Interesting times:

After Wisconsin’s Catholic bishops weighed in with a letter to support a marriage amendment to the state’s constitution, Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan said he was eager to "encourage, educate and exhort" parishioners without actually instructing them how to vote.

It turns out even some priests have publicly joined the debate. In recent weeks, a small number of priests have expressed reservations about the amendment, which would define marriage "as between one man and one woman" and deny "a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals."

One theologian even called for the amendment’s rejection last month in a "guest opinion" for the Catholic Herald, where Dolan is not only a columnist but the publisher.

Father Bryan Massingale, an associate professor of moral theology at Marquette University, wrote a lengthy essay in which he struggled with the idea that "the amendment, read in its entirety, poses a dilemma for many faithful people."

"The amendment upholds certain beliefs about the uniqueness of marriage," he wrote in the Sept. 21 issue. "But it does so at a cost, namely, potentially damaging impacts upon the welfare of individuals and their children."

He also dealt with the issue of homosexuality.

"Too often, discussions of this issue treat ‘those’ people – specifically, gays and lesbians – as if they were an alien species," he wrote. "They are not. They are our sons and daughters; our sisters and brothers; our aunts, uncles, and cousins; our friends, neighbors, students and co-workers; our priests, ministers and parishioners. ‘They’ are us!"

Massingale concluded that "voting ‘no’ on the marriage amendment, in my judgment, is the best way to respect all of our Catholic beliefs and values."

A reprint of Massingale’s opinion piece was distributed in bulletins at several local churches.

Since then, Massingale’s words have continued to reverberate within the local Catholic community, his essay providing something of a boost to opponents of the amendment while also angering others who support the measure.

"I do not see myself as a person in opposition to the bishops," Massingale said Thursday in a telephone interview. "I think we are in agreement about the importance of marriage. But how do you uphold that value without compromising the human dignity of any of God’s people? I think that is the discussion that is currently under way in the church right now."