ALWAYS OUR CHILDREN: As part of working on the piece described below, I finally read the US Bishops’ document addressed to parents of gay children. It’s… significantly better than I expected! I mean, yes, there is some CatholicSpeak, and some waffly places where I suspect there was a lot of catfighting behind the scenes. The section on chastity is convoluted and less helpful than it needs to be. When I hear the phrase “gay and lesbian ministry” I think of this, not this, and while I understand why the bishops didn’t want to single out any particular group or ministry for praise, they could definitely be clearer in their phrasing. But overall, yeah, it is helpful, and I think the criticism of it has been overplayed. I’m sidebar-linking it.