In Denver today, Archbishop Charles Chaput praised the six GOP state legislators who voted against legalizing civil unions in Colorado. The measure was defeated on a 6-5 party line vote in the House Judiciary Committee on March 31.
Archbishop Chaput, rather ungracious in victory, blasted what he saw as the "bigotry" of his opponents:
The civil unions debate is finally about securing legitimacy for social arrangements and personal behaviors that most societies and religious traditions have found problematic from long experience—and that a great many people see as morally troubling, not because they are “haters” or “frightened” or “bigots” or “uneducated”—that kind of language is the real bigotry in this debate—but because they’ve carefully thought through the implications for society at large.
Meanwhile, on March 27, in the Diocese of Saltillo (Mexico), Bishop Raul Vera Lopez told gays and lesbians, "The church is your home. Jesus founded the church to bring in those on the outside, for those suffering exclusion and rejection ... so that they find the love of God." Bishop Lopez has made the inclusion of gays and lesbians "a priority" in his diocese.
Bishop Vera told Catholic News Service he objects to the mentality of love the sinner and hate the sin promoted by many Christians and the view that people are "homosexual by choice."
"I can't judge a gay person or a lesbian by their sexual preferences," Bishop Vera said. "The most important thing for us is that they have legal protections. Period."
Which of the two bishops sounds most like Jesus to you?
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