Bishop should end policy of exclusion

Bishop should end policy of exclusion

In yet another disappointing letter read to us during Mass, Bishop David Malloy of the Rockford Diocese slammed the Illinois General Assembly for the passage into law of SB10 which legalized same-sex marriage in our state.

Curiously, no letter came from his desk last September, when the Republican House cut more than $39 billion from the food stamp program affecting millions of poor Americans. In last week’s letter, Malloy invokes an obscure quote from Pope Francis, at the time head of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, to justify his opposition to the bill. We knew Pope Francis’ recent stance on gays and lesbians such as “Who am I to judge them”? and not to “interfere spiritually” in their lives, made many bishops and clergy very worried. What we did not know was their level of desperation.

Apparently, Bishop Malloy is unable, or unwilling, to make sense of the prophetic nature of Pope Francis’ recent remarks on homosexuals and is doing everything he can to assure his followers that nothing has really changed. But those of us paying close attention to Pope Francis’ prophetic words, know exactly what his message compels us to do. We need to stop this mixed message of love and condemnation; telling homosexuals they are made in the image and likeness of God, and yet their relationships, acting consistent to their nature, is fundamentally sinful. As a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church, I call upon Bishop Malloy to show true leadership and humility; to revert this irresponsible and anti-evangelical position of exclusion and condemnation of our homosexual brothers and sisters.

Let us pray for Bishop Malloy to imitate Pope Francis and Pope John XXIII, in other words, Jesus Galilean.

Angel R. Llavona

Algonquin