YouTube Witness to Bishop Gumbleton's Ministry

Detroit Bishop Tom Gumbleton was recently removed from his ministry as pastor of St. Leo's Parish in a move many see as retaliation for his outspoken witness for sex abuse victims, gays, lesbians and women in the Church, and for peace and justice. (NYTimes article)

Bishop Gumbleton's supporters created this video to highlight what his ministry has meant to St Leo's Parish. It is wonderful to see such a modern (not to say shallow) medium as YouTube used for this kind of witness.



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Abused bishop stands with all excluded Catholics

The bishop prays at a trial of antiwar demonstrators earlier this year.

Detroit's Bishop Tom Gumbleton shared today that he, too, was a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest. Sensible of the range of victims' experiences, the gentle cleric friends call Gumbo went out of his way to note that others have undergone far worse: Bishop Gumbleton escaped the repeated pattern of violent abuse that can leave the worst scars. This brave disclosure has already exposed the bishop to inchoate and slanderous attacks from the blogosphere, but we're not going to study 'bout that narrow-minded offal. Rather, know:

Bishop Gumbleton is best known as a champion of peace and justice, but he's also worked to strengthen the Church as a supporter of gay and lesbian Catholics. According to a mentor of mine who knew him well (and from whom I drew the nickname), Bishop Gumbleton is a large part of the reason the American Midwest is so open, in parish life, to the gifts of women and laypeople. Aisha Taylor of Women's Ordination Conference wrote in an email: "Bishop Gumbleton was the only bishop to join Women's Ordination Conference at our prayerful protest outside the bishops' meeting in November 2004. He wore a purple stole (international symbol of women's ordination), pearls (symbol of that particular protest), and talked with us before leaving the meeting saying he was not going back inside." Sometimes--often--you minister best by standing with those on the outside. With his courageous disclosure, Bishop Gumbleton steps out of the Church hierarchy to join abuse victims and all Catholics who've been staring for too long at a door that's firmly closed.

Bishop Gumbleton teaches compassion for gay priests

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton took a break from his work for global peace this week to write a piece in America in support of continuing to ordain gay men (Yes, Gay Men Should Be Ordained.) Read it: don't stop with my summary. You're probably familiar with the arguments based on Christ-centered compassion--Jesus would not have excluded anyone from ministry, and neither should we--and those based on psychology: homosexuality is not related to pedophilia, and gay and straight people are equally capable of living celibate lives. However, Bishop Gumbleton goes even further here. He shows us how God's plan is uniquely carried out in gay and lesbian people. "Through their testimony of suffering," he quotes from Brother James Empereur, "God has chosen gays and lesbians to reveal something about God that heterosexuals do not." Gay people may be uniquely called to preach God's truth, Bishop Gumbleton suggests, because they have had to struggle against internal and external opposition in coming to know a deep truth about themselves. What a richly radical approach: in a time when people are searching for new reasons to treat gay and lesbian Catholics as liabilities, Bishop Gumbleton hails them as an extraordinary source of grace.

I have a holy card Bishop Gumbleton blessed. Some day I expect it to work miracles.