Is that what the Catholic church is all about today? Promote the current administration's right-wing agenda of hatred and intolerance of people who are not white, straight, christians? This Bishop should be thrown out of the church immediately. I guess he missed the message from his god that says "Love and welcome all people." What an IDIOT.
R.I. bishop issues homophobic Pride Month tweet
PROVIDENCE,
R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s Roman Catholic bishop on Sunday defended a
tweet urging Catholics to not support or attend LGBTQ Pride Month
events, saying it was his obligation to teach the faith ‘‘clearly and
compassionately, even on very difficult and sensitive issues.’’
Diocese
of Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin sparked a backlash beginning
Saturday when he tweeted, ‘‘A reminder that Catholics should not
support or attend LGBTQ ‘Pride Month’ events held in June. They promote
a culture and encourage activities that are contrary to Catholic faith
and morals. They are especially harmful for children.’’
HERE'S WHAT THE IDIOT SAID: "A reminder that Catholics should not support or attend LGBTQ “Pride Month” events held in June. They promote a culture and encourage activities that are contrary to Catholic faith and morals. They are especially harmful for children."— Bishop Thomas Tobin (@ThomasJTobin1) June 1, 2019
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MY NOTE:
I think that Bishops and priests' physical and sexual abuse of children
have caused FAR MORE HARM to them than a celebration for gay pride ever
could.
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The posting spurred rebukes by thousands of people who replied on Twitter, including actresses Mia
Farrow and Patricia Arquette. Many invoked the scandals of clergy sexual abuse of children in the church.
 |
| The BIGOT: Bishop Thomas Tobin |
‘‘This
is pure ignorance ; bigotry,’’ Farrow wrote. ‘‘Ignore this
hate-filled hypocrite. His mind set leads only to suffering. He brings
to mind those priests who molested my brothers. Of COURSE we should
embrace our LGBTQ brothers and sisters and children. Jesus spoke of
love.’’
Kids are in far more danger at a catholic church than at a gay pride gathering.— Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) June 2, 2019
Arquette
tweeted, ‘‘Shame on you. LGBT kids are thrown out on the streets and
abandoned because of poisonous thinking like yours.’’
Shame on you. LGBT kids are thrown out on the streets and abandoned because of poisonous thinking like yours.— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) June 2, 2019
The
diocese on Sunday released a statement by Tobin. ‘‘I regret that my
comments yesterday about Pride Month have turned out to be so
controversial in our community, and offensive to some, especially the
gay community,’’ Tobin said. ‘‘That certainly was not my intention, but
I understand why a good number of individuals have taken offense. I
also acknowledge and appreciate the widespread support I have received
on this matter.’’
Tobin added that he and the Catholic Church have ‘‘respect and love for members of the gay community.’’
‘‘As
a Catholic Bishop, however, my obligation before God is to lead the
faithful entrusted to my care and to teach the faith, clearly and
compassionately, even on very difficult and sensitive issues,’’ he
said.
As of Sunday afternoon, 69,000 people
had replied to the tweet, about 15,800 liked it and nearly 4,700
retweeted it. Many of those who replied supported the bishop.
The LGBTQ group Rhode Island Pride held a rally outside the diocese’s headquarters in Providence on Sunday evening.
‘‘Jesus
never said a word about homosexuality, about Pride, or the Queer
community,’’ the group’s president, Joe Lazzerini, said in a statement.
‘‘Rhode Island Pride respectfully calls on Bishop Tobin to do some
self-reflection as the majority of Catholic Rhode Islanders in this
state reject the idea that to be Catholic is to be complicit to
intolerance, bigotry, and fear.
‘‘Bishop Tobin doesn’t represent the majority of Rhode Island Catholics who support the LGBTQIA+ community in Rhode Island,’’ he wrote.
Tobin is a conservative bishop who has said that he was aware of incidents of sexual abuse reported to church officials while working in Pennsylvania, but that it wasn’t his job to deal with them. He was auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh from 1992 until 1996. A Pennsylvania grand jury report last year detailed decades of abuse and cover-up in six dioceses, including the Pittsburgh diocese.
In
July 2018, Tobin deleted his Twitter account, calling it a major
distraction, an obstacle to his spiritual life and an ‘‘occasion of
sin’’ for himself and others. But he resumed tweeting in January,
according to his current Twitter account.
