Gay pride? God forbid. The Vatican and the local Catholic archdiocese have censured St. Joan of Arc Church in South Minneapolis for including Gay Pride information on its web site (the parish was recognized at this year's festival for its long service and embrace of the GLBT Catholic community) and allowing non-ordained people to speak at masses. On a mission direct from the pope, the archbishop sent two auxiliary bishops to deliver a message, which read, in part: "The Archdiocese welcomes gay and lesbian worshippers who are in full communion with the moral teachings of the Church as they apply to all Catholics. It does not, however, endorse the promotion of sexual relations among unmarried persons." While the parish doesn't promote unmarried sex, gay or straight, it does run two facilities for people living with AIDS/HIV and welcomes all people, regardless of sexual orientation, "wherever you are on your journey." Pretty radical, eh? Best to clamp down on such rogue Christ-like behavior.

Serious Catholics should know better: A full-page ad in yesterday's Star Tribune listed the "five non-negotiable issues" to consider when voting in its "Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics." The list--which includes abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research, cloning, and homosexual "marriage" (quotations theirs)--says nothing about the death penalty or unprovoked war. It's a glaring omission, given the former Texas governor's role as the national leader in state-sponsored executions (and given the pope's stated opposition to the Iraq war). And, it defines abortion in much the same way I might define preemptive war--"the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being" and "a form of homicide." (The on-the-mark bumpersticker "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" comes to mind.) When the church of my heritage bluntly alligns itself with Bush, it becomes complicit in policies that harm the environment, the poor, women. It endorses secret trials of "enemy combatants," torture techniques used at Abu Ghraib, "shock and awe," Dick Cheney's "fuck off," the rollback of some 200 environmental regulations, tax cuts for the wealthiest among us who, according to the bible, will more likely squeeze through the eye of a needle than make it beyond the Pearly Gates. Don't Catholics know in their gut that something's not right about the church's alliance with Bush? I feel it. But the political church (or at least the orthodox right-wing of it) is banking on the fact that centuries of law-and-order religiosity will launch their guy back into the White House: "Unfortunately, today many Catholics have not formed their consciences adequately regarding key moral issues. The result is that their consciences do not 'sound off' at appropriate times, including on election day." Doctrinally speaking, I suppose "serious Catholics" do locate divinity outside of themselves, but nonetheless, I trust they know that what's non-negotiable in their values resides within.