Here’s a story to make you smile this morning, from Dominic Holden at Slog:
In an email to his flock, St. James Cathedral reverend Michael Ryan has announced that he won’t circulate petitions inside his parish for the campaign to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law. Here’s his full email:
Dear Friends,
Archbishop Sartain has written a letter in which he has expressed his support for Referendum 74 and for the collecting of signatures in parishes. Media reports regarding this are somewhat misleading. While the Archbishop has given his support to the effort, he has wisely left it up to each pastor to decide whether to allow the collection of signatures in his own parish.
After discussing the matter with the members of the Cathedral’s pastoral ministry team, I have decided that we will not participate in the collecting of signatures in our parish. Doing so would, I believe, prove hurtful and seriously divisive in our community.
Father Ryan
Check out Holden’s full story here — he includes an important explanation about why Fr. Ryan might have written that media reports regarding Archbishop Sartain’s letter are “somewhat misleading.”
More importantly, though, Holden is 100% correct: Fr. Michael Ryan of Seattle’s St. James Cathedral deserves commendation for his courageous refusal. Here’s hoping more of his colleagues follow suit.
