But a move by a bishop in Wisconsin to route all such decisions through his office is raising questions about whether that neutral zone will now become another battleground, and whether the growing acceptance of gay parents will inevitably draw more attention to this practice and force church leaders to establish clearer rules.

The default position for most bishops — reiterated in a major Vatican document released on Thursday (June 26) — is that if the parents pledge to raise the child Catholic, then no girl or boy should be refused baptism.

They generally let parish priests make the final call and let them administer the sacrament, though it is usually done in a private ceremony with the biological parent — not the adoptive mother or father — listed on the baptismal certificate.

The new debate was prompted by the emergence of a memo — first reported by the Wisconsin State Journal — that was sent in early May to priests of the Madison Diocese by the top aide to Bishop Robert Morlino.

In the memo, the vicar general of the diocese, Monsignor James Bartylla, says there are "a plethora of difficulties, challenges, and considerations associated with these unnatural unions (including scandal) linked with the baptism of a child, and such considerations touch upon theology, canon law, pastoral approach, liturgical adaptation, and sacramental recording."

Bartylla says that pastors must now coordinate any decision on baptizing the children of gay couples with his office and that "each case must be evaluated individually." Continue reading

• Source: Religion News Service
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The first was Ryan's own bishop, Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin.

Clearly concerned at attacks on Ryan since he was named Republican contender Mitt Romney's running mate, Bishop Morlino vouched for Ryan's Catholic bona fides in a column on his diocesan website.

Later the bishop said: "I know him very well. He is in regular communication with his bishop . . . . Since others have, I believe, unfairly attacked his reputation, I have to look out for his good name. That is Church law. If someone disagrees with Paul, he is free to do that. But not on the basis of reputation destruction, really calumny."

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York spoke about Ryan on a Catholic radio programme. He said they met at a Lutheran college where Ryan was the commencement speaker and talked for nine minutes on St Thomas Aquinas. "So we really started up a great correspondence and got to know each other very, very well."

The cardinal said he was not trying to be an apologist for Ryan, but praised his "call for financial accountability and restraint and a balanced budget" as well as his "obvious solicitude for the poor".

"So I admire him," Cardinal Dolan said. "He's honest. He's refreshing. Do I agree with everything? No, but . . . I'm anxious to see him in action."

Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver, Colorado, also wrote a column touching on Ryan's economic policies, noting that his fiscal conservatism had been condemned as anti-Catholic, even by some bishops.

"I am not a policy expert," the archbishop said. "But claims that Paul Ryan's plan run deeply counter to Catholic social teaching are unfounded and unreasonable. Some criticisms are so insidious that one wonders whether the critics have actually read Ryan's plans."

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

National Catholic Register

National Review

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