Two weeks ago, after Pope Benedict XVI had announced to the world that he would be resigning the office of Peter as of February 28th, I put the Pope’s picture, that usually hangs in the rectory, in the church. A handful of people told me that they would rather it not be there. They explained that the feeling was while he was Pope, as well as his time as a Cardinal, Pope Benedict had made hurtful and hateful statements regarding the LGBT Community and thus, his picture should not be placed on the altar of MHR. I was also warned, many parishioners would walk out of Sunday Mass if the picture was not removed. I spoke with a close priest friend of mine, and even though both of us were saddened by this, the wisest course, I felt, was to remove the Pope’s picture.Read the rest here.
This is a parish that urgently needs to be suppressed and a priest who needs to be assigned to some duty where he can do no harm until he has demonstrated a reasonable level of comprehension and submission to the doctrine of the church from which he draws his salary.
The parish where this occurred, Most Holy Redeemer, is a gay-friendly parish in the heart of the Castro district, which is the center of the gay community in the country's most gay-friendly city. So it is hardly surprising that something like this would happen in such a parish.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, of course, that the priest needs to teach the faith of the Church that ordained him and pays his salary; and that parishes like this should not be allowed to flout the teachings of the Roman Church. However, in the real world of the American RC Church, parishes like this have long existed, no one is doing anything about them, and they aren't going anywhere. It's too commonplace to be disturbing.
It's too commonplace to be disturbing.
ReplyDeleteThat in itself is incredibly disturbing.
And this is what some Orthodox want to see....gay friendly parishes...parishes run by spineless priests who follow societal mores and not the Gospels.
ReplyDelete