Archbishop stops LGBT pride prayer service
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 1:46 pm
- 5 Comments
As hundreds of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their supporters descend on Minneapolis for Twin Cities Pride, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has made it clear that they are not welcome in Twin Cities’ Catholic churches. St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church’s "Annual LGBT Pride Prayer Service" that was to be held Wednesday evening has been canceled. The event has been held for several years.
"That descriptor (LGBT) was not possible on church property. We suggested they shift it, change the nature of it a little bit, and they did," archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath told the Pioneer Press. "The reason is quite simply because it was a LGBT pride prayer service, and that is really inimical to the teachings of the Catholic church."
Co-founder of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, David McCaffrey, called the decision "yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under Archbishop Nienstedt’s reign of homophobic hatred."
The archbishop told the church that it could hold a "peace" prayer service without any mention of LGBT people.
Michael Bayly, the committee’s executive coordinator said in an email, "I’ve heard from a number of LGBT folks and family members that this ‘solution’ leaves them feeling once again abandoned, unnamed, expendable." He continued, "I’m even wondering if the ‘Inclusive Catholics’ banner that we’re encouraging people to march behind at the Gay Pride Parade, is really an accurate description of any Catholic parish in the archdiocese."
Inclusive prayer services will be held on Sunday morning at Loring Park by All God’s Children Community Church. In addition, Twin Cities Pride is hosting a screening of "For the Bible Tells Me So," a film that looks at the negative impacts that anti-LGBT religious views have on families with LGBT members. That screening is scheduled for Tuesday evening at Plymouth Congregational Church.
Follow Andy Birkey on Twitter5 Comments
Comment posted June 24, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
Minnesota Atheists will be proudly supporting the rights of all people at the Twin Cities Gay Pride Parade. There are no solid secular reasons for the discrimination people face based on sexual orientation. We applaud anyone who can recognize that, no matter their position on theology.
Comment posted June 24, 2008 @ 2:51 pm
Isn’t prejudiced exclusion “inimical to the teachings of the Catholic Church,” too? I think these people have lost the Christian Message. It’s said that Jesus died for the sake of human forgiveness and understanding. Whether he did or not doesn’t matter. One thing he didn’t do was set up a country club for exclusive membership. These gorillas at the archdiocese should double check their Notebooks.
Comment posted June 24, 2008 @ 9:51 am
Isn't prejudiced exclusion “inimical to the teachings of the Catholic Church,” too? I think these people have lost the Christian Message. It's said that Jesus died for the sake of human forgiveness and understanding. Whether he did or not doesn't matter. One thing he didn't do was set up a country club for exclusive membership. These gorillas at the archdiocese should double check their Notebooks.
Comment posted June 24, 2008 @ 6:38 pm
Minnesota Atheists will be proudly supporting the rights of all people at the Twin Cities Gay Pride Parade. There are no solid secular reasons for the discrimination people face based on sexual orientation. We applaud anyone who can recognize that, no matter their position on theology.
Comment posted June 27, 2010 @ 2:06 pm
I believe the archbishop’s decision to infringe upon the heart-felt feelings and individual rights of those who wish to hold a prayer service is antithetical to basic Christian teachings. Since when would Jesus Christ exclude anyone who wanted to pray? It is those who feel aligned with Him that He most welcomes into His house of prayer. However, it appears the archbishop feels he can override Jesus Christ on this by his own authority and exclude those who wish to hold this sacred service in the twin cities’ Catholic churches.
It is simply amazing how the Catholic Church continues to be *divisive* over flesh issues, in light of the Catholic priest scandals that have occurred, per news reports. And let’s not forget, these are by *priests*. But the archbishop has the audacity to try to stop something that a person yearns in his or her heart to do, something that is ordained by God, such as the prayer service? It is reprehensible behavior on the part of this uninformed archbishop as to what Christ expected/expects for us to do when our heart leads us to do it. But since many Catholic priests have told me they don’t even read the Bible, how can we expect any more from the archbishop who is supposed to be a leader and teacher about what Jesus said.
Incidentally, Jesus said absolutely nothing about gay and lesbian people anywhere in the Holy Bible and one must not forget that it is by His Blood that we are Saved!
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