Another Catholic

A reader writes:

I guess I feel a little like you must have felt as a Catholic all these years, Andrew. You see I'm a Jewish Catholic. My grandfather lost virtually his whole family in the Holocaust, and he was lucky to escape alive (he managed to get into Switzerland after several failed attempts). Both of his brothers were killed by the Nazis in the gas chambers that Williamson doesn't believe existed. Lifting his excommunication felt like a slap in the face.

Maybe reconciliation with the Lefebvrites is a good thing. I don't know. But they are the lost sheep, and they are the ones who must return to us. And certainly, to do something like this without even acknowledging this man's abhorrent beliefs is appalling. I guess the question I have for you is: after all these years, after all the crap the Vatican and the hierarchy have thrown at gay people, how have you dealt with it? How have you dealt with being insulted by our church on a daily basis?

I did my best to explain that in Love Undetectable. In the end, I do not experience being Catholic as a choice any more than I experience being gay as a choice. So all the questions seem somewhat moot after a while. That this combination incurs great pain is obvious. To be rejected in the very heart of the place you love the most is extremely painful. But it is strange for a Christian of all people to believe that life should be without pain. And we all have our own unique variety of it.