Posted by MeganFinnegan at 10/25/2009 5:39 PM EDT

So many Catholic issues, so little time!

Though I don't have much to say (yet) in the way of commentary on these issues, I cannot help but point out the recent frenzy of media attention given to the Church as it introduces some radical new changes.

Maureen Dowd, making no attempt to hide her own disdain, makes many of the points here in her Op-Ed column.

She refers to an article in the Times last week - read it here - about an American Catholic priest with a child and an openly sexual relationship with a laywoman.

The biggest issue, however, is that the Catholic church is offering itself as a refuge for Anglicans who think that gay people and women are swell, but that they should not be allowed to be priests.

In other words, the Catholic church is allowing Anglicans to convert to Catholicism - sort of - while maintaining certain aspects of the Anglican church, INCLUDING...wait for it.. MARRIED PRIESTS.

Why is the Church doing this? Because the nasty uber-liberal Anglican church lets women serve as priests. And some of those women are even gay! As Catholics, Jesus calls us to discriminate against women, especially gay women. So similarly-minded Anglicans are welcome to join us. Even if they are married priests. As long as they aren't women, or gay, we accept them, which is exactly how Jesus intended. (Let the little straight children come to me.)

What's going on, Catholic church??? And how will we continue to ban our own priests from marrying while accepting married priests from the Anglican church to serve the Catholic church?

Let me be clear and not sarcastic (I swear) for one moment: I support married priests. But obstensibly the only reason Anglican priests will convert is to take shelter in the Catholic church's strict dogma against homosexuals and female priests, so who, exactly, are we inviting into our fold? People who are driven so strongly by the need to exclude that they will switch relgiions in order to do so?

Catholics and non-Catholics alike - help me out here. What's going on? What do you think?