Could women have saved the Catholic Church?

"What would Mary do?" That was the cover story of a recent Newsweek magazine, showing a familiar likeness of the Blessed Mother.
According to the bible, Jesus surrounded himself with strong women. Therefore, it seems that Jesus would have wanted women doing his work at the highest levels.
It makes me wonder if the lack of women in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has created the imbalance that allowed for the ongoing sexual abuse of children by pedophile priests. And what about all the secrecy and cover-ups? It's hideous!
As children in Catholic school, we were taught right from wrong--our knuckles smacked with rulers by nuns when we didn't obey. I wish those same nuns could have smacked some priests' knuckles as they reached for obedient children to molest.
The Catholic Church needs women--needs their instinct and influence. It's unnatural to have a group of men cut off from the real world. They put themselves above and apart from marriage, families and children. They swagger around in their robes--executives in the wealthy corporation that is the Catholic Church protecting their assets at the expense of the asses of little boys.
Here's an example of the way it could be: look at the Episcopal Church. Since 1974, when women were first ordained priests, they initiated strict policies to prevent abuse--and to report any abuse to secular authorities. They created awareness and prevention programs (no adult is allowed to be alone with a child, and the doors are never locked). And because the Episcopal Church welcomes diversity, gay clergy are among its leaders. Women in leadership create balance!
But, out of balance, we now have the Vicar of Christ on earth, Pope Benedict XVI (previously known as "God's Rottweiler"), pacing the lumpy rugs of the Vatican where he has shoved so many abuse cases out of sight that even the Blessed Mother can't help him.
"Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen."

The "institution" of marriage

Today's Facebook entry from my niece went like this: "So let me get this straight--Larry King is on his 8th divorce, Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time, Jesse James and Tiger Woods are screwing EVERYTHING, yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to detroy the institution of marriage??? Really??"
My son's comment to that was: "Something to think about while watching "The Bachelor." There's no way gays could make a bigger mess of marriage than those entitled to it already have," he said.
Comedian Sarah Silverman said, "Marriage in its current state is barbaric," and she is not interested unless same-sex people can marry.
I couldn't agree more!

Obama gives health care rights to gay partners

In another humane and fair step by President Obama, he ordered that all hospitals who receive Medicare and Medicaid payments must grant same-sex couples the equal rights that immediate family have always experienced.
"All to often people are made to suffer or even pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall," Obama said.
He said that in the past gay and lesbian Americans had often been barred from the bedsides of the partners they had spent decades of their lives with "unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated."
Could same-sex marriage be far behind?

Not enough signatures to get Proposition 8 repealed on the California ballot

What! This is hard to believe. The measure to repeal California's Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage initiative has failed to qualify for the ballot.
They didn't get enough signatures. They needed 694,000.
Where were you people who voted against Proposition 8 in 2008??? More than 6 million people voted against the proposition, which was beaten by a 53% - 47% vote.
John Henning, who heads a group that sponsored the repeal effort, declined to say how many signatures had been gathered.
Was it just a diluted effort that didn't have enough volunteers behind it? Frankly, I'm shocked.
I can't believe Californians would allow the opportunity to repeal Proposition 8 to slip away.

A Catholic school classmate part of the pedophila scandal in Rome

I promised myself I wouldn't comment on the recent "troubles" in the Catholic Church, but then I read about my former childhood (Sacred Heart School, Tucson) classmate, Msgr. Robert Trupia, in this morning's newspaper. I was shocked when Trupia's story of pedophilia as a priest and Monsignor first broke in the early 1990's. He was suspended from his priestly duties by Bishop Manuel Moreno, Diosese of Tucson in 1992. But he was still on the payroll until 2001, because it took the former Cardinal Ratzinger--now Pope Benedict XVI--until 2001 to have him officially defrocked for defrocking and sexually abusing children. Since, only the Vatican can formally remove a priest from ministry, Cardinal Ratzinger, who was the in-charge guy, shuffled Trupia's case around various Vatican departments for nearly ten years.
From what I recall about "Bobby" Trupia from elementary school, he was a strange kid. He spent all of his time with his mother, who was always shrouded in black clothing--her head covered with a long mantilla that she tied under her chin. They spent a lot of time in church together praying the Rosary and saying the Stations of the Cross. He was a mushy, nerdy kid, and I can't remember him having any friends, or if he was picked on by other kids. I wonder what went on at home? He was an only child, and his father eventually left the family--good Catholic fathers didn't do that in the 1950s. Was it something about his mother? Mrs. Trupia was an odd lady. She was always around school and church, but kids avoided her--all wrapped in her black garb.
Afrter eighth grade, Bobby Trupia went to the seminary. At that time, it seemed the logical step for his life of constant devotion. Was his mother happy? Was the seminary his only form of escape? Or was he just an innocent overprotected boy when he went to the seminary? What happened there? Why did he end up a pedophile? If any of his actions were known, why was he elevated to a Monsignor--one of the heirarchy of the Catholic Church?
I wonder if Msgr. Trupia preached against same-sex marriage? Probably.
I wonder if his mother was alive to see him shrouded in the black humiliation of his secret life?

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to get the boot

Supposedly, there will be no more witch hunts, behind-the-scenes tactics and outings of gay service members since the Pentagon acted to lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates initiated the new rules ahead of Congressional approval of the President's goal of repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" ruling of 1993.
The changes--intended to be effective immediately--reflect "common sense and common decency for handling what are complex and difficult issues for all involved," Gates said.
Sounds good. But, of course, it's not that simple or accepted by many in the military who oppose the repeal--in spite of the fact that they are obligated to follow policies enunciated by the President.
Since 1993, it is estimated that 13,000 gay service members--including 428 officers and enlisted members last year--have been discharged under the law. So that means that the "don't ask" part worked, but the "don't tell" part didn't.
Here's an example: Mike Almy, a former Air Force major was dismissed in 2006 when a routine computer check turned up personal e-mails he had written while deployed in Iraq. Those e-mails were given to his commander who slapped the discharge papers on him marked "homosexual admission." If these new guidelines had been in effect, Almy would still be serving our country as a major in the Air Force.
This is ridiculous. If gay men and women want to serve in the military, let them. Gay and lesbian Americans are part of every profession in this country. It seems to be working just fine. Why would it hurt military effectiveness? Oh that's right, the Marine Corps' commandant is afraid of other military personnel sharing rooms with homosexuals. They're not predators, Gen. Conway. Are you homophobic?
Why do they have to hide who they are to serve our country?
So, give "don't ask, don't tell" the boot, and if you don't like it, you can "vote with your feet," as they say in the military, and retire from the service--or just salute each other and deal with it, then maybe some day you'll get invited to a same-sex wedding!

A horse is a horse, of course, of course and J.D. Hayworth is a horse's ass

Recently, on the Rachel Maddow show, J. D. Hayworth proved once again that he is a horse's ass. He had earlier claimed that the same-sex marriage law in Massachusetts defines marriage as the establishment of intimacy. His interpretation of that was "You could marry your horse."
I wonder what Mr. Ed would have said about that!
And, of course, of course, Rachel Maddow, an openly gay political commentator had a heyday with Hayworth. She outsmarted him at every turn.
Republican, Hayworth must feel confident of his conservative following to say something so outright ignorant. I suppose that's why people like me are blessed with gay children--not people like J.D. Hayworthless.
As I write this while I wait for the glorious Arizona sun to rise, I can't believe that "arrogant" J.D. Hayworth was my congressman for 6 terms (I never voted for him, and I remember when he was just a sportscaster on our local news). At least now we have Harry Mitchell, a Democrat who soundly defeated Hayworth in 2006 and is doing a great job representing our district--a man I trust and will support and campaign for in his re-election.
Now Hayworth has taken his dog and pony show into the race for John McCain's senate seat. It will be interesting to see which horse wins that race.