to Bishop Sheridan’s letter from the ground

At another parish, the Rev. Stephen Siebert got kudos and concern when he brought up the topic in his Sunday sermon at Holy Family Catholic Church, 4380 Utica St. in Denver. He told parishioners that he plans to reprint Sheridan’s entire letter in the church bulletin.

“I’m doing this for parishioners, for their further study,” Siebert said.

From all sides, lay Catholics and clergy weighed in on the impact of Sheridan’s letter.

Parishioner Charlotte Vigil was in the congregation as Kinkel began to discuss the letter.

“When he said, ‘I want you all to know I don’t agree,’ everybody started clapping,” Vigil said.

“Don’t get me wrong, bishops have the right and responsibility to teach,” Kinkel said later. “But we have an old adage in the church – ‘In the middle is where the truth is.’ I think the letter is an extreme. No other bishop has said anything like this. We need to be able to continue to say, ‘Look at the whole spectrum of what the candidate is about.’ “

Kinkel said he had not read Sheridan’s entire letter.