ON TAPE: U.S. Priest Blasts Vatican Cardinal and Archbishop over Homosexuality During Homily

LifeSite ^ | November 26, 2007 | John-Henry Westen

[NYer]

MINNEAPOLIS, November 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the diocese of Saint Paul-Minneapolis, Fr. Leo Tibesar has been controversial for years when it comes to homosexuality and the Church's teaching.  Last year LifeSiteNews.com reported that the website of Dignity USA, the most prominent US lobby organization fighting Catholic teaching on human sexuality "from within" the Church, featured Fr. Tibesar as a member of the organization's National Leadership Team.

Now an audio recording of a homily which Fr. Tibesar gave on Saturday October 27 which took aim at an Archbishop, a Vatican Cardinal, and a prominent Evangelical preacher has been posted online.  The Archdiocesan spokesman had only recently heard of the incident and could not provide comment when contacted by LifeSiteNews.com

The Gospel reading for that Sunday (also the Saturday evening liturgy) concerned the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector recorded in Luke 18:9-14, where Christ praises the repentant sinner over the self-righteous Pharisee.

However in his homily Fr. Tibesar, pastor of Saint Frances Cabrini Church, cast the Archbishop and Cardinal in the role of Pharisee and those who unrepentantly counter Church teaching on homosexuality as worthy of the praise of Christ.

"What would Jesus say today if he were telling the parable in our Gospel of Luke?," asked the priest as he began a series of four versions of his retelling. 

In version 3 of his retelling, Fr. Tibesar preached: "Two people came into Church to pray, one was a Catholic Archbishop who refuses communion to Rainbow Sash people at the Cathedral on Pentecost Sunday who prayed "I give you thanks oh God that I am not like others - greedy, dishonest or like others who need to make their dissent from official Church teaching so public and divisive." 

"The other were Rainbow parents of GLBT people at the Cathedral on Pentecost who stood off on the side and prayed, "Oh God be merciful to us for failing to attend our own Churches more often; they say they love God then turn there backs on us in hate directly contrary to 1:John,4 - whoever loves God must also love the neighbor."

He concluded the point: "Jesus concluded the last ones went home more worthy in God's sight than the first."

With regard to the Vatican Cardinal, Fr. Tibesar took issue with the prohibition on the use of condoms. "Two  people came into Church to pray, one was a Roman Catholic Cardinal in Charge of Church doctrine who prayed "I give you thanks oh God that I am not like others   - greedy dishonest or like those living in Africa where AIDS is killing everyone even there we can never allow condoms to be used."

"The other was an African widow dying of AIDS who stood off to the side and prayed "Oh God, be merciful to me for not refusing the advances of my husband without a condom, soon I will follow him to the grave and leave our six children orphans," he continued.   

"Jesus concluded - the last person went home more worthy in God's sight than the first."

Finally taking aim at the Evangelical pastor, Fr. Tibesar recited the fourth version of his narrative.  "Two people came into Church to pray.  One was an Evangelical pastor whose regional services are broadcast nationally who prayed "I give you thanks oh God that I am not like others   - greedy, dishonest or like others who give into same gender sex drives which the bible calls an abomination."

"The others who came into Church to pray for a same sex couple raising children born by way of  donor insemination who prayed: "Oh god, be merciful to us for not finding our own medium to share with the broader audience the biblical passage of 1 John 4:16 - God is love and when we abide in love we abide in God and God in us." 
 
The homily grossly distorts Catholic teaching which teaches that all persons must be loved, and that the sin of homosexual sex acts are disordered and hurtful to the individuals involved in them.

Archdiocesan spokesman, Dennis McGrath told LifeSiteNews.com that he had only heard of the incident minutes before receiving the call from LifeSiteNews.com.  He noted that the Archbishops (Flynn and Nienstedt) were not available and had not yet heard the recording.  As in the past in response to other homosexual related problems in the same diocese, McGrath expressed concern about the situation, said the matter would be investigated and that "if action is necessary it will be taken."

In the meantime, despite Fr. Tibesar's very public history of gay activism, he is still a pastor of a parish in the archdiocese and has apparently not incurred serious sanctions.

To hear the homily online click below:
http://media.putfile.com/Fr-Tibesar-refutes-Bp-Nienstedt

To POLITELY express concerns:

Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
communications@archspm.org

Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Coadjutor Archbishop
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
communications@archspm.org

See related articles:

Prominent Minneapolis-St. Paul Priest a Leader in National Homosexual Lobby Group
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06032009.html

Vatican Intervenes in Minneapolis Catholic "Gay Pride" Parish
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/oct/04102806.html

New Catholic Bishop Expected to Bring Orthodoxy and Opposition to Homosexual Agenda to Minneapolis
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07060507.html

Catholic St. Thomas University Votes to Sever Historic Ties with St. Paul Archdiocese
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/nov/07112103.html

Archdiocese Facing Parent Complaints over “Talking about Touching” Sex-Ed Program
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06022806.html

Archdiocese of St. Paul claims no "Subculture of Homosexual Priests" Here
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06032801.html

[AnAmericanMother]

Believe me, when you’re only 21 years old, 71 looks very old indeed . . . although it doesn’t look as old as it used to . . . . < g >

[GoLightly]

You were probably on the cusp.

You're probably right. The priest was very laid back (neither of us belonged to his parish), so that may have also played into it.

[AnAmericanMother]

Read 61 for that. We were married 30 years ago, not 20. It all seems to blur in my mind though . . . I am definitely getting old, but I’ve always been math-challenged. My husband the Tech man takes care of all that stuff for me . . . .

[wideawake]

Interesting that "pre-Cana" counseling took place in a group.

It was actually a seamless use of the Delphi technique.

We were put all in one group for a talk by the lay facilitators.

They gave short speeches about what was important to them in marriage, usually on bizarre themes like "not judging" and allowing "outside interests" and using "conflict resolution."

Then we were all required to make posters about our respective relationships (I will point out that despite this exercise, not one person present was a second-grader).

We were then divided into groups, each with our own facilitator. In each group, one couple's poster was selected as the "theme" for a group discussion.

We broke for lunch, during which the lay facilitators worked the crowd, laying the groundwork for the group discussion.

Then we separated into groups and the lay facilitators led us through theoretical scenarios from a real-life marriage, all of which emphasized compromise, negotiation and conflict resolution with a recurring emphasis on how important it was to abandon our own preconceived notions and prejudices. We then discussed what conclusions we had come to, with the facilitator moderating the discussion.

Then we reconvened as a group where each lay facilitator and a selected group spokesman talked about what we'd learned.

Then we had a "evening meditation" with readings from Khalil Gibran and Thomas Merton (all on themes of letting go of preconceived notions and prejudices) - followed by the priest's late arrival for his progressive, preconceived-notions-shattering talk.

As you can imagine, my patience with all this had reached its end when "father" stood up in front of the sanctuary and declared that he was just as fed up as we were with "all the moralizing bull**** we were fed in Sunday School."

My wife's pastor also met with us four times in one-on-one situations, mostly to make sure that we got along well, that our goals seemed compatible, that our parents got along well with each other, that we both wanted children and wanted to raise them Catholic.

And he made us take a standardized test required by the diocese.

[jjm2111]

Wow. What a story.

I’m engaged to be married and my fiancee’ and I are both “orthodox” (for lack of a better word) Catholics. My parish is orthodox and I believe the priest is willing to do private pre-marriage prep. I’d willingly go to a pre-cana that was in accordance with the teachings of the Faith, but don’t want to be told all the stuff I fight against, pray about, and pick myself up over is “okay”. Kudos to you for standing up.

It is a wonder and a blessing to go to an orthodox parish.

[redgolum]

Will any thing be done or will this guy be left to retire or die of old age on the pulpit as he leads souls astray? There are some rather old and strict canons of Ecumenical Councils that should come in to play, but I fear they won’t.

My brother in law is Catholic, but is raising their kids in my sister’s Lutheran church. Why? Because the priests in his area spew such things on a regular basis.

[AnAmericanMother]

I would think that the "Delphi technique" is so well known by now that it wouldn't work.

It never worked on me; I'm a contrarian and I will ask for clarification, ask people to 'define their terms', and then argue the opposite side just for clarity's sake.

We attend an extremely orthodox parish, but the rector had me totally pegged after a two hour discussion of doctrine -- he gave very generously of his time to two renegade Episcopalians off the street -- and decided we were so 'high church' we didn't need to go through the OCIA course. As my husband says, it's just as well because I would have been leading the class off down rabbit trails on every issue.

(since when is Khalil Gibran Catholic? And didn't Merton become a Buddhist?)

[NYer]

The upshot was that I composed a letter to his ordinary and two weeks later he took a leave of absence from his parish "for personal reasons."

Kudos on handling this in the proper manner. How truly sad, however, that we have to confront our priests in the first place.

[vox_freedom]

That priest looks just a little like this character don't you think?

[ArrogantBustard]

Will any thing be done

Good question ... since you're a regular on this forum, I expect that you'll find out in due time. If the "anything" is at all public, it'll be posted here.

[Salvation]

**Now an audio recording of a homily which Fr. Tibesar gave on Saturday October 27 which took aim at an Archbishop, a Vatican Cardinal, and a prominent Evangelical preacher has been posted online. **

Time for Father Tibesar to travel the tide so far.

[xzins]

the priest uses a cheap parallel

someone must minister to homosexuals, but it is hatred to condone their sin and self-destruction.

those who love them will speak against their suicidal behaviors

[vox_freedom]

[livius]

You’re lucky. Go to the private prep and avoid the garbage that masquerades as pre-Cana.

I even know some converts who have been able to go to private preparation and avoid RCIA, so I guess there are some priests out there who are fighting to get back their control over instruction and reassert both orthodoxy and their individual responsibility. The new improved committee-based Vatican II Church doesn’t like individuals, so this is a major battle.

[Huber]

What, now Georgia has a Tech too!?!

(Go Hokies)

[bboop]

Well, good for you. We are called to speak the Truth, after all. It always makes the too-nice ones uncomfortable and the accused ones livid. They burned the prophets, after all. And crucified our Lord. It’s the least we can do for Him.

[StAthanasiustheGreat]

I’ve stood up and stormed out of Mass once during the Homily. I made a point that it would be seen, I was also the lector, so it was noticed later as well. I was so angry at the priest.

[wideawake]

What set me off was this: here was a group of people some of whom were not very religious, many of whom were not regular Massgoers, some of whom were not Catholic.

Yet they were all making the effort, whether to please their spouses or their parents or their own consciences, to do the right thing and get married in the Church.

Some of them were even getting confirmed at the age of 25 or 27 so they could have a Church wedding ceremony.

So what we had was a group with some very vulnerable and uninstructed people in it, and they were told by the lay facilitators that when Father Contracepto finally deigned to arrive they would love him because he was so smart and so knowledgeable and so wise.

And as he gave that harangue in front of the sanctuary I could see that some of the people in the crowd thought he was ridiculous and off-putting and some thought they were listening to a man that knew what he was talking about.

And I thought to myself that these people were told that they were getting the real deal about Church doctrine from a knowledgeable source - so some of them were clearly thinking: "If this foul-mouthed clown is the best these people can offer, no thanks." Others were probably thinking: "Wow, if he's telling it like it is - I had no idea that the Church was this open to sexual liberation!"

Basically he was purposefully taking advantage of poorly instructed and vulnerable people to further his personal war against the magisterium, and it got me so angry I had to say something.

I'm sure I could have handled it better - what I should have done is raised my hand and asked politely: "Excuse me, Father, but it says in the Church's official Catechism promulgated by Pope John Paul II that artificial birth control is intrinsically evil - are you saying that the Catechism is incorrect and that the Pope is completely wrong?"

If I had done that in a polite rather than harsh tone, then he would have been forced to argue that the Pope and the Catechism were wrong and that he was somehow a more authoritative source than they - which probably would have done more good.

[NYer]

Lol ... does it have a name?

[jjm2111]

I did my adult confirmation at this parish and it was according to the catechism. They even passed them out. I am lucky. I’m not too fond of going to happy clappy services; once I saw the real deal, I don’t want to go back.