Church that gave Communion to Rainbow Sash members will not be reprimanded

A Minneapolis church that granted Holy Communion to church members wearing rainbow sashes on Pentecost Sunday will not be reprimanded by Archbishop Harry Flynn, a spokesman for the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said. A handful of members at St. Stephen's wore the multicolored fabric bands as a show of support for gay Catholics, according to Brian McNeill, organizer of the Rainbow Sash Alliance. The alliance has been encouraging supporters to wear the sashes each Pentecost Sunday since 2001, but Flynn had told the group this month that they would not receive Communion because the sashes appeared to have become a protest against church teaching. Archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath said he had asked the archbishop if there would be repercussions for churches that granted Communion to sash-wearing congregants. Flynn's reply was no, McGrath said. However, more than 150 alliance members were denied Communion Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Paul. (AP)