By Ned Flaherty
The Roman Catholic Church opens
its latest folly this weekend in Philadelphia: a sports “tutorial” camp,
for gay men, where they play sports until exhausted, then swear off their
attractions to each other with a distracting array of prayer, confession, church-going,
scripture, and hope (and hope-against-hope).
The application form confirmed my
suspicions with this testimonial: “When Father Paul Check isn’t praying
with us in the chapel, he’s competing with us on the field!”
Oh, indeed he is.
A trifling $390 includes:
lodging, meals, a take-home-with-you T shirt, and a Cognac-with-cigar on
Sunday. Also included are: “Risk!” and “Challenge!” and “Triumph!”
but no explanation of how the fee might be discounted for those who just want
the triumph part.
I feel straight just reading
about it.
The papal premise seems to be
that gay men don’t play sports, and straight men do, so if gay men pretend to
be straight by playing sports with Catholic priests, and then also commit to
life-long celibacy, then they can claim they’ve become straight, so long as
every free minute the rest of their lives is spent in desperate hope and
prayer. It seems like it would be easier to just be a priest and skip the
rugby.
Francis DeBernardo at New Ways
Ministry logically wonders about future seminars: “What’s next? Baking Lessons For Lesbians”?
Ned Flaherty was born and
bred into a Catholic household,
but the spell didn't take. He is a Project Manager for Marriage Equality USA, and writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
but the spell didn't take. He is a Project Manager for Marriage Equality USA, and writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
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