Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir by Scott Pomfret Page B
Authors: Scott Pomfret
Tags: General, Gay Studies, Social Science, Personal Memoirs, Biography & Autobiography, Gay & Lesbian, Biography, Massachusetts, Homosexuality, Religious aspects, Boston, Catholic Gay Men, Religious Life, Catholic Church
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kiss.”
“Michael Moore wanted to kiss Roger Smith?”
“Stay with me, Scott.”
“Lemme get this straight —”
“So to speak.”
“You want to kiss the cardinal?”
“Metaphorically speaking.”
“Why?”
“Why not? We all could use a little love.”
“I thought you wanted to confront the bastard.”
“I do — with love.”
“I see. Well, wear a condom, wouldja?”
“A condom?”
“Metaphorically speaking. I don’t want you bringing any metaphorical infections home.”
What I Learned about Archbishop Sean on My Summer Vacation
These are the highlights of my Brown Bag dossier:
The Good
No recorded views on Harry Potter’s satanic nature. In fact, Sean admitted to having read The Da Vinci Code and joked publicly about Mary Magdalene being portrayed as Mrs. Jesus Christ.
Emphasis on the lost art of homiletics. Sean instructed his priests that they should stress creativity, humor, and — thank God — brevity.
Passed police background check prior to his appointment. (Call me old-fashioned, but ideally my bishop has no criminal record.)
Lifework heretofore focused on missions to immigrants and the poor. Sean opened an AIDS hospice in the Virgin Islands and had known Mother Teresa personally.
Had a screen name. Upon his ordination in 1965, the Brown Bag changed his moniker from Patrick to Sean.
Demonstrated ability to change his mind. In 2000, he re-fused to condone Irish Catholics’ eating corned beef with their cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day because the feast fell on a Friday during Lent. After protests and national media coverage, he revised the decree.
The Bad
On May 18, 1999, O’Malley testified in a legislative hearing in Massachusetts that gay parents could “open the door to polygamy and incest.”
According to a priest who met with O’Malley: “He doesn’t talk. It’s the big dilemma for most priests. He’s like a sphinx…. He just sits there.”
According to another priest, “He’s a ‘company man.’ He’s cautious and likes to limit conversations to noncontroversial issues.”
Archbishop Sean likened prochoice candidates for political office to “the KKK without the sheets.”
The motto on his coat of arms is Quodcumque dixerit facite (Do whatever he tells you) — not the slogan of a man likely to buck the Vatican.
He was born near Cleveland.
The Ugly
According to a priest and mental health professional: “O’Malley has an illness, a mental illness. If he’s in a room of people, he just stands there with his arms crossed. Doesn’t say a word. If you ask him how he’s doing, he says fine. If you say you’re bleeding arterially, he just nods. The guy is in over his head.”
In 2000, then-bishop Sean invited the chief judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court to speak at a dinner. A few days before the event, O’Malley rescinded the invitation. He told her that he would not feel comfortable sitting at the same table, because she had spoken out in favor of gay civil rights. He offered to reinstate the invitation if she publicly distanced herself from her remarks. Rather than admit to O’Malley’s disinvitation, the event’s organizers disingenuously announced that “circumstances beyond her control” had kept the judge from speaking.
Love Letters to the Archbishop
To confront the archbishop, I hit him where it counted. I mustered all my courage and wrote him a nasty note. I imagined all the auxiliary bishops cowering behind their desks at the chancery as they absorbed my withering prose. Careful^ they’d whisper to one another, or hell write another one I
Here’s my letter:
Dear Archbishop Sean:
I write to you with the idea of reconciliation. I am one of your flock. I am a lector and a practicing Catholic. I am also a gay man in a long-term monogamous and committed sexual relationship with the man I love. Your behavior toward gay members of your flock — in word and in deed — does not reflect the love that I take from the Gospel.
Let me
“Michael Moore wanted to kiss Roger Smith?”
“Stay with me, Scott.”
“Lemme get this straight —”
“So to speak.”
“You want to kiss the cardinal?”
“Metaphorically speaking.”
“Why?”
“Why not? We all could use a little love.”
“I thought you wanted to confront the bastard.”
“I do — with love.”
“I see. Well, wear a condom, wouldja?”
“A condom?”
“Metaphorically speaking. I don’t want you bringing any metaphorical infections home.”
What I Learned about Archbishop Sean on My Summer Vacation
These are the highlights of my Brown Bag dossier:
The Good
No recorded views on Harry Potter’s satanic nature. In fact, Sean admitted to having read The Da Vinci Code and joked publicly about Mary Magdalene being portrayed as Mrs. Jesus Christ.
Emphasis on the lost art of homiletics. Sean instructed his priests that they should stress creativity, humor, and — thank God — brevity.
Passed police background check prior to his appointment. (Call me old-fashioned, but ideally my bishop has no criminal record.)
Lifework heretofore focused on missions to immigrants and the poor. Sean opened an AIDS hospice in the Virgin Islands and had known Mother Teresa personally.
Had a screen name. Upon his ordination in 1965, the Brown Bag changed his moniker from Patrick to Sean.
Demonstrated ability to change his mind. In 2000, he re-fused to condone Irish Catholics’ eating corned beef with their cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day because the feast fell on a Friday during Lent. After protests and national media coverage, he revised the decree.
The Bad
On May 18, 1999, O’Malley testified in a legislative hearing in Massachusetts that gay parents could “open the door to polygamy and incest.”
According to a priest who met with O’Malley: “He doesn’t talk. It’s the big dilemma for most priests. He’s like a sphinx…. He just sits there.”
According to another priest, “He’s a ‘company man.’ He’s cautious and likes to limit conversations to noncontroversial issues.”
Archbishop Sean likened prochoice candidates for political office to “the KKK without the sheets.”
The motto on his coat of arms is Quodcumque dixerit facite (Do whatever he tells you) — not the slogan of a man likely to buck the Vatican.
He was born near Cleveland.
The Ugly
According to a priest and mental health professional: “O’Malley has an illness, a mental illness. If he’s in a room of people, he just stands there with his arms crossed. Doesn’t say a word. If you ask him how he’s doing, he says fine. If you say you’re bleeding arterially, he just nods. The guy is in over his head.”
In 2000, then-bishop Sean invited the chief judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court to speak at a dinner. A few days before the event, O’Malley rescinded the invitation. He told her that he would not feel comfortable sitting at the same table, because she had spoken out in favor of gay civil rights. He offered to reinstate the invitation if she publicly distanced herself from her remarks. Rather than admit to O’Malley’s disinvitation, the event’s organizers disingenuously announced that “circumstances beyond her control” had kept the judge from speaking.
Love Letters to the Archbishop
To confront the archbishop, I hit him where it counted. I mustered all my courage and wrote him a nasty note. I imagined all the auxiliary bishops cowering behind their desks at the chancery as they absorbed my withering prose. Careful^ they’d whisper to one another, or hell write another one I
Here’s my letter:
Dear Archbishop Sean:
I write to you with the idea of reconciliation. I am one of your flock. I am a lector and a practicing Catholic. I am also a gay man in a long-term monogamous and committed sexual relationship with the man I love. Your behavior toward gay members of your flock — in word and in deed — does not reflect the love that I take from the Gospel.
Let me
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