The Weight of Glory

In recent months, I have refrained from exploring / exposing the activities of CPCSM, but I couldn't let this one slip by.

In brief, the CPCSM is sponsoring an event tonight on "Conversion Therapy" and the Pseudo-Science of NARTH.

In the course of a blog post promoting the event, Michael Bayly quotes David McCaffrey, present Board VP of CPCSM:

For more than 25 years, the local archdiocese provided competent and compassionate pastoral ministry with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons and their families in many of its parishes and most of its high schools and colleges. This primarily was the result of the committed work of CPCSM, which over that period provided training and consultation services to virtually all of the offices of the archdiocese during the administration of Archbishop John Roach. In some parishes and schools, this ministry was advertised publicly in weekly bulletins and on websites during that time and as recently as last year.

I remember some stories about CPCSM activism in the schools during the 1990s with assistance from the Archdiocesan offices. It was scandalous, to be honest. I recall the involvement of one former Archdiocesan staff member in particular: Mary Ellen Gevelinger, OP. I met Sr. Gevelinger in the summer of 1996 when she was invited out to St. John the Baptist in Excelsior to mediate in a conflict between the St. John's school staff and the pastor at the time. Without the permission of the pastor, the schoolteachers held a rally on church property at which they were circulating a petition asking for the removal of the pastor due to the "irreparable spiritual damage" he was doing to the parish. I don't know what all of their reasons were for the petition, but in general, they seemed to object to the pastor's decision-making powers in the administration of the parish school. Very few parishioners knew about the rally; I heard about it at the last minute and attended. Sr. Gevelinger was in attendance, and appeared to be acting as some sort of mediator for the event. When one participant complained that the pastor had chosen not to attend the event, Gevelinger reassured the group that "what you're doing here is just as much Church as what he is doing in his office." I guess that was her idea of mediation.

But I digress. McCaffrey refers to Courage as an "ex-gay group" and links to ReligiousTolerance.org (sic) as supporting evidence.

He also links to a page on the same site that describes NARTH as follows:

NARTH is becoming widely accepted among some Evangelical Christian ministries, because it is the only professional mental health organization that teaches that homosexual orientation is a disorder, that it is chosen, and that it can be changed through effort.

And in an later post, Michael Bayly asserts that Courage endorses the work of NARTH.

Let's take a moment to clarify a few items.

• Courage is not an ex-gay group. It is a spiritual support group for Catholics who experience same-sex attraction.


• NARTH does not hold the position that a homosexual orientation is chosen; the position statements of NARTH are listed here.


• Courage does not endorse NARTH. Courage and NARTH operate in different domains -- Courage is a spiritual support group, and NARTH is an approach to psychotherapy. The Church doesn't officially endorse forms of psychology any more than it endorses political parties. Catholics are free to endorse the work of NARTH, but this should not be construed as some kind of ecclesial stamp of approval, as Michael seems to suggest.

I would be interested to know if the presentation tonight will address these points. If anyone is planning to attend, I would be interested to know how it goes.

What I object to is a lazy approach to defaming Courage. I've seen it before... here in Los Angeles. No one seems to challenge the goals of Courage directly. Instead, the approach seems to be to assert that NARTH has no scientific credibility, and then to drag Courage down by association. I don't think that such an approach is just or a service to the truth.

I see that coadjutor Archbishop Nienstedt has been invited to attend and to engage in a dialogue. Frankly, I would not blame him if he decides not to attend. A dialogue needs to be grounded on a respect for the truth, and this event has agenda written all over it.