Cathedral of St. Paul. Photo: Wikipedia

In an editorial in the Boston Pilot on Friday, Daniel Avila, a lobbyist and spokesperson for the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage of the U.S. Catholic Conference, wrote that because being gay is not genetic, it must be the work of the devil.

Avila penned the column in the Boston Pilot, the newspaper of the Boston Archdiocese which also claims to be the oldest Catholic newspaper in the U.S. In the column, he claimed because no definite genetic connection can be established for homosexuality, then logically, homosexuality must be the work of the devil.

Therefore, whenever natural causes disturb otherwise typical biological development, leading to the personally unchosen beginnings of same-sex attraction, the ultimate responsibility, on a theological level, is and should be imputed to the evil one, not God.

In other words, the scientific evidence of how same-sex attraction most likely may be created provides a credible basis for a spiritual explanation that indicts the devil. Any time natural disasters occur, we as people of faith look back to Scripture’s account of those angels who rebelled and fell from grace. In their anger against God, these malcontents prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. They continue to do all they can to mar, distort and destroy God’s handiwork.

Avila is one of the top employees of the Roman Catholic Church working to deny same-sex couples the right to marry. He previously worked for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the public-policy arm of the Massachusetts Catholic Bishops.

He also describes himself as the church’s “marriage guy.”

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis forced the cancellation of an LGBT event Saturday at the St. Frances Cabrini Church in Minneapolis. Pressure on the Archdiocese came from an anonymous Catholic who created a fake press release for the event and sent it to select religious media outlets, eventually prompting a campaign from CatholicVoter.org.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese confirmed with the Minnesota Independent on Wednesday that an event at the Franklin Avenue parish for the Catholic Association of Lesbian and Gay Ministries (CALGM) was canceled late Tuesday. The Archdiocese declined to discuss the incident further.

CALGM was hosting a fundraising dinner at the church complete with an LGBT chorus and silent auction.

In a blog post titled “Dissent: Catholic Parish in Minneapolis to host Gay & Lesbian fundraiser with ‘same-sex marriage activist’ pastor,” blogger Thomas Peters called for the event to be canceled.

“Practically speaking, this event should be canceled because it deceives Catholics into thinking the Church does not teach what it does about the homosexual lifestyle,” he wrote. “I would prayerfully urge the Archdiocese to take action.”

He added, “Priests like [Cabrini's Father Leo Tibesar] and organizations like CALGM cannot continue to be allowed to deceive Catholics and lead them into sinful lifestyles while simultaneously claiming to be Catholic. It’s really that simple.”

It’s not the first time Tibesar has created controversy over his support for the inclusion of LGBT people in the Catholic church. In 2006, conservative Catholic bloggers attacked him for his support of Minneapolis-based Dignity, a group that works for LGBT inclusion. In 2007, those same bloggers claimed that Tibesar was blessing same-sex marriages, a charge that turned out to be false. Also in 2007, the Archdiocese called for the cancellation of a talk by a Catholic lesbian and her 82-year old father.

According to Michael Bayly of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM), someone using the pseudonym “Peter Canisius” had forged a press release to make it appear to come from the CALGM group.

“It seems to me that it was clearly meant to be a low-key event – the aim of which was not to question or challenge church teaching on homosexuality but to simply raise funds for a rather non-activist Catholic group that, from my experience, does its utmost to work within the church to promote respect for LGBT people – efforts that are actually mandated by the Roman Catholic Church,” wrote Bayly. (On its website, CALGM states that it strives “to clearly present Catholic doctrine on homosexuality” and lists the church’s doctrines and “core magisterial teaching on sexuality and sexual orientation from the last four decades.”)

He noted that the anonymous “Peter Canisius” had been behind a press release that distorted the event, as he has done in the past.

“This latest media release concerning the fundraiser for CALGN was deceptively written to sound as if it came from those organizing the event; to sound as if, in other words, it was an ‘official’ media release,” wrote Bayly. “Yet sprinkled among the legitimate information (time, place, venue, purpose, etc.) are clear attempts to stir-up the local traditionalists to inundate the chancery with calls demanding that this ‘scandalous’ event not take place on church property.”

He added, “That this stirring-up is undertaken using misinformation and outright lies seems not to bother [Peter Canisius].”

Bayly added that “Peter Canisius” has engaged in a campaign of deception and lies when it comes to events promoting respect for LGBT people within the Catholic church.

“His actions are nothing less than despicable,” he wrote. “He pretends to represent a group of people with whom he is clearly at odds; he deceives and spreads lies; and he causes hurt and pain to fellow Catholics who, in good conscience, are attempting to interact with LGBT persons in a spirit of ‘respect, friendship and justice.’”

CALGM, the group organizing the event, did not return requests for comment.

Archbishop John Nienstedt, whose office called for the cancellation, has moved the Archdiocese in a decidedly anti-LGBT direction since he took over in 2007.

“I believe that the dissent and theological speculation of the 60s and 70s is on the wane,” Nienstedt told the Catholic World Report in response to questions about dissent in the Archdiocese over LGBT rights. The magazine ran a lengthy profile of Nienstedt in its February edition.

He says that outrage over his decision to send out 400,000 anti-gay marriage DVDs in the weeks before a major election is surprising.

“In my recent attempt to catechize our Catholic people on the question of the theology of marriage, I have been quite surprised at the overt rejection to the teaching of the Church by a number of people who consider themselves good Catholics,” he added. “They appear to have been seriously impacted by the secularization of our time and the influence of the media. For example, when the media scooped the mailing of our DVD on marriage, the most hostile letters I received were within the first week of the media announcement. The DVD did not actually arrive in the homes of our Catholic people until later because we had sent it bulk mail in order to save money. This indicated to me that the people who wrote such negative commentaries had not even viewed the DVD before condemning it…I never thought that I would see in my lifetime a new persecution of the Church in this country. But there are signs around us that this is certainly a possibility.”

The Minnesota GOP is charging the DFL with Catholic bashing over a campaign postcard showing a religious leader wearing a clerical collar and a button that reads “Ignore the poor.” While the GOP is calling the piece “anti-Catholic,” it’s targeting Dan Hall, an evangelical pastor and Republican candidate for the state Senate in Bloomington and Burnsville.

The Republican Party of Minnesota started flogging the mailer on Twitter on Monday evening, and soon Catholic news services were condemning the mailer.

GOP deputy chair Michael Brodkorb tweeted:

“@MNGOP flooded w/calls from outraged people upset at @MinnesotaDFL anti-Catholic mailing funded by @Mark_Dayton’s kids”

And:

“I’m at @MNGOP HQ for 11am press event on @MinnesotaDFL anti-Catholic mailing bankrolled by @Mark_Dayton’s kids…”

Soon, a National Catholic Register blogger called it “THE most anti-Catholic political advertisement I’ve ever seen.” Commonweal magazine blasted the mailer, but later corrected its story after viewing the full ad, which makes it clear that it targets candidate Hall, who is not Catholic. So did American Magazine, a national Catholic weekly, which apologized for using the term “anti-Catholic” to describe the mailer.

Hall is an evangelical and founded the Midwest Chaplains, a group that prays with legislators at the Legislature.

Clerical collars are common among Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Apostolic and Pentecostal traditions, in addition to Catholic and Orthodox traditions for which it is best known. Hall told Commonweal that he doesn’t wear a clerical collar.

It’s also not the first mailer by the DFL to use religious imagery against Hall.

The Minnesota DFL, which paid for the mailer, said that the GOP and bloggers were falsely characterizing the mailer.

“I understand that some Republican bloggers have taken one image from the first piece, and claimed that the mail is somehow anti-Catholic,” said DFL chair Brian Melendez in a statement. “But the text explicitly criticizes Preacher Hall for distancing himself from policy views that have been taken by the Catholic Archdiocese, by the Lutheran Synod, and other leaders in Minnesota’s faith community. Dan Hall is willing to enlist God and religion in his campaign when it helps him — but in fact, his views hurt the poorest and sickest among us, and this mailing holds him accountable for those views.”

danhall

The Minnesota GOP, however, held a press conference on Wednesday continuing to condemn the mailing as anti-Catholic.

“These deeply offensive anti-Catholic mailings from the DFL Party have absolutely no place in our state,” wrote Republican Sen. Amy Koch of Buffalo in a press release. “As the standard bear [sic] of his party and DFL nominee for governor, Mark Dayton must denounce these unconscionable smears and tell his Party that they have gone too far. For Dayton’s Party to suggest that the Catholic Church has been ignoring the poor is the most irresponsible and deplorable attack I have ever seen during my time in public service.”

But, by the time the press conference had wrapped up, Dayton had already called it “inappropriate” in a statement to reporters.

“I believe the brochure’s picture showing a Man of the Cloth is inappropriate. I believe that it is inappropriate to bring religion into a campaign as this image and others do,” said Dayton. “I believe the brochure’s referencing Leaders of the Faith Community criticizing the damage to GAMC is appropriate. The facts are that members of Minnesota’s Faith Community have been leaders in the fight to stop Governor Pawlenty from denying health care to the poorest and sickest Minnesotans.”

It’s not the first time this week that a candidate’s faith has become a campaign issue. A day earlier, Republican candidate Teresa Collett questioned Rep. Betty McCollum’s faith after an 8-year-old video allegedly showed McCollum omitting the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. McCollum is Catholic.

In a video accompanying Minnesota bishops’ anti-gay marriage campaign, Archbishop John Neinstedt says that “the time has come for the voters to be presented directly with an amendment to our state constitution.” The bishop’s video will be distributed to more than a million Minnesota Catholics in the coming weeks along with a DVD produced by the Knights of Columbus. Just in time for the November elections, the DVD distribution coincides with a similar ad campaign paid for by the National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council.

“So called same-sex marriage would certainly be a declaration by the government that we have abandoned the idea that children need a mom and a dad,” said Neinstedt. “A question as important as the future of this great social institution should not be decided by a ruling elite. ”

Here are Neinstedt’s full remarks:

His confirmation caused little debate, except among anti-abortion activists who decried Diaz’s support for Obama last fall. Diaz said he is “pro-life” and supports finding a common ground on the issue of abortion.

“I am very grateful to the Senate for this confirmation and to President Obama for the confidence he has invested in me,” he said in the statement Tuesday. “I am honored to be given the responsibility of representing the people of the United States to the Holy See.”

Fellow Minnesotan Sam Kaplan was also confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday for ambassador to Morocco.

Source: Michael Bayly

A group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Catholics won’t be receiving communion at the Cathedral of St. Paul this Pentecost Sunday, according to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Members of the Rainbow Sash movement, they will attempt to receive the Eucharist on Sunday anyway, in hopes of starting a dialogue with Archbishop John Nienstedt about the role of gays and lesbians in the church. But Nienstedt had strong words for the group, saying he won’t debate church teachings.

Rainbow Sash movement members, LGBT Catholics and friends, wear a rainbow sash each Pentecost to identify themselves as LGBT church members and supporters. If they are denied the Eucharist they go back to the pews and remain standing as acknowledgment of being denied. If they do receive the Eucharist, they kneel as they are expected to.

The archdiocese, which says the group is merely about disruptive protest, released this statement on Wednesday:

The archdiocese has received word that a group dissenting from the church’s teaching on sexuality will be wearing signs of protest (rainbow sashes) at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Pentecost Sunday during the noon Mass. Those wearing such sashes will not be allowed to receive Holy Communion, since they have publicly broken communion with the teachings of the church.

The Holy Eucharist should never be politicized by protesters in this way. Theirs is a sign of disrespect and irreverence to the body and blood of Jesus.

But Rainbow Sash members insist the sashes are not a protest.

“We cannot repeat too often that we attend Mass on Pentecost to celebrate who we are, not to protest,” said a statement on their website, which was part of a letter sent to Nienstedt. “We participate in Mass in the same way we do all the other days of the year. But on Pentecost we come out of the closet as LGBT Catholics, family and friends to remind our fellow Catholics that we too are part of God’s loving family.”

The group said it only seeks a dialogue with the archbishop. Nienstedt, who also urges other churchgoers to refrain from sharing communion with those wearing sashes, said the matter is not up for debate. In a letter to the group, he wrote:

With regard to the dialogue you request, it would first be essential that you state clearly that you hold with the conviction all that the Church teaches on matters of human sexuality. If you do not believe, then there cannot be dialogue, but only debate. The truths of our faith are not open to debate.

In the past, however, the issue has been up for debate. In 2004, former Archbishop Harry Flynn offered the group communion, setting off a firestorm among conservative members of the church. Flynn said it was part of pastoral care.

“We all stand very strong in our teaching concerning human sexuality, and what is right and what is wrong, and the teaching of the church concerning homosexuality, the teaching of the church concerning marriage between one man and one woman,” he said in 2004. “Then as you step away from the strong articulation of the teachings, you get into the pastoral practice of what do you do in some of these very difficult and challenging situations.”

But in 2005, he changed his mind and from then on LGBT Catholics who visibly identify themselves as such are denied the sacrament.

Those who identify themselves with the sashes do so for various reasons, as Lisa Nilles found when compiling a collection of responses from Rainbow Sash members on why they participate in the movement’s Pentecost observation each year. Many of them were parents or friends of LGBT church members.

“I have a son who is 6’2″ with dark curly hair, marvelous design skills, who is a plain old fashioned good person who just happens to be gay,” one parent said. “I am tired of ‘my’ Church ignoring his many qualities in order to focus on the mystery of his sexuality which, because they cannot understand, they chose to condemn. So I thought this a good way to show my unconditional support for him and all who share this mystery.”

Another parent spoke of wearing the sash “to celebrate the intrinsic goodness of my lesbian daughter and every other GLBT child of God. If solidarity with the marginalized is perceived as resistance to Church teaching, so be it.”

“This is, I think, the fourth year my wife and I attended this Pentecost service [at the cathedral],” he continued. “We are involved in a number of social justice issues and solidarity with GLBT persons is an important extension of that outreach, made more personal to us because we have a lesbian daughter. My daughter is right when she says, ‘My folks would be involved even if they didn’t have me because that’s who they are.’

“I am proud of that and will do anything nonviolently to counter the prejudice and bigotry of the Catholic Church.”

Diaz is a board member of the Catholic Theological Society and previously served as president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians. He also wrote “On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives” and edited “From the Heart of Our People: Latino/a Explorations in Catholic Systemic Theology.”

A Cuban-American, Diaz has built bridges between Latino communities and the Catholic church. He would be the first Latino ambassador to the Vatican from the United States.

But his nomination is sparking outcry from conservative Catholics because Diaz is not “pro-life” enough.

Diaz hasn’t weighed in on the issue of abortion very often. Last year, he told the Catholic News Agency, “Wherever we can, we should advance life at all stages.”

Lifesitenews.com, a clearinghouse for anti-abortion news, said Diaz “reportedly is pro-life but has compromised his views by backing Obama and others.”

The site continued, “That someone like Diaz can claim to follow the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church and assist an abortion advocate in becoming president won’t go unnoticed as the Senate confirmation process takes place.”

The conservative Catholic League said, “It is a sad commentary on the Democratic party that out of the entire country they can’t field a candidate to represent the U.S. to the Vatican who is unequivocally opposed to abortion-on-demand.”

In the same breath the group said, “In choosing professor Miguel H. Diaz to be the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, President Obama has selected a man whose writings do not address such hot-button issues as abortion.”

Diaz is expected to have a swift confirmation in the U.S. Senate.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference, the lobbying group for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, hailed the DFL omnibus bill on Tuesday as promoting “dignity and the common good” and for supporting those most in need. “While the HHS Budget Omnibus bill contains hurtful cuts, it recognizes the importance of maintaining critical assistance for Minnesota’s poorest families — especially in our ailing economy,” the group said.

The group implied that Pawlenty should sign the bill. “Gov. Tim Pawlenty has until Friday, May 15 to sign or veto the HHS Budget Omnibus bill,” said the Conference. “While the bill contains $489 million in cuts for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010-11 and $742 million in cuts for FY 2012-13, it preserves many needed services for our sisters and brothers who are poor and vulnerable.”

Catholic Charities also weighed in on the bill this week. Kathy Tomlin, director of the Catholic Charities Office for Social Justice, said even the cuts passed by the legislature are too deep — and those proposed by Pawlenty would be devastating.

One of the most egregious cuts debated at the Minnesota Capi­tol were those that would strip services from General Assistance Medical Care, a health care program that serves very low-income persons. Thirty-two thousand people are on GAMC, some 350 are clients of Catholic Charities,” wrote Tomlin. “While the Pawlenty administration doesn’t propose cutting the whole program, many of its services would be eliminated, including in-patient hospital care, dental services, radiology, eyeglasses, occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy and audiology services.”

She said that the state can’t cut its way out of the deficit. “While it is true that the cost of health care is adding to the state’s fi­nan­cial woes, cutting those with the fewest resources from access to health care doesn’t seem to address the real heart of the problem.”

The Archdiocese has been outspoken about making sure cuts don’t impact the poor.

Archbishop John Nienstedt and the state’s other bishops sent a letter to legislators last month encouraging them to balance the budget with a mix of revenue increases and cuts. “We believe that resolving the budget deficit through spending cuts alone will do great harm to Minnesotans and our economy,” they wrote. “We urge you to support raising sufficient revenue as part of a comprehensive approach to resolving.”

The bishops said that cuts to health and human services should spare the poor. “Catholic social teaching upholds the role of government to assist individuals and communities when they cannot help themselves. In performing this role, the state is fulfilling its moral responsibility to promote the common good.”

“Our nation and new president will be challenged by ongoing wars, an economy in severe recession, ballooning deficits, high unemployment and an environment and health care system in crisis,” wrote the Rev. Michael Tegeder of St. Edward’s Church in Bloomington. “Yet at this very moment the Catholic bishops have declared that they have this more pressing need.”

That need is to organize a postcard campaign targeting legislators and Obama over abortion legislation.

FOCA will stir a heated debate in upcoming months. Obama pledged to sign it if Congress passes it. “The first thing I’d do, as president, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do,” he told Planned Parenthood supporters at a campaign event in 2007.

FOCA would essentially codify the reproductive rights that were interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.

The bill reads:

“A government may not deny or interfere with a woman’s right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after viability where termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman; or discriminate against the exercise of the rights set forth in paragraph in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.”

Tegeder penned his opinion in a letter to the Star Tribune, targeting the bishops’ intent to pressure Obama on FOCA. Tegeder said that among the many problems with the postcard campaign, the bishops are attacking Obama instead of finding common ground.

“We can do many positive things. Indeed, Obama has stated that he wants to reduce the number of abortions. We should work with him on doing this,” Tegeder wrote. “During this season of goodwill, let us offer our new president some and hold back on the confrontation. And to the bishops: Your Graces, remember grace.”

Tegeder’s words directly confront his boss, the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, John Neinstedt.

“When I signed up 35 years ago to be a priest, little did I realize that postcards would be an essential tool of ministry in the Catholic Church,” said Tegeder. He pointed to Neinstedt and his postcard campaigns pushing a Republican-led same-sex marriage ban several years ago.

“To someone who did not see this as necessary, it seemed a waste of time and money. It also generated some unnecessary ill will,” wrote Tegeder.

Neinstedt recently weighed in on the FOCA debate and seems to be enthusiastically in support of stopping the legislation. “In effect, FOCA would certainly be a boon to the abortion industry with the government forced to condone and promote such procedures,” Neinstedt wrote on the Archdiocese Web site. “It is hard to imagine a more radical piece of pro-abortion legislation.”

While the Archdiocese hasn’t publicly commented on Tegeder’s letter, members of the laity have. One Catholic blogger called for his excommunication.

Another is initiating a postcard campaign of her own, directed at Tegeder. “Reducing abortions is not an acceptable goal. Stopping abortion entirely is,” wrote a St. Paul Catholic blogger. “Education is a large part of the effort. Father [Tegeder] may need some help understanding this.”

Another Minnesota Catholic blog wrote that Tegeder “not only endangers his own immortal soul, but also those of his parishioners.”

Tegeder has been a controversial member of Minnesota’s Catholic hierarchy. He has supported moves toward inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church, opposes the church ban on priests marrying, and once called Neinstedt “self-righteous” and “a bully.”

Photo by Susan WD.

“We need something like human ecology, meant in the right way,” said the pontiff. “The Church speaks of human nature as ‘man’ or ‘woman’ and asks that this order is respected… The rain forests deserve our protection, but man as a creature indeed deserves no less.”

The Rev. Sharon Ferguson of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement took the Pope to task for his comments: “It is more the case that we need to be saved from his comments. It is comments like that that justify homophobic bullying that goes on in schools and it is comments like that that justify gay bashing.

“There are still so many instances of people being killed around the world, including in western society, purely and simply because of their sexual orientation or their gender identity.

“When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way because they feel that they are doing God’s work in ridding the world of these people.”