Quote of the Day

[A]t a time when the world, including most U.S. Catholics, is increasingly accepting gay rights and even gay marriage, here ‘s what’s really significant about the Pope’s statement: The love-the-sinner-but-hate-the-sin trope no longer carries much if any moral credibility. How – given our awareness today that homosexuality is as biological as heterosexuality, and that homosexual relationships have proven as valid and socially enriching as straight ones – can we take any religious leader seriously when he claims to love gay people but at the same time demonizes the consummation of their love for each other?

How, for example, can the Catholic [hierarchy] declare homosexuals “disordered” and their lifestyle an “intrinsic moral evil,” yet expect us to applaud its “love” for gays somewhere beneath all that homophobic bigotry? My mother was born in Mississippi and has often told me of Southern whites in the mid-20th century insisting they could love a black person even if they hated the black race. No, you can’t have it both ways.

– Tim Padgett
"Pope Francis and Gays: 'Loving the Sinner' is Still Intolerance"
Time
July 30, 2013

Related Off-site Links:
Pope Francis Asks "Who Am I to Judge?" But Real-Life Gay Catholics Continue to Experience Marginalization – William D. Lindsey (Bilgrimage, July 30, 2013).
Will Francis' Statements on Women and Gays "Make a Mess" Inside the Church? – Mary E. Hunt (Religion Dispatches, July 29, 2013).
Catholic Pundits in Damage Control After Pope Says Something Halfway Nice – Evan Hurst (Truth Wins Out, July 30, 2013).
Sodom, Homosexuality, Drone Strikes and Prayer – Thomas Reese (National Catholic Reporter, July 29, 2013).
How Pope Francis' Gay Comment Was Oversold by the Media – Sara Morrison (Reuters via Yahoo! News, July 30, 2013).
Who Am I to Judge? Francis Redefines the Papacy – Alexander Stille (The New Yorker, July 30, 2013).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Why I Take Hope in Pope Francis' Statement on Gay Priests
Be Not Afraid, You Can Be Happy and Gay
The Gifts of Homosexuality
Gay People and the Spiritual Life
Sons of the Church: The Witnessing of Gay Catholic Men
Celebrating Our Sanctifying Truth
LGBT Catholics Celebrate Being "Wonderfully Made"
The Many Manifestations of God's Loving Embrace
Knowing What to Do, Knowing Why to Stay
Getting It Right