Archbishop Vlazny has been very clearly against allowing gay marriage in Oregon. He has allowed that justice could be served by allowing adults to legally establish “reciprocal benefits”, without reference to a sexual relationship; e.g., two sisters could be reciprocal beneficiaries for the sake of medical decision-making, being a household for the purpose of health insurance, and so on. This solution was not equivalent to homosexual marriage, and in fact was decried in the *Oregonian *as “demeaning” to homosexual couples. When interviewed about the ballot measure in which marriage was defined as being between one man and one woman in Oregon’s constitution, the executive director of Ecumenical Ministries clearly stated that different denominations that participate in Ecumenical Ministries had taken different stands on the issue. In no way did he imply that the Catholic Church in Oregon had changed its stance.
The Archbishop has also been very clear that the attempted ordination of Toni Tortorilla was not in fact an ordination, and has expressed sadness that those insisting on attempting such ordinations have felt a need to leave the Church. The Catholic Sentinel, Oregon’s Catholic newspaper, carried the news item about the* latae sententiae* excommunication incurred by those who attempt such an ordination on its front page.
In other words, anyone in Oregon who thinks the Archbishop favors either gay marriage or the ordination of women must have had their heads buried somewhere. That he thinks Ecumenical Ministries has its use as a mode by which different denominations can work together to achieve Christian ends does not change that.
