Quote of the Day

Michael Sam, the first professional football player to come out as gay, proposed to his partner at the Vatican last week just as Pope Francis made his harshest comments against same-sex marriage since he became the pontiff.

. . . Sam’s engagement announcement comes as Pope Francis also claimed there is an “ideological colonization” of the family occurring, a statement . . . more troubling than his criticism of marriage equality. Sam’s latest act is not a ‘colonization,’ but extends a liberating witness to the Vatican of the goodness and holiness present in the relationships of many LGBT people. In bringing the love of a same-sex couple to the heart of institutional Catholicism, Sam and Cammissano are not colonizers . . . but bridge builders.

. . . In being open and authentic, Michael Sam adds his courageous voice to those calling the Catholic Church to greater welcome and acceptance of LGBT people. These include Irish Fr. Martin Dolan who came out to his parish during Mass and Belgian Bishop Johan Bonny who called on the church to formally recognize same-sex couples.

As Bondings 2.0 wrote previously, courage breeds courage. Perhaps Sam and Cammissano will inspire more couples to propose at the Vatican in 2015 – or at the very least, to let church officials know of their love and commitment.

– Bob Shine
Excerpted from "Gay Football Player Michael Sam
Proposes Marriage Atop Vatican"
Bondings 2.0
January 18, 2015

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Marriage: "Part of What is Best in Human Nature"
• Quote of the Day – December 30, 2014
• Rediscovering What Has Been Written on Our Hearts from the Very Beginning
• Quote of the Day – May 31, 2014
• Catholic Church Can Overcome Fear of LGBT People