Posted on 11/28/2007 6:26:28 PM PST by topher
Source URL:
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/nov/07112803.html
LifeSiteNews.com
Wednesday November 28, 2007
Controversial Pro-Homosexuality Priest Has Pro-Life Activist Parishioner Arrested
By John Connolly
SAN MATEO, California, November 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A pro-life activist long-time parishioner was arrested at the request of a pro-homosexuality Catholic priest on Tuesday, November 13 for trespassing on church grounds at St. Matthew's parish in San Mateo after the activist allegedly defied a ban on attendance at the church.
Controversial Pro-Homosexuality Priest Has Pro-Life Activist Parishioner Arrested Ross Foti, 72, has attended St. Matthew's for eighteen years, and became a well-known and controversial figure in the parish over his staunch pro-life views and active voice against homosexuality.
Catholic San Francisco, the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, reported that the dispute between Foti and the parish began over the truck he drives to protest at a local abortion clinic. Parents complained that the truck's graphic images of aborted babies were traumatic for children on their way to school.
Fr. Anthony McGuire, pastor of St. Matthew's, banned Foti from attending the 8:15AM children's Mass on Fridays, a ban that Foti asserts was not permanent. He also insists that Fr. McGuire has no right to ban him from Mass. Despite Foti's willingness to cover the graphic images on his truck, Fr. McGuire requested that Foti also cover signs that read, "Abortion is murder."
"I'm not doing anything wrong," said Foti, who has been ordered to appear in San Mateo County Superior Court on Dec. 27. "I don't feel that [McGuire] had any valid grounds to ban me from the church."
Fr. McGuire, however, disagrees. He said that Foti was unwilling to be flexible in response to the parents' concerns.
"Mr. Foti denied their experience and told them that these pictures did not have any bad effect on their children," he said. "That is the main issue."
Katie Short, a lawyer for the Life Defense Legal Foundation said Foti did not do anything illegal and confirmed that he has never been a threat to children.
"Where do you draw the line with parishioners drumming other parishioners out of the parish?" she asked. "Who can pressure the pastor the most?"
Fr. McGuire has served in many notable parishes in the San Francisco Archdiocese, and is credited for the transformation of Most Holy Redeemer parish, now a notoriously pro-homosexual parish that became increasingly gay- and lesbian-oriented during Fr. McGuire's tenure. While pastor of Most Holy Redeemer, Fr. McGuire saw to it that gay couples could be included at the parish as Eucharistic ministers, and approved a gay and lesbian outreach program for the parish.
In 2006, following in the legacy of Fr. McGuire, Most Holy Redeemer parish sent a delegation to the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade.
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
San Francisco Archbishop Responds After Caught on Video Giving Communion to Gay Men Dressed as Nuns
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/oct/07101004.html
San Francisco Archdiocese on BBC "Gay Mass": It was not a Mass and We Didn't Endorse it
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/apr/07042705.html
Scandalous San Francisco 'Gay Pride' Pastor and Chancellor Back in Saddle after "Leave" http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06111709.html
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What is it with California -- is it the land of fruits and nuts?
What is it with California -- is it the land of fruits and nuts?
From your keyboard to God's mailbox...Father Corapi is great!
‘traumatic for the kids’...
NO honey, what happened to the kids in those pictures was traumatic.
Your little crumb-cruncher goes to public skool, gets taught how to put condoms on bananas ‘cuz ‘kids are just going to do it anyway’, read ‘The Two Princes’ or ‘My Two Dads’, all his textbooks have ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ crossed out as this somehow offends gays (what the hell doesn’t offend them????), can participate in ‘The Day of Silence’ but biblical t-shirts and bibles will get you suspended.
No sweetheart, seeing the consequences of murder is not traumatic. what is traumatic is what those babies went through by their own parents, and government funding helped it happen. That’s friggin’ traumatic. And pathetic.
You have anything to back that up? It is my understanding that the parents that are complaining have children who attend St. Matthew's School located at the church. http://www.stmatthew-parish.org/school.html
Oh, those poor kids - going to a school operated by a church run by a pro-homosexual 'priest'. That can't be a good thing.
When is the church going to wake up and toss these so-called 'priests' out on their ears?
Of course one is required to extend communion to men dressed in drag as nuns who mock the Church and her teachings, or politicians who thumb their nose at Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life, but heaven forbid that a pro-life abortion clinic protester attempt to take communion. Sheesh...
While he did serve a stint at the gay church in SanFrancisco, it looks like most of his career has been involved in ethnic ministry, including a stint at the USCCB as director of Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees from 1998 to 2003. He may just be a confirmed liberal.
Elderly pro-lifer arrested for trespass at his San Mateo parish pleads not guilty; trial set for Jan. 22
Ross Foti, the pro-life activist arrested after coming onto the grounds of St. Matthews Church in San Mateo last November, pleaded not guilty to charges of trespass on Dec. 27. Foti, 73, has long been a controversial figure at St. Matthews. Last year, parents of children at the parish school began complaining about Fotis truck, displaying graphic signs of aborted babies, which he parked on a public street adjacent to the school. In September, Foti, at the request of St. Matthews pastor, Fr. Anthony McGuire, agreed to cover the offending signs on his truck when it was parked near the church. Later, when Foti, according to McGuire, reneged on a promise never to attend the Friday childrens Mass (Foti said the ban was temporary), McGuire told him he was permanently banned from the parish.
When Foti later came to Mass on Tuesday, Nov. 13, McGuire had him arrested for trespass. Foti said he had attended two Masses the previous Saturday and had received communion from McGuire, but the priest had not had him arrested then. McGuire, however, claimed that he could do nothing about Foti on that Saturday, since Foti had left the church before he could speak with him. Scheduled to appear for a pre-trial conference on Jan. 10 and a jury trial on Jan. 22, Foti could face a fine and up to a year in jail if convicted on two counts of misdemeanor trespass. But, according to his lawyer, Katie Short of Life Legal Defense, the prosecution is charging him under a statute that prohibits entering and occupying real property or premises. Thats entering and occupying, said Short, and that means, basically, taking up residence. Its very difficult to make out a case of criminal trespass in California.
According to the San Mateo Daily Journal, Foti, who wants to be able to attend Mass at St. Matthews, would like to take his case before a court of canon law and pursue a civil suit for defamation of character. Foti would like to pursue a canon law remedy, said Short, but as for the claim that he wants to pursue a civil suit, I dont know where thats coming from. The question for the canonical court would be whether McGuire had the authority to forbid Foti to come to the parish. Ross did write to the vicar for clergy of the archdiocese [of San Francisco], said Short, and he got a letter back that said, I write to tell you that I support [Fr. McGuires] request that you withdraw permanently from St. Matthew Church. As pastor Fr. McGuire does have the right to make this decision and he does so after taking into account the best interests of all members of the parish and school community.
When she read the letter, Short said she thought, Wow, what youre saying is, somebody doesnt have to have done anything legally wrong, canonically wrong; a pastor can decide to expel someone in the best interests of the community. I frankly think that is something people should know. It puts in a whole new light this tolerance of pro-abortion politicians. Wouldnt it be in the best interests of a parish that it not be scandalized by the presence of pro-abortion politicians?
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