Pope sends message to US bishops

Pope Francis seems to have noticed the hairy, protruding foreheads of US bishops.

The Vatican ambassador to the United States says American bishops should make Roman Catholics feel more at home in the church. 

Archbishop Carlo Vigano (VIH-gah-no) says Pope Francis wants bishops to act more fatherly and not follow any particular ideology. 

Sounds good, right? Like maybe the bishops could stop attacking gay people, for starters. But then the linked article reports Archbishop Timmy Dolan's comment, which seems to come from outer space and can be summarized as "Look, over there! A shiny thing!!!"

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan is ending his term as president of the bishops' conference. He urged church leaders to make religious freedom abroad their defining issue. He said religious freedom challenges in the U.S. pale in comparison to what Christians face overseas. 

Timmy doesn't like what the pope is saying. He doesn't like it at all. This should be fun to watch.

UPDATE: I based this post on an AP story, which means the tale was fleshed out by their reporters throughout the day. What was three short paragraphs when I first linked to it is now a full-scale article that includes this tidbit:

In a September interview, Francis said Catholic leaders should give greater emphasis to compassion, arguing the church's focus on abortion, marriage and contraception has been too narrow and alienating. For the last several years, the public sessions of the fall bishops' assembly have centered on those issues. This year's meeting gave the first glimpse of how that message was resonating among American leaders.

Yes, the bishops group has occupied itself with hatred these past few years -- not coincidentally while it was under the leadership of dear, sweet Archbishop Timmy Dolan, the voice of American Catholic hatred for gays.

The article closes on this blissful note:

Dolan is at the end of this three-year term as conference president. His successor will be elected Tuesday, the final day of the public part of the meeting.

Let's hope this means the wicked witch is dead, at least for a time.

US Bishops oppose Violence Against Women Act

Lest they miss a chance to be evil, the US bishops are totally against the new Violence Against Women Act. And why? You knew without asking, didn't you? Yup, they're carting out the same tired old crap.

The act...is intended to protect women from domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking...[b]ut for the first time since the original act became law in 1994, it spells out that no person may be excluded from the law's protections because of "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" -- specifically covering lesbian, transgender and bisexual women.

(snip)

"These two classifications are unnecessary to establish the just protections due to all persons. They undermine the meaning and importance of sexual difference," the bishops said in a statement released by the USCCB on Wednesday.

"They are unjustly exploited for purposes of marriage redefinition, and marriage is the only institution that unites a man and a woman with each other and with any children born from their union," the statement continued.

Of course, this makes absolutely no sense, just as their arguments against gay marriage make no sense. What the church is really saying is that women should suffer from violence because the church hates gay and transgender people. There is no other meaning in their statement. Just thought I'd point this out.

And look who's among the bishops who signed this statement. Why, it's Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. This wingnut is one sick cookie. He was appointed by Ratzinger to whip the hell out of the diocese of San Francisco. But all he's doing is showing Californians how vicious and evil his church is. Yay, Sal! You go, girl!