Saturday, November 13, 2004
Rainbow Sashiness
Minneapolis, Nov. 12 (CWNews.com) - A Minneapolis parish is continuing to provide a forum for homosexual activists despite orders from the Vatican, the Wanderer newspaper is reporting.
St. Joan of Arc parish is offering a series of lectures by homosexual and lesbian couples, under the auspices of a group known as the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM). The group is advertising a November 13 event that will feature "a Catholic gay male couple and a Catholic lesbian couple discussing their respective relationships and their sense of connection to the Church."
Writing in the Wanderer, Paul Likoudis reports that in October, two auxiliary bishops of the St. Paul archdiocese were sent to St. Joan of Arc parish to convey instructions from the Vatican, demanding an end to some of the homosexual advocacy undertaken at the parish. Likoudis said that the Vatican specifically called for the removal of pictures on the parish web site that showed the parish participation in an annual "Gay Pride" parade.
The CPCSM, which sponsors events at the parish describes itself as "a grass-roots, self-supporting, and independent coalition dedicated to promoting ministry to, with, and on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) persons-- primarily of a Roman Catholic background-- and their families and friends." The group's promotional material condemns "heterosexism," saying that the "prejudice and injustice" against homosexuals had made them "the marginalized persons whom the Gospel challenges us all to love." Homosexual activists have been particularly aggressive within the Catholic Church in the St. Paul area. On November 7, gay-rights militants associated with the Rainbow Sash movement attended Mass at the city's cathedral, wearing distinctive sashes to protest what they called the Church's "spiritual violence" against homosexuals. Archbishop Harry Flynn announced before the Mass that he would not deny Communion to the protesters who wore the rainbow sashes.
The Wanderer, which is based in the St. Paul archdiocese, has demanded for a change in the archbishop's policies. In a stiffly worded editorial that will appear in the November 18 issue, publisher Al Matt writes:
The only public explanation given by Archbishop Flynn for allowing the rainbow sashers to receive Holy Communion is that he does not want the Eucharist to become the focal point of contentiousness and battle. But does yielding to aggressive groups who are willing to commit sacrilege constitute too dear a price to pay for "peace"?
Matt urges readers to write to Vatican officials, protesting Archbishop Flynn's decision. The only alternative to a clear reversal of the archbishop's policy, he said is to "allow this situation to continue its anarchical drift."
St. Joan of Arc parish is offering a series of lectures by homosexual and lesbian couples, under the auspices of a group known as the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM). The group is advertising a November 13 event that will feature "a Catholic gay male couple and a Catholic lesbian couple discussing their respective relationships and their sense of connection to the Church."
Writing in the Wanderer, Paul Likoudis reports that in October, two auxiliary bishops of the St. Paul archdiocese were sent to St. Joan of Arc parish to convey instructions from the Vatican, demanding an end to some of the homosexual advocacy undertaken at the parish. Likoudis said that the Vatican specifically called for the removal of pictures on the parish web site that showed the parish participation in an annual "Gay Pride" parade.
The CPCSM, which sponsors events at the parish describes itself as "a grass-roots, self-supporting, and independent coalition dedicated to promoting ministry to, with, and on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) persons-- primarily of a Roman Catholic background-- and their families and friends." The group's promotional material condemns "heterosexism," saying that the "prejudice and injustice" against homosexuals had made them "the marginalized persons whom the Gospel challenges us all to love." Homosexual activists have been particularly aggressive within the Catholic Church in the St. Paul area. On November 7, gay-rights militants associated with the Rainbow Sash movement attended Mass at the city's cathedral, wearing distinctive sashes to protest what they called the Church's "spiritual violence" against homosexuals. Archbishop Harry Flynn announced before the Mass that he would not deny Communion to the protesters who wore the rainbow sashes.
The Wanderer, which is based in the St. Paul archdiocese, has demanded for a change in the archbishop's policies. In a stiffly worded editorial that will appear in the November 18 issue, publisher Al Matt writes:
The only public explanation given by Archbishop Flynn for allowing the rainbow sashers to receive Holy Communion is that he does not want the Eucharist to become the focal point of contentiousness and battle. But does yielding to aggressive groups who are willing to commit sacrilege constitute too dear a price to pay for "peace"?
Matt urges readers to write to Vatican officials, protesting Archbishop Flynn's decision. The only alternative to a clear reversal of the archbishop's policy, he said is to "allow this situation to continue its anarchical drift."
