Editor's note.

THE VATICAN'S "INSTRUCTION" DENYING GAY MEN THE right to enter seminaries has dominated much of the Catholic press and gained considerable attention on the airwaves and in the mainstream press. Those who would prefer a leaner, meaner Catholic church have welcomed the document; those who prefer the Catholic church to be catholic have not. One conservative magazine even went so far as to say that there was nothing wrong with an inquisition every now and then. We may agree, but then I guess we may have different views as to who should be subject to such an inquisition. It was, as CFFC president Frances Kissling put it, "a sad day for the church."

Several of the articles in this issue, notably our lead article by Mary Hunt, look at the Catholic hierarchy's current and historical intolerance for those who either disagree with it or do not want to live the lives the hierarchy would have them live. But, in the spirit of catholicism, we invited colleagues from the Human Rights Campaign to look at how other religions treat gay men and women, and Denise Shannon has delved into how non-Catholic conservatives use the gay issue to further their agendas. In addition, we examine the (lack of) evidence for the hierarchy's continued assertion that the sexual abuse scandal is the fault of gay priests and Marvin Ellison has written an excellent piece on what it means to be a sexual being. Playwright Christopher Durang makes a very welcome return to our pages to give his views on being a gay Catholic and the Vatican's Alice-in-Wonderland attitudes towards sexuality.

Part of our agenda, and we do have an agenda, is countering the bigotry and hurt associated with the denial of equal rights. To that end, we also examine how best to promote gay rights. Ros Petchesky questions whether the inclusion of gay rights into the reproductive rights field is a positive move, Susana Fried writes about international campaigns to counter homophobia and in our regular Roundtable feature, we asked several leading religious and gay activists to contribute short essays on strategies they have used to advocate for gay rights.

We recognize that, sadly, many people who are progressive on many other issues are not so progressive when it comes to gay rights. And indeed, some who are progressive on gay rights are not so progressive when it comes to reproductive rights or women's rights. In Conscience and at Catholics for a Free Choice, we like to think of ourselves as equal-opportunity equal-rights promoters.

DAVID J. NOLAN 

Editor