Eugene McMullan

By remaining silent on the issue of bullying, and by undertaking an extensive nationwide campaign against marriage equality—a basic civil rights issue that has little or nothing to do with religious definitions—the bishops have themselves not only failed to live up to their obligation to protect the vulnerable, but have in some sense become bullies.

On December 1, Catholic Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy Broglio contributed an essay to the Washington Post’s “On Faith” opposing the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell; the Clinton-era policy that prevents LGBT persons from serving openly in the military. He quotes at length from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, compares homosexuality to alcoholism, and makes the unconvincing, dishonest claim that lifting the ban would infringe upon the religious liberty of Catholic chaplains by forcing them to bless same-gender marriages. But the military is not the Catholic Church.