Question of the Week

Members of religious organizations should proclaim and
defend their understanding of marriage. They can and should determine who can
be married in their midst, what the marriage means for the marriage partners
and the community of which they are members, and how they believe such
marriages honor God.

But members of religious organizations do not get to insist
that gay Americans should not have the same civil
right to marry as other Americans because of those members’ religious
beliefs. The Constitution does not allow any of us to impose our religious
beliefs on others. Catholics do not get to tell the rest of us that we can’t
practice birth control. Southern Baptists cannot tell other denominations that
they cannot ordain women. Christians cannot prohibit Jewish men from wearing
yarmulkes or Muslim women from wearing their head coverings. No American should
be able to prohibit gay Americans from marrying their choice of mate because of
her or his religious beliefs.

Religious liberty and civil rights are both protected by the
Constitution. However tricky the balance between the two might be, we should
celebrate such a balance in our rule of law.

The 900 students at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Cordova got some good news Wednesday morning, and some bad news.

“School was supposed to end on the 25th, but now it will end on the 24th,” Monsignor Peter Buchignani told students gathered in the sanctuary for Wednesday mass.

“That is my gift to you, an extra holiday,” he said. The students clapped and cheered.

The monsignor’s gift was a parting one. That was the bad news.

“I am retiring,” said Buchignani, the 72-year-old Memphis native who was ordained a priest in 1965 and who likes to spend a little time holding class before saying mass.

“What does that mean?”

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Congratulations to the Church Health Reader, a publication of the Church Health Center, which was among the winners in the Associated Church Press’s annual “Best of Christian Press” awards.

The Reader won four awards:

A Gold Medal (First Place) for Theme Issue, Section, or Series: Magazine for Fall 2011 Dying Well Section.

Honorable Mention (Third Place) for Theological: Theological Reflection (Short Form) for “Sacred Meals” by Daniel Deffenbaugh.

Honorable Mention (Third Place) for Devotional/Inspirational: Short Format for “Last Place on Earth” by Susan Palwick.

Honorable Mention (Third Place) for Theological: Biblical Interpretation for “Setting a New Table” by Butch Odom.

The Church Health Reader’s editor is Sarah Ranson; its managing editor is Rachel Thompson.

Dr. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, a well-known and somewhat controversial Catholic theologian who spoke in Memphis in March, died Sunday after a brief battle with cancer. She was 69.

Isasi-Diaz’s appearance in Memphis made news after Christian Brothers University withdrew its invitation to host a conference featuring her as a keynote speaker, due to her “divergence from a basic Catholic teaching.” The Drew University professor, who supported women’s ordination, also preached at a family member’s same-sex wedding in 2009.

Isasi-Diaz, founder of mujerisa theology, spoke at First Congregational Church, which agreed to host the Vanderhaar Symposium.

“After her lecture here, she was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer,” said Dr. Barbara Holmes, a former professor at Memphis Theological Seminary. “When she was made aware of the prognosis, she died as she lived with great dignity.”

Isasi-Diaz was born and raised in Cuba. She moved to the United States in 1960 with her family, and then entered the Ursuline novitiate in California. She was living in Madison, N.J. where she taught ethics and theology at Drew.

“She was a true prophetic woman of peace,” said Janice Vanderhaar. “It is hard to believe that Dr. Ada Maria passed this way less than two months ago to share with us her incredible message of Compassion and Solidarity at the Vanderhaar Symposium. We were indeed blessed by her powerful presence in our midst.”

The second annual Joint Dinner between Islamic Association of Greater Memphis & St. Luke United Methodist Church will be held at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in St. Luke’s Cafeteria, 480 South Highland Street. RSVP requested.