Two more Catholic parishes say no to Ref. 74 signature drive
A growing number of Seattle’s Catholic parishes are saying “no” to Archbishop J. Peter Sartain’s offer that churches become signature gathering points for Referendum 74, the ballot measure to roll back Washington’s recently passed same-sex marriage law.
St. Mary’s Parish in the Central Area, and the new, growing Christ Our Hope parish in downtown Seattle, are the latest to decide petitions won’t be circulated on their premises.
The decision at St. Mary’s was announced by pastoral life coordinator Tricia Wittman-Todd in a “Dear People of St. Mary’s” letter. She wrote.
“After much prayer and reflection, I have decided we will not collect signatures at the parish. I am certain you will find ample opportunity elsewhere to sign whatever petitions you choose.
“This decision is based on two primary considerations. St. Mary’s mission is ‘House of God, Home for Everyone.’ One of our highest values is inclusion and welcome. I fear that the collection of signatures would be hurtful and divisive to our parish. I am particularly concerned about our youth who may be questioning their own sexual identity and need our support at this time in their lives.
“The second consideration is that as Catholics, each of us is asked to form our conscience and decide how to vote on this and other issues, i.e. tax policies, services to the poor, environmental laws, capital punishment, etc.”
St. James Cathedral, seat of the Seattle Archdiocese, told its parishoners Wednesday that it would not serve as a gathering point for anti-marriage equality petitions. St. Joseph Parish has said no petitions will be permitted on the church campus.
The spreading dissent — although couched in respectful terms — comes at a time when the Catholic hierarchy is asserting its authority.
Pope Benedict XVI, in a Holy Thursday sermon, took to task clergy who are advocating married priests and ordination of women, and called on priests to embrace the “radicalism of obedience.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a proclamation this Thursday, called on priests, laypersons and parishes to join in a “great national campaign” to defend religious liberty, claiming it is “under attack, both at home and abroad.”
“Dioceses and parishes around the country could choose a date . . . for special events that would constitute a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty,” the bishops wrote. They charged:
“In an unprecedented way, the federal government will force religious institutions to facilitate and fund a product contrary to their own moral teaching and purport to define which religious institutions are ‘religious enough’ to merit protection of their religious liberty.”
In Seattle, it would appear, parishes are asserting liberty from instructions (or at least strong suggestions) by the hierarchy, and in a season when the Seattle Archdiocese is asking for support in its Annual Catholic Appeal fundraising drive.
Archbishop Sartain and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, in a letter earlier this month, endorsed Referendum 74. Opponents of same-sex marriage have until June 6 to collect 120,577 valid voter signatures to put the issue on November’s ballot.
The bishops, picking their words carefully, said they “have approved the gathering of signatures in our parishes over the next few months. Your pastors have received from us information regarding the signature drive . . .”
In the St. Mary’s letter, Wittman-Todd recognized an option to opt out of the marriage equality rollback campaign. She attached the Sartain-Elizondo letter, but then wrote:
“He (Sartain) has given permission to parishes to collect signatures for the Referendum and encouraged us to do so. He has also expressed that each parish leader must decide how best to proceed, given the pastoral considerations within the parish.”
The news of St. Mary’s saying no broke Thursday afternoon in The Stranger, which is finally discovering happenings in the Catholic Church of which it approves.
