wex@milano.uucp (Alan Wexelblat) (03/20/87)
[PLEASE NOTE: This article was originally cross-posted to soc.motss.
However this copy will not mention that group. If you want to post to
both, make the adjustment yourself. I am unable to find a bangist
path to mcc.com. If you can't route to it, feel free to send
the mail to topaz!hedrick for forwarding. --clh]
Heeding recent Vatican calls for strict antigay orthodoxy, Brooklyn Bishop
Francis Mugavero has banned Dignity, the gay Catholic support group from
meeting or celebrating mass in any church-affiliated facility in his
diocese.
In a letter last month, Mugavero ordered his 850 priests to "withdraw any
support which may have in the past been given to Dignity or similar groups."
The letter further specified that a Catholic group called Courage, which
advocates celibacy for homosexuals, will be given access to church
facilities.
Mugavero's sweeping ban stunned gay right activists nationwide, since the
bishop had been perceieved as a liberal "friend" of gays, particularly in
contrast to his overtly antigay Manhattan counterpart, John Cardinal
O'Connor. But Mugavero chose to hew to the Vatican line on homosexuality.
Gays, he said "have a right to our ministry, but the danger is in
perspective and public reaction ... [P]eople may say we're approving of
homosexual activity."
Dignity president Jim Bussen said he was "very disappointed and very angry"
about Mugavero's decision. He hoped the Brooklyn chapter would "take a
militant stand" against the prohibition.
However, a spokesman for Dignity/Brooklyn, who asked to remain anonymous,
said his chapter did not plan to protest Mugavero's move. "One cannot
protest; it's coming right from Rome. One cannot argue with the pope. We
really have no angry words with the bishop because we understand his
situation."
Not all Dignity chapters have been so complacent. In Buffalo, for
instance, when Bishop Edward Head withdrew permission for Dignity to meet
in a local church, the 50-member chapter mounted an angry public protest
and vowed "not to go quietly into the night."
Brother Rick Garcia, Midwest coordinator for the Catholic Coalition for Gay
Civil Rights said protest "is just not [Dignity's] style. By and large
they're conservative, very respectful gentlemen who don't want to upset
bishops." Instead, Garcia expects strong opposition from such groups as
the National Coalition of American Nuns and Priests and from Catholic gay
activists not aligned with Dignity.
--
Alan Wexelblat
ARPA: WEX@MCC.COM
UUCP: {seismo, harvard, gatech, pyramid, &c.}!sally!im4u!milano!wex
"Never complain, never explain."