Rev. Kurt Nagel, a pastor of Holy Family Parish in Washington state, is responding to the growing number parishes who have opted out of a campaign to repeal marriage equality by doubling down on the Church’s opposition to gay people. “The Catholic Church does not believe that people with same sex attraction are inferior,” he argued. “It is sometimes said to support the charge of bigotry that the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual persons are ‘disordered’. That is not true”:

It is true that the sexual DESIRES for persons of the same sex are disordered. That is, such desires are not ORDERED, or aimed, at the right end or goal. But we all have disordered desires — in terms of sex, food, power, money, etc. That is because, although made in the image and likeness of God, we are also fallen creatures.” [...]

Nagel argued that “homosexual persons” already have “the legal benefits of marriage” — thanks to the Domestic Partnership law enacted when Washington voters approved Referendum 71 in 2009.

“So our opposition to redefining marriage is not now a matter of denying anyone legal rights,” Nagel told parishoners. He acknowledged that the Washington State Catholic Conference opposed the 2009 Domestic Partnership law, as “obviously” a step toward legalizing marriage and “in part because we don’t believe such sexual relationships encourage the best lives and greatest happiness for homosexual persons.”

“The Catholic Church believes that creating this new legal and social institution of domestic partnerships is, on balance, not wise,” Nagel said. “But it is doable. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, believes that Gay MARRIAGE is simply not possible.”

It’s unclear how Nagel would respond to the very real and possible marriages of the thousands of same-sex couples across the country, but while his comments echo the sentiment of the Washington Archbishop — who has called on churches to take part in an effort to undo Washington’s recently-enacted marriage equality law — they don’t represent the thinking of all Catholic leaders or congregations in the state.

At least six Catholic parishes are avoiding the recall, partly because it is “hurtful and seriously divisive in our community.” Last week, Seattle’s Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church gave the Rev. Tim Clark a standing ovation when he announced that the parish would not be participating in the anti-equality campaign.

Opinion polls have consistently shown that Catholics reject the Church’s opposition to marriage equality, with nearly three-quarter of Catholics favoring “either allowing gay and lesbian people to marry (43%) or allowing them to form civil unions (31%). Only 22% of Catholics say there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship.”

At least six Catholic parishes in Washington state have ignored the Seattle Archbishop’s call to gather signatures for a referendum repealing the state’s recently-enacted marriage equality law, calling the effort “hurtful and seriously divisive in our community.” “Seattle’s Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church gave the Rev. Tim Clark a standing ovation Sunday” when he announced that the parish would not be participating in the anti-equality effort:

“I am happy to report that Our Lady of the Lake parish-oners have been overwhelmingly and, thus far, unanimously supportive of the decision I made NOT to gather signatures in support of this Referendum,” Clark wrote in response to an e-mail.

“The standing ovation experienced during one of the Masses says less about me and much more about the health of this parish. I only wished the archbishop could have experienced the sustained applause — the ‘sensus fidelium’ — of the people. He needs to listen to this ‘voice.’ That is my prayer.”

The other parishes to opt out of the signature drive include: St. James Cathedral, St. Joseph Church, St. Mary’s Church, St. Patrick Church and Christ Our Hope Catholic Church.

Opinion polls have consistently shown that Catholics reject the Church’s opposition to marriage equality, with nearly three-quarters of Catholics favoring “either allowing gay and lesbian people to marry (43%) or allowing them to form civil unions (31%). Only 22% of Catholics say there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship.”

Earlier this month, two Catholic bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle wrote a letter asking parishioners to take part in a campaign to repeal Washington state’s recently enacted marriage equality law. Calling the effort “critically important,” Archbishop J. Peter Sartain and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo argued that denying same-sex couples the rights of marriage does not constitute discrimination since gays and lesbians are inherently “different” from straight relationships.

But at least one Catholic leader — Father Michael Ryan of St. James Cathedral — is resisting the effort and refusing to “circulate petitions inside his parish for the campaign to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law”:

Dear Friends,

Archbishop Sartain has written a letter in which he has expressed his support for Referendum 74 and for the collecting of signatures in parishes. Media reports regarding this are somewhat misleading. While the Archbishop has given his support to the effort, he has wisely left it up to each pastor to decide whether to allow the collection of signatures in his own parish.

After discussing the matter with the members of the Cathedral’s pastoral ministry team, I have decided that we will not participate in the collecting of signatures in our parish. Doing so would, I believe, prove hurtful and seriously divisive in our community.

Father Ryan

Opponents of Washington state’s new marriage equality law have only gathered 5,681 of the 120,577 signatures necessary (and 150,000 goal) to repeal the law at the ballot through Referendum 74. They have only two months left to collect the rest, as the law is set to take effect on June 6. The Seattle Times notes that Preserve Marriage Washington, a campaign funded by the race-baiting National Organization for Marriage, has not yet utilized paid signature collectors and the totals do not seem to reflect the outreach to 1,500 churches with 50,000 completed petitions the group has boasted.

(HT: The Stranger’s Slog)

Two Catholic bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle have written a letter asking parishioners to take part in a campaign to repeal Washington state’s recently enacted marriage equality law. Calling the effort “critically important,” Archbishop J. Peter Sartain and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo argue that denying same-sex couples the rights of marriage does not constitute discrimination since gays and lesbians are inherently “different” from straight relationships:

“Treating different things differently is not unjust discrimination,” the bishops claim. “Marriage can only be between a man and a woman because of its unique ends, purpose and place in society. The word ‘marriage’ isn’t simply a label that can be attached to different types of relationships.

“Instead ‘marriage’ reflects a deep reality — the reality of the unique, fruitful, lifelong union that is only possible between a man and a woman. There is nothing else like it, and it can’t be defined or made into something that it isn’t.”

Opponents have until June 6 to collect over 120,000 valid voter signatures to force a referendum on marriage equality. The campaign is being spearheaded by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which has recently come under fire after internal memos revealed its strategy of driving “a wedge between gays and blacks” and manipulating Hispanic voters by making the exclusion of gay people from marriage “a key badge of Latino identity.”

State Sen. Ed Murray (D), a gay Catholic and a sponsor of the law, described the bishop’s call to gather signatures as “fairly reprehensible.” “Here in Olympia, I am watching Republicans press for a budget that takes money from the Disability Lifeline and the emergency food assistance program, yet there is no letter from Catholic bishops or the Catholic Conference stressing the importance of these programs,” he said. “As I read the Gospels, there is a great deal of talk about the poor, and none about homosexuality.”

The language has been finalized for Referendum 74, an effort by conservatives to challenge Washington state’s new marriage equality law. Though opponents of the law sought to describe it as “redefining marriage,” Judge Thomas McPhee decided against such language. Here is how the referendum will appear to voters in November, assuming its proponents gather sufficient signatures:

The legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6239 concerning marriage for same-sex couples, modified domestic-partnership law, and religious freedom, and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill. This bill would allow same-sex couples to marry, preserve domestic partnerships only for seniors, and preserve the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform, recognize, or accommodate any marriage ceremony.

Should this bill be:

[ ] APPROVED

[ ] REJECTED

Unlike efforts to overturn marriage equality in other states, referenda in Washington ask voters to uphold the law, so those who support same-sex couples will be encouraged to approve Referendum 74. This is not to be confused with campaigns in Minnesota and North Carolina to defeat the proposed discriminatory constitutional amendments.