I picked this up from Marco Tossati at Vatican Insider – in Italian – about the homosexual Masses being celebrated in London in the Soho district at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and Saint Gregory (not at St. Patrick’s on Soho Square itself):
Messa gay a Londra, si muove la Dottrina della Fede (“Gay” Mass in London, the [Congregation for] the Doctrine of the Faith makes a move)
The offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have decided to deal with the problem of services celebrated in the district of Soho in the British capital
The new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, (Archbishop) Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, intends, very firmly, to deal with the problem of the Mass which twice a month is celebrated in London, Warwick Street in Soho for homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered, with the approval of the Archbishop of Westminster, (Archbishop) Vincent Nichols. It seems that already in the recent past other dicasteries of the Roman Curia, at the request and solicitation of London Catholics, have asked for clarifications and have underscored the concerns connected with an initiative of this kind. Among other things, an expert on liturgy and theology noted that there is a danger that the initiative will lead to a ghetto-ization of the persons involved.
What bothers the sensibilities of London Catholics in the quarter and nearby area, is the form in which the Mass is celebrated. In the petition sent to (Archbishop) Nichols some time ago, and in copies sent also to some Roman congregations, there is a complaint that homilies are given that seem to justify behaviors considered wrong in the doctrine of the Church.
[…]
There is more there, but that’s what I have time for right now.
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Is there something being done about the gay parish in San Francisco? I hope Archbishop Cordileone brings the hammer to heresy.
AnnAsher: There others, in other cities. Like cancer, it metastatizes.
Indeed, wonder why target an every other week gay Mass in London, when well publicized gay parishes across the U.S. offer worse every single Sunday.
Misguided and ill-informed compassion. Witness the Diocese of Memphis’s page on this ministry.
Animadversor: And lo, whose name led all the rest, but Sr. Joan Chittister.
I will never be too hip or with it enough to understand what people on the outside of these parishes know, or presume to know, about the parishes themselves. Courage is a Catholic organization headed by a priest–who celebrates the EF, by the way–to minister to homosexuals, bringing them to Christ in His Church. How are these parishes any different? I am not going to read the books or links to the Diocese of Memphis concerning ministry to homosexuals, but I guess I am missing something in all this. Homosexual men are killing themselves off in increasing number (HIV/AIDS: NIH has the statistics), 20 percent higher incidence each year. They lead blank lives, often in enclaves. Granted, they make up a small portion of the population, still, are these reasons not to minister to them?
No one us saying they should not be ministered to. But celebrating sin from the ambo is not ministering to them,it is colluding with sin.
Horatius, you are indeed missing something. The “gay”-friendly parishes are homosexualist playgrounds, promoting, catering to, and condoning the “gay” lifestyle. The “gay” parish in San Francisco is notorious as the scene of a Mass at which the then-archbishop administered Holy Communion to two fully-camped-up members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic drag queen association. That same parish also had an active practitioner of sadomasochistic slavery as an Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and member of the parish council from 2000 to 2008, and hosted S/M events on parish grounds until the diocese finally put the kibosh on that a few years ago. The parish website and Facebook page are unmistakeably pro-gay. In short, that parish and other, similar parishes are not ministering to homosexuals, but entrenching them further in sin.
Horatius asked “How are these parishes any different?”
If I read the article correctly, it said there were complaints that there had been homilies that suggested homosexual behavior is ok.
Sissy, it’s beyond pro-gay. As Miss Anita said, when an archbishop gives the Eucharist to two drag queens dolled up as S/M nuns, then scandal is perhaps the most generous word which would apply.
wmeyer, sorry I wasn’t clear. I was talking about the situation in London that is the subject of the post. I think Miss Anita was talking about SF. What has happened in SF is beyond disgusting. I’m not sure the Mass that is being scrutinized in London goes that far. I could be wrong. At any rate, I agree with Miss Anita that Horatius doesn’t realize what is going on in these “gay” Masses.
But I emphatically said I did not know what is going on in what people are calling gay Masses. Are these like ‘teen’ Masses, made up on the spot in no way in conformity with GIRM? I would not to save my life attend either. Whatever evidence such people have, if they are judging others out of their sight, would be interesting to know. Some such evidence, I suppose real evidence, appears to have come to the attention of people in a position to investigate. No, I also did not read the article. I am not especially interested in hearsay. I am very interested in the brave work of Courage and I pray that those men and women mired in sin find their way to Christ in His Church. I do wonder what it means to minister to homosexuals, but that question is way above my pay grade.
“I do wonder what it means to minister to homosexuals”
Whatever it means, telling them it’s ok isn’t it.
I do wonder what it means to minister to homosexuals, but that question is way above my pay grade.
For one thing, Horatius, it means teaching them the Church position, as presented in the Catechism, 2357-2359:
2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.
2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.
As Sissy says, it does not mean teaching them it’s OK. Nor does it mean making up things which are warm and fuzzy but untrue. The teaching may be hard, but it is honest. A person with same sex attraction has a particular cross to bear.
Anybody can read the CCC, in theory, or have it read to him. I think that same anybody can agree with Sissy, too. I am reading Knox’s sermons (to Oxford undergraduates), and that is why I ask the question. Do you suppose he pontificates, thumps the Bible, or waves the CCC in their faces? I don’t suppose you suppose that. Knox is brilliant in ministering to them, numinously well informed, and current with their experience and thinking. So, my question was really this: given the “particular cross to bear,” what is the specific ministry? Although I cannot answer that question, it interests me more than speculating about people and places I do not know. Courage gives great hope, I mean the organization. I pray parishes find ways to give the same hope.
Speaking as an exiled Londoner, it is sad that Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street, a beautiful church with a noble history, should have been sullied by this row. I can only go on hearsay but suffice to say a lot of people have been scandalised by what goes on at these Masses. I do feel there is a desperate need to help homosexual people, as per the Catechism but I wonder why they need special Masses. There aren’t regular special Masses for people with other afflictions. It seems that, even if they start out with good intentions, the Masses are in danger of being hijacked.
A previous commentor mentioned about ‘hearsay’ with regard to these Masses, but I can assure him that well documented evidence of dissent at the Soho Masses – evidence, not hearsay – has been in the public domain for years. The Christian Order journal has been at the forefront of cataloguing this scandal. The following articles from Christian Order on the Soho Masses can be found here:-
From 2006: http://christianorder.com/features/features_2006/features_junejuly06.html
From 2007: http://christianorder.com/features/features_2007/features_nov07.html and http://christianorder.com/features/features_2007/features_may07_bonus.html
From 2010: http://christianorder.com/features/features_2010/features_nov10.html and
http://christianorder.com/editorials/editorials_2010/editorials_nov10.html (Soho references start from para immediately preceding the “Episcopal tyranny” sub-heading)
Dr William Oddie, writer for the Catholic Herald, also understands the true significance of the Soho scandal, and is referenced in one of the above articles as saying about it: “I predict that when the history of the English Church in this dire period of its fortunes is written, this subject will merit more than a passing footnote.” He also did a blog post about Soho which can be found here:-
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2010/07/16/the-scandal-of-the-soho-masses