| New archbishop needs to bend a little |
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With the arrival of Denver’s new archbishop Samuel Aquila, parishioners with social consciences, have to wonder in what direction the tide of the diocese will flow. There are at least a couple of matters that might grab his attention. The church has recently been hit by a tsunami. The word on the street is that the new archbishop “is beholden to the papa” and will strictly pontificate current Vatican straight line on Catholic teachings and church dogma. If he repeats history, that is, follow the path of his predecessors, the tsunami might gather more strength.
If I might be so bold, let me invite the archbishop to a rosary being held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, in a space about 3 feet wide between an image of La Virgen de Guadalupe painted on a wall over 40 years ago and the new wall built in front of it to hide it from public view. It is a very small uncomfortable space; even the cockroaches are complaining. The cloak and daggers plastered on the walls reminds us that even religious institutions are not immune from committing errors in judgment. The mural has become Our Lady of Controversy, not like what occurred in Santa Fe, New México; but of equal magnitude, even to a point where some of the flock has wandered from a dry desert of cultural insensitivity seeking out new havens.
The new archbishop stated that he honors La Virgen. Let’s see how he treats her when this is brought to his attention. La Virgen is suffocating from dogmatism and wants to come out of the temporary closet where she is housed, not as a gad fly on the wall, but as a spiritual participant about why her image has been hidden.
Another critical matter where the Catholic Church has worked its way into a contradiction of sorts is the issue of gay rights. You cannot support human rights, with exceptions. The church supposedly supports human rights for everyone including immigrants and has spoken out against imigraphobia that is speedily traversing across the nation; but support seems to apply to straights only. The apparent homophobia in the church is aimed at anyone who has “deviated” from traditional sexual orientation practices. Homosexual Immigrants don’t stand a chance. They will remain as victims of spiritual, religious, cultural and political bondage seemingly supported by the Papa and his clergy. Without social support to cross metaphorical borders written about by Gloria Anzaludua in Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza, homosexuals will be further marginalized.
The Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado recently defunded Compañeros, a local nonprofit organization that openly stood up in support of gay rights. The miniscule support taken away by the church has been replaced and multiplied, twice over. Whose side is God on anyway? The Gill Foundation and other supporters such as With Charity For All visibly demonstrated their advocacy in support of gay rights. The group’s members assembled outside of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver to deliver a gift. Their limosna, if it were be matched by the church and used to purchase of a few widgets of social justice to relieve immigrant suffering would be a positive move; but highly unlikely.
Immigrants, irrespective of their sexual orientation, don’t want false limosna; they need a tad of authentic human rights that protects them from the vultures in society whose relentless determination to oust them continues. There are some who would like to send those immigrants afflicted with a purported disease known as homosexuality to México while others might be inclined to have them descend to Halifax.
One of the contradictions the church faces is the tons of cash it has dished out to protect priests who have somehow been transformed into pedophiles. Some dioceses have taken direct action against this atrocity; but it sure has taken a long time to fetter out those culprits hiding behind vestments and religious attire. According to some theories, men were not born with this malady that somehow went haywire. How are they going to be fixed? There are not geographical cures for pedophilia.
A new parable needs to be written that explains how to protect both human rights of homosexuals while extricating this so called malady. Advocacy organizations are confused. Literary gurus should be writing a fable, a proverb, or without sounding to sacrilegious a new homily about holistic liberation.
Chicana/o and Mexicana/o families are slowly but surely working through this new territory. It causes division between members of la familia, especially diehard traditional Catholics and those gays and lesbians who woke up one morning and found themselves. The moral consternation, ethical wrangling, and psychological upheaval devastate families. “It can’t be us,” as a form of denial has encroached upon familias whose sons and daughters are struggling with homosexuality and the many public policy issues such as gay marriage and civil unions. When it hits home, it is destruction at its best.
The reality is that newly arrived immigrants are the bread and butter for the Catholic Church. They are critical thinkers who have lived life and should be given opportunities to dialogue issues of human concern.
The new archbishop needs to bend on some of these matters or the church may break.
Dr. Ramón Del Castillo is an Independent Journalist.
©2012 The Weekly Issue/El Semanario, Inc.
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