The Catholic Web has been buzzing this week because of what seems to be a unprovoked attack by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago against Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, which tries to help gay and lesbian Catholics and their families "build bridges" with the church.

Oh man. Just do a Twitter, Google, or Facebook search of the DC gay marriage kerfuffle and it looks like a PR nightmare for the church. With story after story reporting that Catholic Charities is going to "stop feeding the homeless" if DC permits same-sex marriage, folks are reacting.

Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish has a disturbing post about the aftermath of the Maine decision to repeal a law allowing gay marriage: "After Maine, where the Catholic church actually organized a second collection to raise money to prevent gay people from having civil rights, the situation shifts again.

Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish has more comment on the overture of Rome to Anglicans, today quoting from Chris Dierkes, who claims that most of the Anglo-Catholic priests who would want to cross the Tiber are gay.

Taking a page from arrangements in the U.S., U.K, and Australia, Rome is preparing a legal process for Anglicans unhappy over women's ordination and a more permissive approach to homosexuality to enter the Roman Catholic Church--while keeping their Anglicanism intact.

BustedHalo has an interesting interview with a Daughter of St. Paul and her cousin, who is gay. The sister is a member of a fairly traditional religion community and her cousin was in a long-term relationship. What interesting is how their friendship--they both live in New York City--has affected how they view the other.

After Megan's post on the Colbert-Kmiec interview, it's worth pointing out that Kmiec isn't the first Catholic to argue that Catholics shouldn't oppose civil recognition for same-sex couples, carefully distinguishing them from their religious counterparts.

Of all the things the Catholic Church should be able to claim easily, it is diversity; there are 1.2 billion of us after all. But it seems one bishop, Joseph Martino of the Scranton, Pennsylvania diocese, doesn't think Catholic diversity includes gay people.

It's hard to read the info in the last post, and not have an opinion, especially as a blogger.