Thursday, December 22, 2011

Cardinal George attempts to raise fears about LGBT people.


Cardinal George of Chicago objected to an LGBT parade in that city. Claiming that it would force the cancellation of Mass at a church along the parade route. The Huffington Post reported

"I go with the pastor," George told Fox. "He's telling us that he won't be able to have services on Sunday if that's the case. You don't want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism."


The preceding quote makes it appear that this “poor pastor” desperately called the “good” cardinal for help. Fear that his services might be interrupted, or that Catholics might be targeted for harassment by rioting LGBT parade attendees.


Don’t believe it for a moment. Having lived as a pastor for decades I can tell you how the system works. The pastor in question most probably got a phone call from the Archdiocese “asking” him to write to the cardinal about the LGBT parade routed pass his church. Failure to express what the cardinal wanted to hear in that letter would impact unfavorably on the pastor’s future career.


The pastor lives and works in that community, many of the folks in the parade are either his parishioners, or family members/relatives of his parishioners, he does not want to alienate these people. Furthermore, Chicago is a large city, there are countless parades held there every year and most of them on weekends. Odds are that, like most Catholic priests, the pastor (as well as the cardinal) is gay.


Sadly, I am not surprised by cardinal George’s absurd assertion comparing the LGBT communities struggle for full Federal Equality, with the KKK. My former bishop, the late John Steinbock, compared the LGBT community with, “Stalinist Russia and Maoist China.” The disturbing fact is that it is the Catholic bishops who are using strong-arm tactics against LGBT people who simply seek equality.


It is the bishops who have consistently orchestrated political campaigns against LGBT people and their families. This despite the fact that the majority of U.S. Catholics are supportive of equality legislation for LGBT people, but then again the only opinion on LGBT rights that concerns George is that of the out-going pope.


In the middle of what some have called the Second Great Depression and the Sexual Abuse Cover-Up Scandals that have rocked the Catholic church both in the USA and internationally, implicating even the current pope himself, cardinal George’s chief pastoral concern is not helping the jobless, the homeless or addressing the Cover-Up scandal. It is lobbying, in a vain attempt, to keep LGBT people in the closet socially and second-class citizens legally.

6 comments:

Bruce said...

Father Geoff:

I love you; miss you sooo much. Please come see us soon. Happiest of holidays to you and James.

Hugs,
B

auntie dasch said...

one of the saddest years of our lives in new york was the year on gay pride they decided to put baracades around st. pat's on fifth avenue and had POLICEMEN with m-15s on the steps of the church "protecting" it from us. there were are, marching in packs with our churches, and they were keeping US away from god's house. if that's their understanding of who god is then i don't think we're all on the same page anyway ;-) thank you, as always, father for this beautiful and considered reflection. god bless us, everyone.

colkoch said...

I don't know which closeted 'celibate' irritates me more: Wuerl or George.

Thanks for telling it like it is Fr Geof. I have mentally ill clients with far more integrity than my so called spiritual leaders. The least shall indeed be first.

Anonymous said...

I am so very blessed to be able to celebrate Eucharist with the LGBT community and sharing their hopes and dreams.

I find the community so loving and giving of their time,talent, and treasure.

I thank the Sisters who have supported this Eucharistic celebration for these 30+ years.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting about this, and for all of your excellent work, Fr. Geoff!

Michael Dodd said...

Knowing more than a bit about the parish in question, I would suggest that the only interference with Mass there on that Sunday morning might be due to the number of parishioners who will be attending the parade ...