Being Catholic- It's Complicated

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19. My primary critique is a partially financial one.

I don't have a problem with individuals with Catholic faith - most of them are very nice, and most of them do support women's rights and GLBT rights.

BUT...

People have claimed that the money they tithe to their local parishes does not go to the church hierarchy, or to homophobic or misogynistic political campaigns. That's not true.

Tithe money, that good people have given to the church to pay for food banks, schools, homeless shelters, domestic violence programs, etc., as well as the upkeep of their own parishes, has been used to bankroll the vicious campaigns against marriage equality across the country.

http://hrc.org/nomexposed/section/the-catholic-hierarchys-devotion-to-fighting-marriage-equality

The Roman Catholic Hierarchy’s Devotion to Fighting Marriage Equality

The Roman Catholic Church and its affiliate, the Knights of Columbus, played a leading role in funding anti-LGBT equality efforts in the four states where marriage equality was on the ballot this fall. The Church hierarchy invested nearly $2 million in the failed attempts to write discrimination into the Minnesota constitution and stem marriage equality in Maine, Maryland, and Washington. Dioceses from across the country supported these efforts financially, thought it’s doubtful that the parishioners fueling these contributions had any idea that their money was being used to fund discrimination.

According to Public Religion Research Institute, nearly 60 percent of Catholics support marriage equality. And an astounding 83 percent of Catholics in the United States say they don’t feel compelled to vote in accordance with the political preaching of bishops. These numbers from the laity represent people who, whether they know it or not, are living out their faith daily - Catholic social teaching promotes treating everyone with love, dignity, and respect.

But despite the values of the laity, the Catholic Church hierarchy is pouring immense resources into preventing loving, committed same-sex couples from marrying. . In fact, in the wake of last week’s historic victories for equality, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops doubled down and vowed to continue funding efforts to discriminate against LGBT people. The Roman Catholic Church will make these investments at the same time and with the same dollars that would otherwise go to support soup kitchens, homeless shelters and domestic violence programs.