Catholic parents send
pro-gay message
to Vatican
BY STEVE SCOTT,
duluthsuperior.com from the Web, October 13, 2005
ST. PAUL -- About 75 Catholic
parents of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children released a statement
Wednesday evening rejecting church teaching on homosexuality and calling Vatican
policies "spiritually abusive." A group called Catholic Rainbow Parents
read a "declaration of wisdom and love" on the steps of the Cathedral of St.
Paul before placing a scroll containing the document in the center door of the
cathedral.
As a bagpiper played and a light rain fell, the group then walked across the
street and mailed a copy to the Vatican and another to the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops.
"We are here to do what we believe Jesus would have us do," said parent Myrna
Ohmann of St. Cloud. "Jesus challenged the authorities to change the rules
that oppressed the marginalized of his day... We are here to challenge the
church and society to rethink and adjust their attitudes."
The group objects to church documents calling homosexual orientation
"objectively disordered" and concluding that gay people are "intrinsically
inclined toward evil."
Two men stood off to the side observing and photographing Wednesday's ritual but
declined to identify themselves or their affiliation. Catholics
identifying themselves as "orthodox" frequently voice opposition to such events
and say they seek to promote "full and total obedience to the infallible
Magisterium of the Church," according to one of their recent e-mails.
Catholic Rainbow Parents formed in July, in part because "the posture of the
Vatican is getting more aggressive under this pope," said the group's
coordinator, Mary Lynn Murphy of St. Paul. "Our main mission is to reach
out to GLBT persons and their parents who happen to be Catholic and say, "You
don't have to take this kind of language."
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