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Gay U.K. Catholics Hold Separate Mass


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A mass in London offers pastoral care for gay Roman Catholics, but under an agreement between church officials and parishioners, it does not challenge church teaching that homosexual acts are wrong.

According to BBC Radio 4, as Pope Benedict XVI prepares to visit the United Kingdom next week, the “gay mass” at Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Gregory in London’s West End is the only one of its kind in the U.K. It takes place with the blessing of senior clergy and an agreement from parishioners not to challenge church doctrine.

“The Church hierarchy wanted assurances that the services would not become a platform for challenging Catholic teaching,” reports BBC Radio 4. “So one of the ‘underlying principles’ of staging the service is: ‘Information about the Mass will be sensitive to the reality that the celebration of Mass is not to be used for campaigning for any change to, or ambiguity about, the Church's teaching.’”

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, suggested the church would be open to similar services in other parts of the country upon request. Some traditionalists have protested the mass and asked the archdiocese of Westminster to stop it.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Gez
    Date posted: 9/12/2010 5:34:20 PM
    Hometown: Bournemouth, United Kingdom

    Comment:

    I am an openly gay Catholic guy with a chequered past. The peace I feel having turned away from my previously promiscuous, selfish, hedonistic existence is immense. I willingly spend time with Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother, and am so much happier for doing so. I place my anxieties, fears and aspirations in the hands of Jesus and Mary in the sincere belief that all will be well. Many prayers have been answered. And yes, I pray one day that I will meet a kind, caring, gentle and loving Catholic man to share my life. I sincerely believe that God will answer my prayer. Society is rapidly disintegrating. Kindness and compassion are being replaced by greed, selfishness, hatred, violence and a hedonistic immorality that ultimately destroys the spirit. Are people really happier in our free-for-all, anything goes society? I wasn't. My faith is my greatest treasure, and my greatest source of strength. God is love.

  • Name: Mike
    Date posted: 9/11/2010 7:43:44 PM
    Hometown: Ottawa

    Comment:

    Jesus loves gay people just as much as He loves straight people. His sacrifice on the cross is for ALL who come to Him, and that includes those of us in the GLBT community. To those who say negative things against Christianity, please remember that your fellow GLBT commrades are not all anti-Christian. To disparage Christianity and Christians makes you no better than those who claim to speak for GOD and who try to disparage you. God is love...Peace

  • Name: Jerry
    Date posted: 9/11/2010 7:19:56 PM
    Hometown: Washington DC

    Comment:

    To all of you who are willing to be treated as less than human by Archbigots and that ugly Nazi in the Vatican, please don't squeal while they are screwing you.

  • Name: John in SF
    Date posted: 9/11/2010 7:46:46 AM
    Hometown: San Francisco

    Comment:

    Abandon all the religions of Abraham! They only lead to hate and stupidity.

  • Name: Terence Weldon
    Date posted: 9/10/2010 2:03:49 AM
    Hometown: Surrey UK

    Comment:

    The battered spouse analogy doesn't work here. The agreement not to "campaign" applies very specifically to the Mass itself - i.e the homilies. While these are not actively against church teaching, they are frequently very helpful to those of us in the congregation who are (and emphatically do no tell us to abandon our sexual lives). There many ways to skin a cat. Simply offering an opportunity for getting together gay Catholics to chat after Mass helps them to grow as men and women who are out and confident in the Church as well as in the world. Many of us are actively campaigning against Church teaching in other ways - just not specifically at the Mass (e,g. as I do at my blogsite, "Queering the Church".) And the simple existence of the Mass makes a powerful political statement, as is evident from the hostile reaction from Church conservatives, who have had an important brush-off from the Archbishop pver the Masses, saying they should avoid judging us.

  • Name: SteveMD2
    Date posted: 9/9/2010 11:40:30 PM
    Hometown: baltimore

    Comment:

    Its about time that the good priests unionize against the tyrantss of rome. And cut off the fundings. And tell Pope RATZInger where to go.

  • Name: Bill
    Date posted: 9/9/2010 3:44:36 PM
    Hometown: Arlington

    Comment:

    The Catholic Church is in reality two very distinct churches. There is the hierarchical church (old men in dresses) and the church of the people who are far beyond the formal church (pro-gay, pro-divorce, pro-birth control, very socially involved). For us who are Catholic, we feel a particular attraction to the Eucharist. I could give a flying f--k what the official church says on moral issues. They lost any credibility to even speak on ethics.

  • Name: Rico
    Date posted: 9/9/2010 3:23:57 PM
    Hometown: kansas city

    Comment:

    Typical behavior of a battered spouse. "If I do all of the things that they say, then they won't get mad and abuse me and then they will love me." Hey, this doesn't work in a battered spouse relationship and it won't work in this case either. Forget the Catholic Church. They don't want you.

  • Name: Edward
    Date posted: 9/9/2010 1:06:34 PM
    Hometown: Millbrook NY

    Comment:

    Mark: your...comment...makes...not...one...shred...of...sense. Internalized homophobia is a condition that occurs in gay men. Is this yet one more comment that states all gay-hating people are really in the closet? Did you even bother to read the article?

  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 9/9/2010 12:28:12 PM
    Hometown: WF

    Comment:

    More mentally ill people suffering from internalized homophobia.



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