Posted on 05/30/2009 2:03:55 PM PDT by bdeaner
Individuals wearing rainbow-colored sashes at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Pentecost Sunday May 31 will not be allowed to receive Communion, according to a statement released by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Statement from the archdiocese
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has released the following statement.
The archdiocese has received word that a group dissenting from the church’s teaching on sexuality will be wearing signs of protest (rainbow sashes) at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Pentecost Sunday during the noon Mass. Those wearing such sashes will not be allowed to receive Holy Communion, since they have publicly broken communion with the teachings of the church.
The Holy Eucharist should never be politicized by protesters in this way. Theirs is a sign of disrespect and irreverence to the body and blood of Jesus.
The sashes are a symbol used by a gay rights activist group, Rainbow Sash Alliance USA, that is “publicly calling the Roman Catholic Church to a conversion of heart around the issues of human sexuality,” according to its Web site.
The archdiocesan statement calls the sashes “signs of protest” from a group “dissenting from the church’s teaching on sexuality.”
“The Holy Eucharist should never be politicized by protesters in this way,” the statement says. “Theirs is a sign of disrespect and irreverence to the body and blood of Jesus.”
The policy not to distribute Communion to sash-wearers at the Cathedral dates back to 2005. In a letter that year to the organizer of Rainbow Sash Alliance USA, now-retired Archbishop Harry Flynn said that “it has become apparent to me that the wearing of the sash is more and more perceived as a protest against church teaching” and that the Vatican considers wearing the rainbow sash during reception of the Eucharist unacceptable.
In the letter, Archbishop Flynn reiterated the policy of the Catholic Church and archdiocese “to be welcoming to baptized Catholics of all backgrounds, including those with same-sex orientation.”
He wrote, “The criterion for reception of the Eucharist is the same for all — recipients must be in a state of grace and free from mortal sin. While the decision for that judgment rests with an individual Catholic’s conscience, it has never been nor is it now acceptable for a communicant to use the reception of Communion as an act of protest.”
Please consider writing a letter of support, or communicaiton support by phone or email, to Archbishop Nienstedt:
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
communications@archspm.org
I hope they have the guts to go through with witholding it.
Could this be the beginning of a “RUFFLE”mation?
It is like they want access to the brand name “Christian” in order to legitimize their perversion, but first they need to separate the Church from the Bible.
Good.
Good for the arch-bishop! May this wisdom have many children.
What’s a “RUFFLE”mation? Obviously an inside joke, but I’m curious... ;)
In our town there are three Baptist Churches, two splitting off the first....Two Lutheran (who won’t even give communion to each other....Always a reason to divide, seldom a reason to unite in Christ...
It seems they are always changing to become more secular never the opposite.
Good for the church. Good for them. What insanity thinks sodomy is christlike? Things like this are how to tell when the church is on the righteous path.
“It is like they want access to the brand name “Christian” in order to legitimize their perversion, but first they need to separate the Church from the Bible.”
VERY well put!
I thought this was great and I hope they hold out and the Archibishop has enough control over his clergy to enforce it.
People always want approval when they know they’re doing something wrong.
In our town there are three Baptist Churches, two splitting off the first....Two Lutheran (who won’t even give communion to each other....Always a reason to divide, seldom a reason to unite in Christ...
It seems they are always changing to become more secular never the opposite.
Wow, you really know a lot about the activities, and especially their motivations, of the churches in your town. I'm really impressed with your knowledge. You must spend a lot of time attending Baptist and Lutheran churches to know so much about them.
And they ALL are taking their actions because they want to become more secular? Just Wow. What a bunch they are, not like you, for sure.
Do you think they will ever listen to you? If only they would, if only they would, eh?
Please, PLEASE, PLEASE! go through with this. Show these pervert goons that there is at least ONE institution with the guts to stand on principle.
That is how its been going for about 500 years. Pickin up steam along the way.
‘If you know homosexuality is not consistent with the teachings of Christ, and you want to be homosexual, then why would you ever want to belong to a Christian Church in the first place.
It is like they want access to the brand name “Christian” in order to legitimize their perversion, but first they need to separate the Church from the Bible.’
Exactly. That is exactly it. The anti-Bible and anti-Christian left know if they take over Christian institutions they can con enough of the undiscerning and unlearned into accepting that their Marxist, unbiblical ideas are in fact Christian.
As a Christian myself, I have far more respect for atheists/secularists who are intellectually honest enough with the Bible to admit that Christ Himself defines marriage as between one man and one woman in Matthew 19:4-6 and that all sexual behavior outside that relationship is sinful yet they disagree with Him and His word than I do for so-called “Christians” who lie and say Christ and the Bible teaches otherwise.
“People always want approval when they know they’re doing something wrong.”
Not just want it. They demand it. I once worked at job where one of the managers was a lesbian whose “partner” conceived a turkey baster child and there was all kinds of pressure on us to attend a baby shower honoring the event. I didn’t attend but it annoyed me so much. I was at this place for a job and a paycheck, not to make this woman feel good about herself and her actions/decisions in her personal/outside-of-work life. It was not in my job description when I applied for the job and I found it a very inconsiderate intrusion on her fellow employees.
The motivation is hostile to the church, and the intention is destructive. They don't want to "belong" to the Catholic Church, they want to pervert it.
This is another illustration of the hostility that drives homosexuality in general and evidence of the psychopathology that characterizes the disorder.
Very good way of putting it. That's something that annoys me intensely about this mentality. There's a lot of pressure on "innocent bystanders" - that is, people who simply happen to be co-workers or neighbors - to get out there and "affirm" people in these special categories.
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