Posted on 01/03/2007 6:43:46 PM PST by Antoninus
Archdiocese cancels lease of parish hall to a group of homosexual men who dress as Catholic nuns and sponsor monthly bingo games to raise funds for HIV/AIDs programs
The “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” who describe themselves as “the leading-edge order of queer nuns,” and whose official slogan is “go forth and sin some more” are looking for a new location for their monthly bingo games.
Until late October, the group had leased Most Holy Redeemer church’s Ellard Hall in San Francisco for a fundraiser for HIV/AIDS programs. The Sisters held their Sept. 7 bingo fundraiser at Ellard Hall, and another was scheduled for Nov. 2. But the San Francisco archdiocese abruptly cancelled the group’s lease just two days before the November event was to take place. Nick Andrade, Parish Council president, informed the group of the archdiocese’s decision on Oct. 31.
“This came as both a shock and a surprise as we have worked very closely with Most Holy Redeemer Church to provide fundraising services for both the Church and other beneficiaries,” said the “Sisters” in a Nov. 3 press release. The group estimates it lost $3000 - $4000 as a consequence of the cancellation, and the same amount in December because they had nowhere to hold their bingo event. They say they hope to locate a new site this month or next.
While the “Sisters” say they do not know why the archdiocese kicked them out of the parish hall, several Catholic news sources reported that Catholic bloggers, scandalized by the activity, pressured the archdiocese to act. Among other things, the bloggers noted, prizes included pornographic DVDs and sex toys.
“The Archdiocese of San Francisco has directed the parish to end the arrangement immediately,” said archdiocesan spokesman Maurice Healy. “For years the group has directed contempt and ridicule at Catholic faith and practices. The particular targets of the group’s derision are women in religious communities, for whom Catholics, and many non-Catholics, have a special reverence and respect.”
Most Holy Redeemer and its pastor, Father Stephen Meriwether, have been most kind to the homosexual population of the Castro district, where the church is located. The parish, says its website, “prides itself in being an inclusive Catholic community -- embracing all people of good faith... regardless of their background, gender, race, social status or sexual orientation.” Parish members, wearing Most Holy Redeemer T-shirts and bearing a parish sign, have over the years participated in San Francisco’s Gay Pride Parade; the parish website features pictures of the 2006 parade, one showing two men about to kiss.
In 2004, then-Archbishop William Levada appointed Meriwether archdiocesan chancellor. Whether or not on account of complaints about allowing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to use the parish hall, in early December current Archbishop George Niederauer removed Meriwether as chancellor. Meriwether remains in the chancery as director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs. He was also briefly suspended from his pastoral duties at Most Holy Redeemer, but has since returned.
Nancy Pelosi and crew bringing these morals to the country now.
You gotta be kidding! Queer nuns in San Francisco? Who'd 'a
thunk it?
How about (to name a few):
Hmmm, maybe it's time to check Nancy's plumbing???? If these guys could fool the catholic church, maybe Nancy isn't what she's cracked up to be?
This reads like a Saturday Night Live script...
sw
Was "Sisters of the Perpetual Herpes Outbreak" considered too cliched?
The Comedy Channel's version of the "news" makes more sense in light of what the alphabet networks and the New York Times, et al.
Archbishop Levada was a dreadful bishop. It remains to be seen what kind of shepherd Archbishop Niederauer is. Either he is trying to clean up the mess left to him by his predecessor, or he finds himself in a tighter ship with Pope Benedict in charge and fears the consequences if he doesn't respond to these protests.
I think I have heard some negative things about Niederauer too, but perhaps I was misinformed. I hope so.
Let's see SF ban the Catholic Church as homophobic.
Yuh, I'm sure.
Do you remember the old skit with John Belushi as the captain of "The Raging Queen" where "manly men did manly things?"
It's a bad habit to be gay and dress as a nun.
This is a textbook example of just how classless and crass the gay community actually is. They couldn't just haqve bingo and raise some money... no... instead they had to throw their sexual orientation in the face of the church by mocking the very devout and gracious people who run the place. And yet they still don't understand why they were kicked out.
The next time these craven leeches have a gay pride parade 50 straight people should show up in pink tank tops and silver buttless chaps pretending to have sex with diseased farm animals. Lets see how they like it.
Sewer rats.
Aren't they the cheerleading squad for the demorats?
I would like to see how the homo crowd would react if an anti homosexual group dressed up like stereotypical gays and called themselves the "Faeries of Perpetual Depravity" described themselves as "the leading order of homo child molesters" with a slogan of "grab a two year old and do what you want." They would be screaming about intolerance and mistreatement! Yet they get away with this crap and nobody criticizes them for it.
Wow, I never thought this would happen, but am glad they gave 'em the boot.
They'll find somewhere else to hold their fundraiser, don't worry about that, but they don't need to be mocking the Catholic Church and to be holding their fundraisers in the church.
"Palomino!"
sad thing is they would
San Francisco and the Bay Area in general has a palpable strangeness to it. Besides New York, I have never seen a city in the United States that was such a vortex of putrid filth and wanton, desolate squalor.
I don't know if it would occur to them to be offended.
I am afraid you are right. I hope not but any "pastor" who would allow these "men" to mock the religious is not a good shepherd.
Worse than New Orleans?
Does that mean Sister Boom Boom will no longer be yelling BINGO?
lol I'm surprised they weren't nominated for the position of pope in Cali
"...50 straight people should show up in pink tank tops and silver buttless chaps pretending to have sex with diseased farm animals. Lets see how they like it."
I don't know if it would occur to them to be offended.
If they weren't offered a turn on the carcasses, they would most assuredly be offended. Bet on it.
I haven't been to New Orleans in more than ten years and just pased through it when I was there...
I'm inclined to agree with you. I should like the city, because I love old town houses, I love cities on hills, I love cities with harbors, it has a rich history, and I know one or two people who have longtime connections with some of the old families there. But the whole atmosphere felt strange.
I was last there for the MLA Convention back around ten years ago--which of course is bizarre enough in itself. But I agree with you about the feel of the city.
I went to Mass in Archbishop Levada's new cathedral. What a bizarre piece of work. It was like reports I have read of Las Vegas International Airport, or maybe the Pompidou Center in Paris, which I have fortunately never had the bad luck to see. The Mass appeared to be valid, but the congregation was very small for a Sunday, I thought, and the building was just weird.
A huge fortune from the collection plates to provide a bizarre legacy for a rogue bishop.
I have something to say, but there are too many California FReepers.....LOL...
Nah. Just have families come dressed as Lot and pillars of salt.
Nah. You'd have to do something WEIRD to get noticed in THAT bunch ...
That looks just plain weird. Like something out of a Ron Hubbard book.
I can only hope that you know that from having been a cowboy... !
:-)
That nagging, creepiness with an unnatural malevolence always just under the surface. Everybody has their hand out on top of it all too. Beggarly, miserable people who seem to always be hiding something. I would vacation in Los Angeles, as fake and phony as that place is, just to feel normal again if I ever had to live there.
Looks like the interior of the mothership.
It it, of course, a deliberate mockery of the Church and as such depended on the sense of humor of the Diocese to be welcome in their facilities. Where the mockery goes too far the humor is no longer sufficient to excuse it.
But I will say this - the charitable works these "nuns" performed weren't mockery. They do raise money for the homeless and those stricken with AIDS (go figure). And during the height of the AIDS fatalities these men did perform home and hospice visits to the dying who were often rejected by relatives unable to forgive the victims' homosexuality or their often ugly and demeaning deaths.
So tot that up to their credit if you can. It helps to explain why they were there in the first place. The rest of their behavior helps explain why they wore out their welcome.
The headline is surrealistic enough.
I'm going to bed now.
Last one out, please turn off the lights.
I guess it depends on whether you mean gay or homosexual. Gay is a political orientation and a statement that sexual orientation is the single most important thing about a person's identity. Homosexual is a descriptive.
I have had a number of homosexual friends and colleagues, and never had any trouble with them. It's not my business to tell them what to do. That is, as long as they don't try to tell me what to do. That's where you get into the gay political agenda, when they demand that everyone else has to bow down and worship them.
But there's a second issue here. A homosexual group that deliberately mocks the Church and God, and deliberately mocks nuns, shouldn't be using a parish hall for bingo games. These people are deliberately provocative. If they want to play bingo, it shouldn't be on the property of a Catholic church.
I know a little about Levada. Wasn't he the guy who was practically a Sandanista and had his direct underling convicted on kiddie porn charges?
Sure didn't hurt his career any: He was promoted to some position in the Vatican last year, I recall.
Lots of fallen Catholics in this burg. Lots of way fallen Catholics (and wannabes).
Yes. A great mystery.
Gee, ya think the name shoulda been a clue?
The San Francisco Supes have already passed a resolution against the Catholic Church in San Francisco. This article is obviously the other shoe dropping, in response.
12-13-06: Federal Judge Says San Francisco's Labeling of Catholics as "Hateful" is Constitutional
snip:
In March of this year the City of San Francisco issued one of the most startling attacks on the Catholic Church coming from a governmental body in the United States in half a century. The governing body of the city of San Francisco - the Board of Supervisors - voted unanimously to approve a resolution blasting the Catholic Church for its opposition to homosexual adoption.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.