The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has told a liberal Roman Catholic church in Minneapolis that it can’t hold its annual gay pride prayer service because the event goes against the teachings of the church.St. Joan of Arc Church has held the prayer service for several years in conjunction with the annual Twin Cities Pride Celebration.
The archdiocese, however, suggested that the church hold a “peace” service instead with no mention of GLBT rights.
The archdiocese, however, suggested that the church hold a “peace” service instead with no mention of GLBT rights.
“That descriptor (GLBT) 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 said.
“The reason is quite simply because it was a GLBT Pride prayer service, and that is really inimical to the teachings of the Catholic church.”
“The reason is quite simply because it was a GLBT Pride prayer service, and that is really inimical to the teachings of the Catholic church.”
Officials with the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, a grass-roots coalition promoting acceptance of gays in the Catholic church, said they consider the action an attack by Archbishop John Nienstedt, who took the helm of the archdiocese in May.
In an e-mail to supporters, committee co-founder David McCaffrey called the move “yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at GLBT persons and their families under Archbishop Nienstedt’s reign of homophobic hatred.”
McGrath said the services weren’t canceled in previous years because the archdiocese was not aware of them. “It was not something that happened because there’s a new regime,” McGrath said.
“If (previous Archbishop Harry Flynn) had known of it, the same thing would have happened.”
“If (previous Archbishop Harry Flynn) had known of it, the same thing would have happened.”
McGrath said Nienstedt is simply following Catholic doctrine and that “the church welcomes people with same-sex attractions among its worshippers.”
“The distinction is people who fully adapt to the GLBT lifestyle are not permitted to receive the sacraments or be the subject of a prayer service that endorses that lifestyle,” McGrath said.
Nienstedt has said homosexuality is a disorder and is a leader in the campaign to persuade the Legislature to prohibit same-sex unions.
Last year, Flynn barred Mass at a symposium exploring the conflict between homosexuality and Catholicism, saying it might mislead archdiocese members into believing the speakers’ views had the church’s sanction.
In 2006, he supported a proposed state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The year before, he ruled that gay rights supporters could not receive Communion while wearing rainbow-colored sashes because the practice was seen as a protest of Catholic teaching.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++The year before, he ruled that gay rights supporters could not receive Communion while wearing rainbow-colored sashes because the practice was seen as a protest of Catholic teaching.
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