OTTAWA — Canada’s top Catholic leader warned last week that the church may refuse to baptize the children of gay parents, the Los Angeles Times reported. The nation’s gay marriage bill is expected to pass into law this month. Testifying before a Senate committee hearing, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec and primate of the Canadian Catholic Church, said parents of the same gender are unacceptable for baptism documentation. “If I take the example of the ceremony of baptism, according to our canon law, we cannot accept the signatures of two fathers or two mothers as parents of an infant,” Ouellet told lawmakers, the Times reported. The marriage legislation defines civil marriage as a “lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others,” but allows religious officials to refuse to perform unions “that are not in accordance with their religious beliefs.” Ouellet said Catholic clergy feel “threatened” by the measure. “Even our priests sometimes do not feel free to preach on homosexual and sexual morality because they are accused of homophobia,” he told lawmakers. “Once the state imposes a new standard affirming that homosexual behavior is a social good, those who oppose it for religious motives or motives of conscience will be considered as bigots, anti-gay and homophobes, and then risk prosecution.”

Vatican document on allowing gays in seminaries goes to pope
ROME — A long-awaited Vatican report on whether to allow openly gay men into seminaries now has been presented to Pope Benedict XVI, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Condensed from earlier versions, the document reasserts a 2002 Vatican document stating, “A homosexual person, or one with a homosexual tendency, is not fit to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders.” The pope will decide whether to issue the new document as it is, send it back for revision, or shelve it as “inopportune” for the moment, according to the Reporter. Privately, some American bishops told the Catholic newspaper they hope Benedict will hold the document so that it does not spark controversy. Other Catholic officials privately told the Reporter that the document should be released to officially reject a solution put forth by some: that it does not matter if a candidate for the priesthood is gay, as long as he can remain celibate.

Diocese says members of splinter church aren’t in ‘good standing’
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Roman Catholics “cannot ... be considered members in good standing” if they attend a splinter church led by an ex-communicated priest who opposes the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality and women priests, the Pittsburgh diocese said last week. The announcement came a day after Rev. William Hausen said his 300-member Christ Hope Ecumenical Catholic Church was leasing space in a vacant Episcopal church. “The Christian faithful need to know that free and willful participation in this church, … implies separation from the Catholic Church,” according to the diocese statement.

Episcopal bishop suspends one of six embattled priests
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Episcopal Bishop Andrew Smith last week suspended one of six priests accused of refusing to recognize his authority. The six had asked to be supervised by another bishop because they disagreed with Smith’s support for the 2003 consecration of Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the church’s first openly gay bishop. Smith used his power last week to “inhibit” Rev. Mark Hansen and appoint another priest to lead St. John’s Church in Bristol. If the situation isn’t resolved in six months, Smith can remove Hansen from the priesthood. Karin Hamilton, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Connecticut, said Smith does not plan immediate action against the other five priests, who have been under the threat of inhibition since April. She said Hansen’s situation is different because he took an unauthorized sabbatical, and St. John’s has stopped making payments on a loan for its building.

Gay Singaporeans gather to pray in Christian church
SINGAPORE (AP) — In a country where gay sex is punishable by prison, the Free Community Church stands out. It is the only place of Christian worship willing to accept gays. “Each time, God seemed to use the people that didn’t fit in to bring salvation,” church leader Clarence Singam, who is gay, said at a recent Sunday service. “I wonder how many of you don’t fit in, you don’t feel comfortable in your skin?” he asked the 100-odd members of the congregation, using John the Baptist as an example of the “odd one out.”

From staff and wire reports

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