But it raises an important question: Why does the Catholic Church allow this church to call itself Catholic?
Does anyone have a rational answer?
Having spent enough time observing American ecclesiastical circles of similar stripe, I can venture a guess. This would fall in the "prudential judgment" category. The community in question would probably just reappear elsewhere. Martyred to liberals, direct action would only give them more publicity. Those involved are viewed esssentially as dysfunctional charity cases. Pathetic victims of their own neurotic anxieties and fantasies. It would be a little like pushing for a crackdown on homeless schizophrenics and urine-drenched street winos.
That's my guess on the kind of thinking which may have revolved around this. But the chancery office in question has not exactly been a model of sound orthodox administration. If they had no problem tolerating the pretense that Ted Kennedy & Co. were "Catholic" all these years, it seems unlikely they would get the urge to stand up for orthodoxy in a case like this.
In other words, Frances Kissling and Maureen Fiedler territory. People who turn private neurotic dysfunctions and personal sexual problems into public spectacle events.
Does anyone have a rational answer?
For the same reason that "Old Catholic", "Liberal Catholic", "Evangelical Catholic" and "Independant Traditionalist Catholic" outfits can used the term: Because the Catholic Church does not hold copyright or patent on the word "Catholic".