#gary meier

That's great. It took a lot of courage to do what he did. Even after what the Pope said, I'm sure there's much anti-gay sentiment among the many members of the church. So good on Gary Meier. I applaud you.

Unfortunatly, this does little to improve the image of the Catholic church. For one, they didn't induct him AS a gay man, but as someone who they believed to be straight. I suppose the fact that they didn't excommunicate him on the spot is a sign of good will, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was an active effort to include LGBT individuals into the church.

And if THAT wasn't bad enough, I happened across a quote from the Archdiocese of St. Louise, which read thusly:

The Archdiocese of St. Louis supports the remarks by Pope Francis which reiterate church teaching that homosexuals are welcome in the church but homosexual activity is forbidden. The Catholic Church teaches that all people are called to responsibility when it comes to sexuality, whether homosexual or heterosexual, priest or lay person. She believes that all sexual activity belongs within a marriage between a man and a woman.  The Catholic Church does not condemn people for having same-sex attraction. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states quite clearly that homosexual persons "must be accepted with compassion, respect and sensitivity." The Catechism adds that "Every sign of unjust discrimination must be avoided."  While the Catholic Church objects to homosexual activity, she does not object to homosexuals.

To summarize, while the church won't condemn you for IDENTIFYING as gay, they will condemn you for HAVING SEX as a gay person.