Pope Francis' new 'Joy of Love' exhortation won't resolve Catholic tensions on marriage and sex
When my parents went to schedule my older brother's baptism at a Catholic church, the priest told them their baby was a bastard. Because my parents were married in the Episcopal Church, their child was, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, illegitimate.
The bastard comment became a family joke, and my father eventually brought his Episcopalian-baptized kids back to the Catholic Church. Yet, it's hard for me to ignore the fact that the Catholic Church still doesn't see my parents' relationship as valid even after 38 years of marriage. To be an American Catholic today is to live with a tension between church teachings and the beliefs born of one's daily reality.… Seguir leyendo »