A Taste of What's to Come, 2.0

EVENT

I will comment on this, but several friends I greatly respect have strong, invested opinions on this issue, and I want to hear their thoughts before commenting.

~ Connor

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http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/Midwest/05/31/gays.communion.ap/

Gay supporters denied communion at Chicago Mass
Minnesota Catholics blocked at altar
Monday, May 31, 2004 Posted: 1203 GMT (2003 HKT)

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Parishioners who wore rainbow-colored sashes to Mass in support of gays and lesbians were denied communion in Chicago, while laymen in Minnesota tried to prevent gay Roman Catholics from getting the sacrament.

Priests at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago refused to give the Eucharist to about 10 people wearing the sashes at Sunday Mass. One priest shook each person's hand; another made the sign of the cross on their foreheads.

"The priest told me you cannot receive communion if you're wearing a sash, as per the Cardinal's direction," said James Luxton, a Chicago member of the Rainbow Sash Movement, an organization of Catholic gay-rights supporters with chapters around the country.

An internal memo from Chicago Cardinal Francis George that became public last week instructed priests not to give communion to people wearing the sashes, which the group's members wear every year for Pentecost.

The memo says the sashes are a symbol of opposition to the church's doctrine on homosexuality and exploit the communion ritual.

"The Rainbow Sash movement wants its members to be fully accepted by the Church not on the same conditions as any Catholic but precisely as gay," George wrote. "With this comes the requirement that the Church change her moral teaching."

Rainbow Sash Movement spokesman Joe Murray was among those denied communion in Chicago. He said members wearing the sashes should be seen no differently than a uniformed police officer or Boy Scout seeking communion.

"What we saw today in the cathedral is discrimination at the Eucharistic table, and that shouldn't be happening," Murray said. Those denied communion returned to their pews, but stood while the rest of the congregation knelt.

The movement, which started about five years ago in England, also has members in Dallas, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York and Rochester, New York.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, people wearing the rainbow-colored sashes were given communion Sunday despite protests from some parishioners who kneeled in front of the altar blocking their way.

The Rev. Michael Skluzacek said in a written statement that both sides were "mistakenly using the Mass and the Eucharist to make their own personal statements."

Brian McNeill, organizer of the Rainbow Sash Alliance of the Twin Cities, said the local group has worn the sashes every Pentecost at St. Paul Cathedral since 2001, but the group had never experienced such a confrontation.

A Vatican doctrinal decree last year directed at Catholic politicians said a well-formed conscience forbids support for any law that contradicts "fundamental" morality, with abortion listed first among relevant issues. A second Vatican statement said it is "gravely immoral" not to oppose legalization of same-sex unions.

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BEGIN CARDINAL GEORGE MEMO

To: Priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
From: Cardinal Francis George
Subject: Rainbow Sash Movement

1. The National Policy

The Rainbow Sash movement wants its members to be fully accepted in
the Church not on the same conditions as any Catholic but precisely
as gay. With this comes the requirement that the Church change her
moral teaching, which is from the Lord and his apostles, that genital
homosexual relations are objectively mortally sinful. Rainbow Sash
members give witness to their oppostion to the Church and her
teaching as they come to Communion itself. The policy of the U.S.
Conference of Bishops is to not give Communion to those wearing the
Sash. If they come to Communion like every other member of the
Church, without the Sash which is the sign of their opposition to
Church Teaching, they may receive. This is also the policy of this
Archdiocese. Priests, deacons and other distributors of Holy
Communion shold understand and accept this policy.

2. The nature of the Eucarist

The first issue here is the nature of the Eucharist, which is the
body and blood of Our Lord and a sign of unity in the faith of all
those who receive it. We all go to Communion as sinners asking for
forgiveness, grateful for this gift and its promise of eternal life.
The moment of receiving the Lord in Holy Communion is never a moment
for an individual to exploit, turning attention to himself or
herself, attempting to force a change in the meaning of the
sacrament, transforming its objective sign value into a subjective
statement. Such an action is objectively sinful.

3. Freedom of Worship

The second issue here is freedom of worship, which is supposed to be
constitutionally protected in this society. A commnity of religious
believers has a right to worship in peace according to its own faith
and practice, without disruption, provided it is not itself
disrupting the public peace. Catholics have a right to celebrate the
Eucharist as the Church tells us to worship, without fear of being
berated or disturbed by people with personal or political agendas.
Those who hold the apostolic faith and strive to meet its moral
demands should not be forced to change their faith in order to make
some group happy. No group has a right to make such a demand,
especially not in the context of Eucharistic celebration.

Those who disagree with the Church's teaching, whether on
homosexuality or any other subject, should be treated with great
respect, listened to, instructed as possible, loved in all cases. But
such pastoral conversation and care takes place outside of the
celebration of Mass.

END CARDINAL GEORGE MEMO

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-0406040252jun04,1,2388068.story

Communion denied

Gary L. Cozette
Published June 4, 2004

Chicago -- By ordering clergy in the Chicago Archdiocese to refuse Communion to believers wearing the rainbow sash to show their solidarity with gay and lesbian Christians, Cardinal Francis George has lost his way ("Protesters denied Eucharist; 10 supporting gay rights get only blessing in Holy Name," Metro, May 31). Communion is perhaps the most sacred and spiritual moment between the believer and God. To thwart this deeply personal bond with God seems vindictive, an abuse of power. I think the cardinal, the bishops and clergy need to search their souls. This spiritual violence against gay Christians seeking inclusion, equality and respect betrays the Christian message of love.