeming 'obsession' with this text. My interest in the text was rooted in a quest to find something which shed some light on the early Alexandrian Christian tradition.  I have always sought to demonstrate that Clement and Origen weren't just anomalies in early Christianity.  They both represent links to an enlightened past.  Yet a love of Alexandrian Christianity does not necessarily translate to an acceptance of the authenticity of the Mar Saba document.  One need look no further than Birger Pearson - a man whose dedication to the same lines of inquiry - takes the exact opposition position. I suppose the conspiracy-minded might attribute my interest to my having come into the world from a Jewish womb. You know - we Jews 'have it in' for Christianity or something like that.  But I don't accept that at all.  Alexandrian Christianity is one part Moses, one part Plato.  It developed from Philo Judaeus for God's sake.  There is more than enough love here to go around.  But I've heard these 'Jewish conspiracy' whispers and Secret Mark before on internet chat boards. Being Jewish doesn't make one a hater of Christianity any more than being Christian predisposes oneself to hate Judaism. So what's the story with my interest in this document. My friend Harry from Athens asks me this question all the time. Even my mother can't understand why I would 'waste' my time blogging about some obscure text from a monastery when I could devote my time telling the world about our family and our blood relation to Karl Marx, the Marx brothers and Jacob Frank. I think at bottom the document embodies all that's wrong about the humanities and scholarship into early Christianity in particular. We chose to go down a road because its the road that our ancestors trod. However, when you take that journey back through the period back to the fourth century, the collective testimony of our ancestors isn't worth much as they were utterly ignorant peasants for the most part.

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