Quote of the Day

The synod's brief discourse of same-sex marriage is . . . hurtful. It is a cruel hoax to say that the church is welcoming of those of same-sex orientation and yet in the same breath not give any acknowledgment of the poignancy of that human relationship. Is it not an extraordinary act of love for one human being to say to another: 'I want to walk with you, to be your support, to care for you in illness and to share in your joys?' That statement is no less extraordinary when it is made between two of the same gender. When the church declares itself closed and disapproving of such relationship, it separates itself from the welcoming nature of Christ, and instead, sets itself up as judge with a standard that is disregarding of the Thomistic advice not to make the perfect the enemy of the good.

– Douglas Kmiec
Excerpted from "The Synod Answers: 'Who Am I to Judge?'
National Catholic Reporter
October 30, 2015

Related Off-site Links:
What Family Really Means – Frank Bruni (The New York Times, October 24, 2015).
What I Learned From Observing the Synod on Marriage and Family – Francis DeBernardo (Bondngs 2.0, October 29, 2015).
Synod Indicates the Kind of Change Possible – Editorial (National Catholic Reporter, October 30, 2015).
Conservatives Have Officially Become the Catholic Church's Tea Party – Patricia Miller (Religion Dispatches, October 22, 2015).
The Family Synod: It's Far from Over – Russell Pollitt, S.J. (The Jesuit Institute South Africa, October 28, 2015).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• The Real Scandal: Fear of Love
• Synod 2015 Quote of the Day – October 16, 2015
• Jim Smith on the "Tears of Love and Faith" of LGBTI People and Their Families
• Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality (Part 8)
• "Trajectory is More Important Than the Current Status"

Image: "Family" by Sarah Amalia Holst.