The most concerning thing about this article to me is what Mr. Gallagher's ideas reveal about academic rigor at Catholic University.  If this is the level of reasoning and writing going on in a doctoral theology program, that is troubling.  But I also think that whatever article he wrote doesn't deserve as much attention as NCR is giving it today.
It is a fact of life that language changes and evolves over time, usually in response to new discoveries about the world and human nature.  I am in a book group that is studying the women Doctors of the Church and we sometimes have to step back and investigate how the meaning of words in the documents have changed over the centuries, and how to ascertain the writer's original intent.  Our most amusing example is that for Teresa of Avila, "gay intercourse with friends" meant an encouraging and lively verbal exchange of spiritual ideas with like minded souls.  In today's language it would mean something quite different!