The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis forced the cancellation of an LGBT event Saturday at the St. Frances of 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.
After years as a low-profile issue at the Minnesota Legislature, same-sex marriage is likely to become a source of controversy next session. New Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate bode well for efforts by the Minnesota Family Council and the Catholic Church, both of which hope to place a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the ballot in 2012. Republican leadership has been mum on the prospect so far, and despite long odds, LGBT advocates hope to advance a few key provisions of their own in 2011.
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.
Archbishop John Neinstedt says Minnesota’s bishops will be distributing “more than one million” DVDs across Minnesota just weeks before the election. Part of an orchestrated campaign against same-sex marriage, the DVDs were funded by an anonymous donor and produced by the Knights of Columbus, a group that donates to the National Organization for Marriage, which is also running anti-gay marriage ads in Minnesota. While Neinstedt says the effort isn’t about politics, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group slammed the new campaign.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has called President Obama an “anti-Catholic politician” and has condemned the University of Notre Dame for inviting Obama to speak at the school’s graduation in May.
Roman Catholic bishops throughout the United States are planning a massive postcard campaign days after the inauguration as part of an attempt to block the Freedom of Choice Act, known as FOCA, a reproductive health initiative supported by President-elect Barack Obama. But one Minnesota priest is breaking ranks with the national campaign, raising the ire of local and national pro-life Catholics, including some who are calling for his excommunication from the church.
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