More on Card. George’s comparison of the homosexual parade to a KKK demonstration.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Cardinal defends comparing gay parade organizers to Ku Klux Klan

By Brian Slodysko
Tribune reporter
1:03 p.m. CST, December 28, 2011

Setting off a new round in his dispute with gay right activists, Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George has issued a statement defending his recent comparison of the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan.  [O most excellent Eminence.]

George’s initial comments came in connection with a controversy over whether next summer’s gay pride parade would interrupt morning services at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Lakeview neighborhood. [Remember the initial report? There was concerned that before the parade reached the church there would have been among the paraders considerable consumption of alcohol.  What could possibly have gone wrong?]

That dispute was resolved last week, but the cardinal’s KKK comparison – and his new explanation of those comments – have kept the controversy boiling. [Good.]

“Organizers (of the pride parade) invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church,” the cardinal said in a statement issued Tuesday. “One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940s, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.” [But that is precisely what homosexual groups are trying to claim.]

Gay rights advocates said today that George was expressing “bigotry” and should apologize and resign.

In October, the route and time of the pride parade were changed to accommodate larger crowds. The start was changed from noon to 10 a.m., and the new route went past Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Church officials later objected, arguing that it would interrupt morning services. Last Wednesday, an agreement was reached to move the start time back to noon.

Meanwhile, George was interviewed by Fox News Chicago. He said: “You know, you don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism. So I think if that’s what’s happening, and I don’t know that it is, but I would respect the local pastor’s, you know, position on that.”

When excerpts from the interview were disclosed last week, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese said people should view the entire interview, which aired on Fox on Christmas Day.

[…]

Read the rest over there.

The KKK pushed something that was abominable.  The KKK relentlessly attacked the Church.  The KKK is now seen by most people as ghastly.

I think Card. George’s take is dead on.

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19 Comments

  1. raitchi2 says:

    I refuse to blindly defend someone because they wear a collar. Cardinal George, my bishop, opened his mouth and inserted his foot. I don’t really understand why the pastor can’t have mass Sunday morning. There will be already be a number of police for the parade. Would it be too much for the faithful to walk down a sidewalk and see people who don’t believe or practice what they themselves believe? I understand the alcohol consumption is a concern, but shouldn’t we have similar concern this new year’s for the church structures near bars? I don’t recall any Catholics in the US have been hung by homosexuals. I don’t think any gays have burnt down any parishes (except in the name of good taste, Lol). These comments are just an attempt to create a culture war that doesn’t need to exist, since the Church is not anti-gay/homosexual/whatever but the Church really only against acts of sodomy.

  2. Supertradmum says:

    The legacy of anti-Catholicism in the States, which the present generations most likely did not witness, is coming to a head again through such groups as these lgtb ones. My dad used to be stoned by the Lutheran boys when he walked to school through the Lutheran neighborhood in the Iowa town where he was a minority Catholic. He learned to run very fast. To be American has been to be firstly, Protestant and secondly, secular.

    The lgtb groups are hoping to rouse up such latent hared, as some people in the States have always hated Catholics and thought them “not quite American”. There is a culture war and it has been going on since Christ declared His Public Ministry. If a Catholic cannot admit that the Church is a Sign of Contradiction in the world, that Catholic needs more prayer and catechesis. Cardinal George is spot on and a very brave man to speak the truth in this age of nice.

  3. Dax says:

    raitchi2 –

    Sure, just a coincidence the parade was re-routed at that time in front of that church.

    The gays have had the Catholic Church in their cross-hairs for a long time and to not recognize this is pitiful. We are the Church Militant and this attack needs to be confronted and our faith defended. Thank God for Abp. George, also my bishop, and I am now a bigger fan.

    Pax

  4. ncstevem says:

    Just remember folks, it’s not ‘gay’, it’s homosexual or sodomite.

    Militant homosexuals like all enemies of the Church try to change the meaning of words to suit their propaganda. We shouldn’t fall into the trap of using their language.

  5. disco says:

    The homosexual activist set hates the church with all the malice of the kkk and then some. They offer no thoughtful refutation of the good cardinal’s remark you’ll notice.

  6. cregduff says:

    This story and Cardinal George’s remarks reminded me of a scene in “The Cardinal” about the KKK’s rhetoric and methods in going after the Church in regards to civil rights in the US South. Here’s a clip. I think the analogy is worrisome and possible. Too similar for my liking.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbNiMBx4ncU

  7. Clinton says:

    If anyone actually believes that His Eminence is “attempting to create a culture war that doesn’t
    need to exist”, perhaps a trip to YouTube is in order. Search for “Neuquen Argentina cathedral”
    to see what happened when a pro-abortion demonstration with a sizable homosexual contingent
    marched past a Catholic church. Think this cannot happen here?

  8. irishgirl says:

    I’m glad that Cardinal George had the guts to say what he said! Don’t back down, Your Eminence!
    ncsteven-you’re absolutely spot on! I refuse to use the word ‘gay’ when referring to homosexuals!
    Clinton-I’m reminded of a similar demonstration in the early 1990s in Montreal, Canada. It happened on ‘International Womens’ Day’, and a pro-abortion mob stormed into the Cathedral of ‘Marie-Reine-du-Monde’ (Mary, Queen of the World), which was along their parade route. The demonstrators started to trash the interior (one of the more disgusting things they did was to strew about used sanitary pads). Then they attempted to enter the Blessed Sacrament chapel, which was at the very end of the church. But some very brave-hearted male tourists stood their ground before the Tabernacle and kept the Eucharist from being desecrated.
    Catholics have GOT to stand their ground and not the militant homosexuals push them around!

  9. AvantiBev says:

    What I find interesting is that when I lived on the north side of Chicago, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was one of the most gay friendly/shack up friendly/new trends friendly parishes out there and there were QUITE A FEW all over Chicago’s Lakeview, Wrigleyville and other north side neighborhoods. I haven’t attended a Mass there since my wanderings in the liturgical desert ended in 1992 with my discovery of St. John Cantius parish. But OLMC was very much on board during the 80’s – 90’s with the zeitgeist of the age so I find it very encouraging that they now have a pastor that would utter a peep about the parade route and time.

    And note to raitchi2, those who live nearby and walk to OLCM would only be inconvenienced perhaps, but those driving would find themselves unable to reach the church and totally unable to access the parking lot. The parade is very well attended and a media spectacle. It is loud, lewd and completely disruptive to foot and car traffic.

  10. Dax says:

    Clinton:

    Thanks for the link. A frightening 1o minutes indeed and quite possibly what we will witness up here next year.

    Pax

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  12. Rick DeLano says:

    Sow the wind.

    Reap the whirlwind.

    Anyone who experienced the level of virulent and violent hatred during the Prop 8 campaign in California knows what’s coming.

    The bishops are apparently waking up.

    Better late than never.

    Now we have organizations like the Knights of Columbus, which would provide admirably for the security and safety of our parishes and altars, given appropriate ecclesiastical guidance and……

    en *courage* ment.

    The crisis in the Church is a crisis of bishops.

    The crisis of bishops is a crisis of courage.

    Looks like Cardinal George is responding.

    God bless His Eminence.

    We need much much more, and soon.

  13. NoTambourines says:

    I wonder if one of the things on Cardinal George’s mind was “demonstration” by Act Up in 1989 that saw Mass at St. Patrick’s in New York City set upon by protesters, and the desecration of a consecrated host.

    In that alone, there is a precedent for these things to get ugly. Add to that “Occupy” culture which has made disruptions and invasions fashionable again, and he is quite right to sound the alarm before anyone thinks of trying something.

  14. semperjase says:

    “Gay rights advocates said today that George was expressing “bigotry” and should apologize and resign.”

    Because by him doing so, the gay advocates would reject the homosexual lifestyle and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church, right?

    What a preposterous demand. What is behind the demand is an attempt to silence someone who does not support their lifestyle. The Catholic Church needs cardinals and bishops who will defend the faith.

    Changing the route and the time of the parade that will prevent people from worshiping is more than just coincidence, and now they claim to be victims. We live in Bizzarro world.

  15. letchitsa1 says:

    Good for Cardinal George!

    @raitchi2: Don’t forget to consider the displays of public nudity that are frequent at those events are displays that many people do not wish to see themselves, and if they are parents, they definitely don’t want their children to see.

  16. raitchi2 says:

    @Letchitsa1: Your right I forgot about nudity. Thank goodness there aren’t any churches near the beaches in Chicago.

  17. PeterK says:

    raitchi2 apparently you’ve not seen photos of Gay Pride parades from San Francisco and other cities with a large homosexual population

  18. AnAmericanMother says:

    raitchi2,
    Let’s be blunt. I found myself inadvertently in the middle of a “Gay Pride Parade” while trying to get to a business meeting.
    I’m an old courthouse rat and it takes a lot to shock me. I was shocked. Not mere nudity but obscene exhibitionism, including public sex acts that ordinarily would result in arrest. Not just stuff that you worry about your children or your Aunt Tessie seeing — most normal people would be horrified at the openly pornographic conduct.
    This sort of stuff planned to take place outside a Mass is deliberately provocative and intended to foment trouble. As has happened before.

  19. Moro says:

    Forget about the parade, there are other glaring examples that illustrate the homosexual movement is anti-Catholic. We’ve had the Catholic Charities be forced to stop doing adoptions because of this movement. The DC city government basically forced the Archdiocese of Washington to remove spousal coverage or otherwise face discrimination suits know that homosexual “marriages” are the law there. There have been numerous instances of the homosexual movement disrupted Masses, etc. The case in St. Patrick’s in NYC in the 1980s is just one example.

    They blather on about hate all the time, but the homosexual movement is full of hate, hate for God and his holy Church.

    It’s about time the bishops take the gloves off. I applaud Cardinal George for comments. I just wish more bishops would do the same.

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