There is no longer Jew or Greek,
there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female;
for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28 (NRSV)
Over the weekend there was another massive Pride Parade in Toronto, along with other events which celebrated the LGBTQ community. While the TO festivities are the largest in the country many other communities join in during Pride Month, including in smaller towns. There was a controversy around the Pride Parade in Prince Edward County a couple of weekends ago because of a notice in the bulletin for a Roman Catholic congregation. It read:
“A reminder that Catholics and all other Christians should not attend LGBTQ2 ‘Pride Month’ events held this month. They promote a culture and encourage activities that are contrary to the Christian faith and morals. This is especially harmful to children because it could lead them away from God’s revealed Truth. Even in “The County,” there are Pride flags and banners flying courtesy of the Government. Think…these are your hard tax dollars at work!”
Not only is this statement homophobic and arrogant -- who is this priest who figures he can speak for all Christians? -- it is chillingly hypocritical in it's reference to protecting the faith and morals of children. The Roman Catholic church has not had a stellar record in this regard.
There are "positives" to this story. Members of the parish protested this statement, as did parents from the local Roman Catholic school. The regional bishop issued his own statement saying that he had not authorized it. There were demonstrations outside the church with LGBTQ-positive signs.
It's a challenge to discern what the official Roman Catholic stance is regarding LGBTQ persons because Pope Francis has sent mixed messages and bishops and cardinals seem to offer their own varying views as authoritative.
I'm impressed that everyday Christians who are Roman Catholics pushed back against what was an ugly denial of "God's revealed Truth" about love and inclusion.
Did you hear about this? What were your thoughts?
Read about Cathedral of the Trees in today's Groundling blog
https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2019/06/cathedral-of-trees-in-algonquin.html
2 comments:
I hadn't heard about it, but how absurd. I really find those who are righteous and want to exclude others who are different to be very irritating. And I've met many of these people in churches. I believe most church-goers are inclusive and open-minded, but the flip side is that there are some who are very much the opposite.
And too often clergy have been leading the charge on exclusivity. Thanks for your comments Roger.
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