For more than fifteen years, gay and lesbian Catholics in San Antonio, Texas were able to attend a weekly Mass at St. Ann Catholic Church, but last Sunday reports the Houston Chronicle the church hierarchy chose to suspend the service indefinitely. Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantu, the interim head of the archdiocese told church officials that the Mass, conducted by a small contingent of priests sympathetic to the gay and lesbian community, was in conflict with the Catholic teaching because the Mass was offered for the national gay Catholic advocacy group, Dignity San Antonio. In a letter dated October 13th addressed to St. Ann pastor, Father John Restrepo, Cantu wrote that “The Mass ... continues to send conflicting messages about the Church’s official teaching concerning the proper celebration of the Eucharist and living an active homosexual lifestyle.” Cantu set the following Sunday, October 18th, as the termination date, and added that he condemned any and all prejudice or hate against gays and lesbians, and he urged worshippers to attend Mass as a part of the broader Catholic community. Neither Cantu nor Restrepo were available for comment. Father Eddie Bernal, one of the priests to have conducted the weekly celebration, expressed disappointment at the archdiocese’s decision, saying “We need to provide good preaching and good teaching to this community. I have met some of the most wonderful people in my life in Dignity. They’ve changed my life for the better. And I’ve learned so much.” San Antonio Dignity President Fred Anthony Garza said “Our faith teaches us that the Church is a community of people, not a building. So we will continue to meet in a more welcoming environment,” adding that “The decision was highly personal and unexpected. It meant hurt. It means rejection. It means one thing is compromised in our lives.”
The New York Times reports that a park bench was dedicated Friday for Michael J. Sandy, who, the day after he turned 29 year old was killed in 2006 after being lured to area off the Belt Parkway by three young men who beat and attempted to rob him. Sandy was chased onto the highway, struck by a car, and died. All of the attackers were convicted of hate crimes.
Is Sesame Street a tad gayer this year? The Los Angeles Times thinks so, an article Saturday suggesting that “In its own subtle, perhaps, unintentional way, the show’s latest season feels more LGBT-friendly than ever.”
Why, the Washington Post asks, has the Log Cabin Republicans, who brought forward the federal lawsuit successfully challenging the constitutional validity of the American military policy prohibiting openly gay service members, endorsed ten House GOP incumbents, six of whom voted against repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” as well as offering support to Republican Mike Fitzpatrick in a Pennsylvania batted against Representative Patrick Murphy, the Democratic Iraq War veteran who has championed the policy’s bill?
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