The Catholic Church could be gearing up for a gay battle down under in Australia.

Bishop of Brisbane John Bathersby gave gay-inclusive church St Mary’s in South Brisbane until December to fall in line behind the Vatican, which doesn't coddle queers, or face some stiff penalties.

But St. Mary's priest, Peter Kennedy, doesn't seem to be budging…

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Openly gay Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson got a bit sneaky with some Catholic priests a few years back:

Robinson said he led a confidential retreat a few years ago for gay Roman Catholic priests.

Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church and world Anglican Communion, said the Catholic priest group that organized the meeting had invited him to attend.

About 75 Catholic clergy from around the U.S. participated without notifying their bishops or provincial leaders, Robinson said.

Robinson wouldn't disclose details of this mens' weekend, but did reveal that he urged them to fight for women's rights within the priesthood: "I believe that if you work for the ordination of women in your church, you will go a long way toward opening the door for the acceptance of gay priests."

Don't judge Senatorial hopeful John Chromczak by his Republican cover.

The first openly gay Republican to run for New York state Senate, Chromczak knows his odds are slim, especially considering he's running for the 25th district, which includes lower Manhattan and part of Brooklyn.

Though he's faced resistance from a variety of voters, he's particularly perturbed by some gay voters, many of whom Chromczak says have become politically close-minded.

Discussing his participation the recent Wedding March here in New York City, Chromczak laments:

When I've gone to some of these things, I get shot down as soon as somebody hears that I'm a Republican. To me, it's very discriminatory and goes against a lot of what people say.

I don't understand why, if you're a liberal progressive, you don't want to have an open mind and sit down and have a legitimate conversation about a variety of issues without automatically balking because I'm a Republican. It made me very angry.

Those are the same feelings as being in gym class and somebody's calling me a faggot - it's the same thing when I'm walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and somebody's berating me because I'm a Republican. How is that inclusive? How does that defeat bigotry and homophobia?

Before you yourselves balk, keep in mind that four New York state Republicans this year made serious headway with a queer inclusive anti-bullying bill.

Our editor recently sat down with Chromczak to discuss a variety of issues, like how the politico balances practicing Catholicism with his sexuality. Also, Chromczak tells voters how he intends on fixing the state's economy, tells us why Senator Chuck Schumer's a thorn in his side, informs us that we shouldn't care about John McCain's cancer, takes on the city's left-wing gay paper and offers his thoughts on why he - a medical technician with little political experience aside from union membership - should be sent to Albany. All that and more, after the jump.

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Shocking his flock this weekend, California-based Priest Geoffrey Farrow took an unprecedented step and came out for gay marriage. Farrow, who also came out as gay, said:

In directing the faithful to vote yes on proposition 8, the California Bishops are not only entering the political arena, they are ignoring the advances and insights of neurology, psychology and the very statements by the church itself that homosexual is innate.
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I know that these words of truth will cost me dearly. But to withhold them would be far more costly and I would become an accomplice to a moral evil that strips gay and lesbian couples, not only of their civil rights but of their human dignity as well.

Farrow's bishop did not release an official statement, but insisted his own opposition is not about homosexuality, but about the "institution" of marriage. We're sure he'll have more to say in the days to come.

Bishop Jamie Soto of Sacramento pulled a bait-and-switch at the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries' conference last weekend.

The organization, which celebrates homosexuality and urges other Catholic group to do the same, had invited Soto to speak to congregants and spread the good word. Soto agreed, a move that surprised many of his faithful flock. "How could such a pious man endorse those sinful queers?" Answer: he doesn't.

Rather than praising the Association's commitment to maintaining their Catholic ways, Soto used his pulpit to admonish attendees and decried their "deviation:" "Sexual relations between people of the same sex can be alluring for homosexuals, but it deviates from the true meaning of the act and distracts them from the true nature of love to which God has called us all. For this reason, it is sinful."

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Ian McKellen doesn't take anti-gay criticism well. Nor should he!

The famous actor spoke out this weekend against Scottish Bishop Joseph Devine, who this year blasted Queen Elizabeth for adding McKellen to the Order of Companions of Honour last year.

In his attack, Devine described gay activists, including McKellen, as "a giant conspiracy' which 'we [the catholic church] neglect at our peril."

Getting a bit of oratory revenge, McKellen took the following shot at not-so-divine Devine:

From the pulpit, homophobia is preached by some arrogant religious leaders who think their beliefs are superior to our inborn and, some would say, God-given nature.

The Bishop of Motherwell addressed his flock and told them how appalled he was that I had received an honour and that 100 years ago I would have been imprisoned like Oscar Wilde.

He feels that the Roman Catholic Church is beleaguered in some way.

Out actor Simon Callow also lambasted Devine, calling him "a profoundly ignorant and stupid man."

Some social conservatives simply can't quit the culture war.

Catholic-aligned non-profit the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property placed an ad in national newspapers today to announce they're warriors in the "battle for America's soul."

Said TFP director Preston Noell:

Mainstream America is understandably upset about same-sex 'marriage.' It is a grave offense against God and undermines 2,000 years of Christian morality. Same-sex 'marriage' threatens the social stability of our nation and future.
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There's a battle going on for America's soul. At the root of this conflict lies a profound divergence of worldviews. The Christian worldview is anchored in reality, whereas secularism does not respect reality's constraints.

That's a joke, right?

Pope Benedict XVI's American adventure has come to an end.

The Catholic leader performed his final mass at New York's Yankee stadium Sunday, during which he briefly addressed the sex abuse scandal, a running theme in his Stateside visit.

In a glancing reference to the sexual abuse of children by priests, he said that praying for the kingdom of God “means not losing heart in the face of adversity, resistance and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness.”

Benedict and his colleagues obviously want to put the scandal behind them, but such an ending most likely won't come to pass.

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