Contra traditionalists, Vatican II was a dogmatic council.

And the uber-dogma pronounced there was collegiality, which means that the Catholic Church is effectively a schizoid institution with differing standards of behavior depending upon accidents of diocesan geography deriving directly from the identity of the chap with the pointy hat.

Exhibit A:

The ever-sane Francis Cardinal George of Chicago points out the obvious with respect to the Pentecostal guerrilla theatre planned by the Rainbow Sash Movement.

A four hour plane ride away, the ever...consistent...Roger Cardinal Mahony of LA rolls out the red carpet for the same group.

Anybody else see a problem here?

BTW, let's see if I have this straight: In La-La Land, Rainbow Sash-ers, the Governator and John Kerry are in full communion with the Church and can walk up to the (non-existent) altar rail without qualms, but Mel Gibson isn't and can't.

I...see.

Okay, I lied. Actually, I don't, and I suspect understanding the reasoning requires studying fifty pages of flow charts, ingesting a brick of peyote and three months of sleep-deprived programming by LA spokesbeing Tod Tamberg.

[Thanks to Dom for the links.]