Priest pulled for refusing to support petition drive

The Rev. George Lange of St. Luke the Evangelist church in Westborough, MA chose to voice his opposition to the anti-gay marriage amendment by including the following statement in the September 11 church bulletin:

"The priests of this parish do not feel that they can support this amendment. They do not see any value to it and they see it as an attack upon certain people in our parish, namely those who are gay."

He got the hook as a result and was replaced last weekend by Worcester Bishop Robert McManus who scolded him to the congregation.  A Diocese spokesperson indicates that Father George will not be around for this weekend's Mass either (when petition's are scheduled to be distributed) as he is taking a "previously scheduled vacation."

It has been reported to KnowThyNeighbor.org that the Archdiocese is allegedly threatening local priests with the loss of their pensions if they do not support the initiative petition measure and lead their parishioners to sign it.

Reverend Lange, it takes courage to stand up to such pressure.  We thank you!

To express YOUR support for Father George and his associate pastor, Rev. Stephen Labaire:

St. Luke The Evangelist Church
70 West Main Street
Westborough, MA   01581
p. (508) 366-5502
f. (508) 366-6049
stlukesparish@charter.net

Read more in the MetroWest Daily News..

Aaron Toleos, Director

Comments

[Cathy Coleman]

Although it's sad to hear about this priest being yanked from his parish, it's wonderful to hear about clergy who are taking risks to stand up for the rights of their gay friends, family members, and parishioners. Good for him!

[Juanito]

I have much respect for this priest, as a gay Catholic I can say that there are MANY such priests in this area...It is unfortunate that the Catholic leadership, which btw is TOTALLY out of touch with its parishoners, is sweeping priests under the rug when they stand up for marginalized members of their flock.

Then again, what do you expect from an organization that is sending SCHOOL CHILDREN home with petition sheets? I hope the parents of these children are more open minded than the church, for some of them WILL realize they are gay, no amount of "moral conditioning" can change that.

[Kazimierz Ochap]

I do not know what you are talking about.
GAY - PRIEST ,GAY - CATHOLIC, TRADITIONAL MARIAGE? WHAT,S THIS?????????

WAKE UP MAN ,OPEN YOUR MIND!!!!!!!!

kAZIMIERZ ,KAZQUO@AOL.COM

[Thomas DePaine]

From http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf...

A church or religious organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges
the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.

Churches and religious organizations may, however, involve themselves in issues of public policy without the activity being considered as lobbying. For example, churches may conduct educational meetings, prepare and distribute educational materials, or otherwise consider public policy issues in an educational manner without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.

[Sean]

If you ask me (a gay Catholic), if the Church is going to get actively involved in politics, then perhaps It's tax exempt status should be revoked. If It has the will and the means to shape our laws and government, then It should be paying Its share of taxes.

[Thomas DePaine]

Is there any doubt that the Catholic church has the will and means to shape laws and government in Massachusetts?

[CMA]

I was taught by the Catholic church to accept all people as they are, to love unconditionally and without bias, and to love my neighbor as myself.

Instead, the church of today is exclusionary and discriminatory, and not even remotely loving. Such hypocrasy is abominable. The church has lost its soul.

[David]

In the 1880s the Catholic Church rejected the idea of sufferage for women, during the next ten years church attendence by better educated and wealthier folks declined by 20% and by 1900 the church softened its opinion and by 1930 endorsed full rights at the voting booth for women.
The church today is repeating the same blockhead mistakes. By 2020 the whole Gay issue will be resolved, not by conscience, but by economics. When Catholics stay home, cease droping bucks into the collection plate, change will come. All religions are first and last a business. No customers, no future!
Most Americans under 40 are indifferent to Gay rights. As the older bigots die, things will change.
Massachusetts will never go back to just Heterosexual marriages, the church knows this. But pandering to fear still pays, for a while.

[R]

I agree with all of the above comments. I applaud this wonderful priest and wonder why the church is so discriminatory. I thought we were supposed to love all people as they are! Glad I'm not catholic

[Joe Giblin]

It needs to be repeated over and over, the catholic church does not want gays and lesbians in any capacity, actively fights against this, is, in many covert and not-so-covert ways, opposed to the life, health, safety and emotional well-being of all gays and lesbians...so why, why, why are there still any gay/lesbian catholics to discriminate against??
There are far more welcoming (and truly "Christ-like") christian denomenations around who would be happy to allow ex-catholic gays and lesbians to celebrate among them...
Gay catholics need to wake up to their responsibility to themselves, their sense of self-worth, their spiritual well-being and stop clinging to the old, tired, man-made, withering anachronism that is the catholic chuch in the 21st century.

[CMA]

I agree, Joe G, and I would also encourage straight but not narrow Catholic families to consider if the church REALLY represents their interests and beliefs. If not, they too are ripe for a change!

[John Hosty]

Great posts guys, but what are you going to do about it? I for one am filing a complaint with the attorney general's office citing the Boston archdiacies with activity in violation of their 501 tax exemption. Anyone with me? There is strength in numbers and now is the time to chime in.

[John Hosty]

Not like the bazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land,
Here at our sea-washed, sunset-gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome, her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin-cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she,
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretch refuse of your teeming shore;
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
This is from Emma Lazaruz "The New Colosus." It's on the statue of Liberty...

[John Hosty]

Maybe we should have a petition drive to change it to "But keeps your gays." What do you think? Here in America we have Freedom Fries. In France they have Idiot Cheese. Wake up America, you are embarrasing yourself.

[LB]

I would suggest as people discover the email addresses of signers of this petition that they begin posting them, so that contact can be made directly by email. As has been stated previously the signers of this petition should be proud and stand behind their handywork of attempting to destroy other families. Those opposed to their handywork can express their opinion directly to them. Those in favor of their handywork can further conspire with them in their hatefilled and evil ways. I suggest this website have a special link to "discovered" email addresses for each of the signers.

[Reuben]

Discovered emails of the 30 original signers (or as many as I could find on Google... P.S. I heart Google!)

Lois Barndt at lbarndt@parkstreet.org

Kris Mineau at Phone: (617) 928-0800 Fax: (617) 928-1515 or email him at mafamily@mafamily.org

Carole A Moran at moranstudios@aol.com and her phone and fax are 781 631 4399, 781 631 1921

Carole's husband Philip (also a signer) has a shared work email at qualityteam@moranshipping.com

that's all i could find at the moment

[Paul]

Local Priest Tells 22News he won't be Distributing or Collecting Petitions

EAST LONGMEADOW, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) - A local catholic priest says his parishioners are free to sign the anti-gay-marriage petitions, but he says he will not be distributing or collecting the petitions on Sunday. Father James Scahill says the decision does not mean he is defying the church hierarchy, or challenging his bishop. Scahill tells 22News a letter from Bishop Timothy McDonnel does not require area priests to distribute petitions or collect signatures or mandate how the matter is to be handled. "He says you may permit the collection of signatures if you choose you can have sign up table's available-do you see? So were not disobeying the bishop. This is not a personal thing at all he is very sensible in leaving some liberty in how this is to be handled", said Father James Scahill of St. Michael's Church in East Longmeadow. But 22News asked Father Scahill why he had decided not to distribute or collect the signatures on Sunday. "This is a parish that is all embracing and all welcoming. We have in this parish, I'm sure, gays and lesbians, divorced and remarried people and we come for fellowship because we're all one in Christ and to do this on a weekend to me is not appropriate and I believe the majority of people at St. Michaels would agree with me," said Father Scahill . He also says using church grounds for this purpose could jeopardize the church's tax-exempt status, but he says the petitions will be available at the church office during the week for those who would like to sign them.

http://www.wwlp.com/news2004/story.html?artID=274873

WWLP-TV22
PO Box 2210
Springfield, MA 01102-2210

[Mark Zanghetti]

This is just another example of the Catholic Church embarassing itself. This is a civil issue and the church has no business being involved. I consider this just one more reason to no longer worship at a catholic church.

[John Hosty]

I would be trying to get people to sign the petition too if I were a priest. After all, they have all these people in their churches that are so good they can pass judgement on others, and they've got their boss telling them if they don't get out there and get some signatures they're fired.

[A&R S]

The sad fact is that the Catholic Church did not oppose Plessy and Jim Crow in the American South. It is true that the number of Catholics is small in the Deep South, the state of Louisiana was the opposite. Often the slaves were the religion of the slaveowner, so many "good Catholics" from pre and ante-bellum days supported the system. Catholic parishes were segregated as were Catholic schools. Black priests were never prelates, let along hierarchs.

The mostly white Josephite priestly order was initially responsible for the " Catholic coloured". The irony today is that the president of the synod is a black bishop, whom many speculate is a celibate gay man. In fact, percentages vary on the number of active ordained gay priests in the USA and Canada, not to mention bishops, archbishops and cardinals who are also gay.

The miscegenation laws were enforced in Catholic parishes...and the Vatican opposed the politics of integration and civil rights.

Accomodation with power for access and tolerance has always been the modus operandi of the American Catholic Church.

It is my understanding that there are schismatic and legitimate Catholic jurisdictions independent of Rome where sacraments can be received - and some are gay-friendly. I know little of this, but know that they exist.

There are several positions that I do not believe a self-respecting and self-loving gay or lesbian person can hold, or organisations that they belong to. The litmus test is always the same. Is joining this group or holding these opinions doing injury and violent harm to the GLBT community and its righteous struggle for equality and freedom?

[Ghengis Cohen]

That last sentence does injury and violent harm to the English language and its righteous struggle for clarity and meaning.

Bad grammar can disguise bad logic, and your friends will nod and cheer for you, but it's not going to persuade anyone.

[Ghengis Cohen]

"The litmus test is always the same. Is joining this group or holding these opinions doing injury and violent harm to the GLBT community and its righteous struggle for equality and freedom?"

Please tell me if I've translated this correctly:

"don't you dare belong to any of our enemies' organizations."

[Ghengis Cohen]

There's nothing undemocratic about the Religious left supporting ssm, nothing undemocratic about same-sex couples bringing their children to rallies to promote same-sex marriage, and there's nothing wrong with churches giving children petitions to overturn an insane court decision that marriage was about affirming adult love rather than about the interests of children. Honestly, let's all try to act less sanctimoniously shocked when our opponents use the exact same tactics that we are using. If the Catholic church were using these same tactics in FAVOR of ssm, would you be complaining?

[John Hosty]

Well put Ghengis. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. I think that what people see as the difference between the two situations is that the gay community is teaching their children love and understanding, not only for themselves, but teaching their kids to forgive those who bring harm to them. Kindness is not weakness, it is strength. The opposition teaches their children hate is OK if given the right reasons. Hatred creates a mess our children will have to clean up if we allow it to continue. I want my children to inheret a better world than what I came into, not the same or worse. Love conquers all, and with love I say to all our world is changing. You cannot stand in the same river twice. What do you want for the future?

[Ghengis Cohen]

You are teaching love and understanding John Hosty, and there are those in this community and on thos board who call you an "uncle Tom" for it. Well, there were also extremists during the 1960s who used that term for Martin Luther King. Just like white supremacists called liberal whites "____-lovers." You and I are both heretics for trying to build bridges accross orthodoxies. If you represented your community and I respresented mine, this would be a much simpler argument.

There's nothing disloyal about your intellectual honesty, separating the question of whether a cause is just (Augustine's jus ad bellum) from the question of whether the means are moral (jus in bello). Any more than I am being disloyal to the marriage when I recogize your grievances, and recognize that whether gays "choose" their lives or not does not affect whether they have civil rights, and that we should let you define yourselves and your own identity.

There is no such thing as a civil rights movement that isn't rooted in firm principles.