Decision opens all aspects of synagogue life to gay Jews

Gay Jews will find it easier to enter rabbinical school and to join in a sanctified union under a ruling by a national committee on Jewish law.

Until now, the Conservative branch of the Jewish faith prohibited gay partnerships and ordination. But in a recent meeting, the 25-rabbi Committee on Jewish Law and Standards accepted a model for behavior that approves both.

The decision enraged four rabbis, who immediately quit the committee. (To read the rest of this story, click here.)

Russian church's numbers growing

photo:ja_macd


A beam of sunlight entered the room at an angle, illuminating the embroidered robes of a young man. He chanted Russian prayers, flanked by multiple candelabras and faced by standing worshippers. As a choir sang from behind a wheat-colored screen, a slim young woman dressed in a pale green leather coat approached a table, placed several dollars in one tray and gathered a handful of gold-colored candles from another.

Those candles, and the proceeds from numerous other fundraisers, will help finance a permanent home for the St. Xenia of Petersburg Russian Orthodox Church.

On Sunday, the Russian Christmas, the St. Xenia congregation celebrated their first service in a public gathering place. The Concord Veterans Building is elegant, and for the time being, it's home. (To read the rest of this story, click here.)

Mothers question, embrace their faiths

The authors of "The Faith Club"

AFTER 9/11, New Yorker Ranya Idliby stopped calling her sons by their Muslim names in public. Instead, she'd use their nicknames, Ty and Timmy. She asked her grandmother not to speak Arabic outside the home. She and her husband chose not to tell their children about the terrorist attacks.
But when her daughter came home from school and asked whether their family celebrated Hanukkah or Christmas, all that changed.(To read the rest of this story, click here.)

Responses to "Return to the Fold"

photo by k_soggie
We had many responses to "A Return to the Fold," about Catholics who come back to the church after a long absence.
Some readers, including one identified as "Schmidty," said they would never return because of church prohibitions on contraception, marriage for priests and homosexuality, and because of the pedophile priest scandal. Others praised the Rev. Brian Joyce for reaching out to lapsed Catholics. "I'd LOVE to have Brian Joyce in our parish," wrote Joanne Tansey. "I'd be at his church every Sunday!"

A return to the fold

Rev. Brian Joyce of Christ the King Church in Pleasant Hill is leading an effort to bring Catholics back to active church life.
The first time Joyce invited lapsed Catholics in for a chat, he drew a standing-room-only crowd -- "an even mix of the interested and the openly hostile."
But during the hours of give-and-take that followed, several decided to return to the church.
Since then, every three or four years, Joyce, who now leads Christ the King Church in Pleasant Hill, invites people who have left the church -- over old rules, new changes, abuse scandals, an interfaith marriage or hurt feelings -- to come in and talk about it, no strings attached.
People reveal myriad reasons for leaving the fold. "Some went back to changes 40, almost 50 years ago when the church went from Latin to English," Joyce said.
Of the more than 60 million Catholics in the country, about a third are inactive, said a Berkeley theologian. Disaffected Catholics seldom convert to other faiths and continue to identify themselves as Catholics after quitting the church, said Jerome Baggett, associate professor of religion and society at the Jesuit School of Theology, part of the Graduate School of Theology
Some leave, yet follow developments within the church nonetheless. And some "deflect in place," he said -- attending church, but on their own terms. To read the rest of the story, click here.

More reactions to the women ordination story

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In the last post, AMG from Texas responded to our story about women in the priesthood by saying such women should be dissuaded. Another reader, Sharon, emailed to offer a different view: "I wanted you to know that there are some of us actively practicing Catholic women in the area who welcome a discussion on the inclusion of women in the priesthood. Yes, the issue is complex and what I liked about your article is that you gave a real face to the women who have made the radical decision to defy Catholic church hierarchy and become priests. It is never easy to go against traditions that are hundreds of years old, and I was touched when Victoria Rue said, 'I have been called for a very long time, and I am not going to wait any longer...' While these women may be defying official church hierarchy and doctrine, they are doing so in response to what they feel God is calling them to do.

Readers sound off on women priests

photo: www.tldm.org
Our story on women who become Catholic priests in clandestine ceremonies touched off a wave of controversy among readers. We told the story of 61-year-old Kathleen Kunster of Emeryville, who said she always felt a calling to the priesthood. When she was finally ordained July 31 in a riverboat ceremony in Pennsylvania, she cried for an hour and a half. "It was extremely powerful — amazing," said Kunster, who has a master's degree in divinity and a doctorate in psychology. "I've been wrestling with this for a long time." Kunster is among a ripple of women who are tired of waiting for Vatican approval to join the priesthood. With the help of sympathetic bishops, they are realizing their dreams.

AMG of Texas emailed to say: "Women priests will never be accepted. Not by the Vatican and not by Roman Catholics.

It's a pity these women can't find their way, their vocation. What they need is humility and obedience. No true Catholic will ever respect them as long as they defy authority in the Church. Without authority, what do you have? Protestantism!

If they were honest they would just leave the Church. I'd respect that more."

Hello to my readers

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Talkingfaithblog is a way for readers of all convictions to share opinions, inspirations and ideas about science, faith and politics. Readers have responded strongly to the Contra Costa Times' stories about the ordination of women, about public opinion and atheism, and bridging the gap between Islam and western faiths. This is a forum for you to continue those and other discussions. Click the "comment" button and share your thoughts or email me at rrosenlum@cctimes.com.