The Archdiocese of San Francisco has told the city’s notoriously ‘gay-friendly’ Most Holy Redeemer Parish it cannot host events on church grounds that include drag queens.
The new policy means that a homosexual drug and alcohol recovery group called the Castro Country Club must find a new venue for an Oct. 20 fundraiser originally planned for the parish’s social hall. The organization had held previous fundraisers at the parish for three years.
“The Castro Country Club had planned to hold our third annual Harvest Feast on October 20, 2012, at Most Holy Redeemer Church, where we have held this and other events in the past,” the group’s board of directors said in a statement published in the homosexual-oriented newspaper Bay Area Reporter.
“…It is our organization’s policy to be inclusive and welcoming to all. Drag queens are no exception. We are currently seeking an alternative venue for the Harvest Feast, which provides an important source of revenue for our annual budget.”
Father Brian Costello, who took over as pastor at Most Holy Redeemer on July 1, told the Castro Country Club during the first week of August that it could not hold the dinner on parish grounds if drag queens were to be included as part of the event.
“I am the new pastor,” Father Costello was quoted as saying in the Bay Area Reporter. “There is a new archbishop. The archdiocese told me straight out, ‘No drag queens.'”
“I am big on compromising,” Father Costello told the newspaper. “[Castro Country Club] would not work with me. It was all or nothing. And they got nothing.”
The parish has a long history of problems associated with drag queens. In October 2006, the archdiocese banned the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” who describe themselves as “the leading-edge order of queer nuns,” from holding monthly bingo games in MHR’s parish hall.
“The Archdiocese of San Francisco has directed the parish to end the arrangement immediately,” then-archdiocesan spokesman Maurice Healy said at the time. “For years the group has directed contempt and ridicule at Catholic faith and practices. The particular targets of the group’s derision are women in religious communities, for whom Catholics, and many non-Catholics, have a special reverence and respect.”
Drag shows are nothing new at Most Holy Redeemer. In 2011 the parish hosted the Switch Hitters Ball, and in 2007, the parish hosted the Desperate Divas drag contest, just one week before the unfortunate visit of Archbishop George Niederauer, who gave communion to two members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and for which the archbishop later apologized.
The ban at Most Holy Redeemer is the latest action by the San Francisco archdiocese directed at drag queens. Archdiocesan officials threatened to cancel a June 15 fundraiser for a cancer charity at St. Mary’s Cathedral if the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were allowed to participate. Event sponsors relented and told the “queer nuns” not to show up — but said they would not schedule future events at Catholic venues.
Good beginning!
BRAVO!!!
Good beginning? We’ll see.
They should be banned. They are mocking nuns, and are a hate group against Catholics. Why would any Catholic church allow such behavior on any of their properties? I can’t even believe this is a discussion and that the pastor wanted to be inclusive. Sorry… You don’t get it both ways.
All people are equally wonderful. But not all actions. There is a difference between discrimination and prejudice. Judging ahead tends toward rash judgment. But being discriminating just means saying that some actions are good and worthy while others are bad and unworthy.
We have an obligation to lovingly stand up for the true welfare of our Same Sex Attracted brothers and sisters. This lifestyle that has been foisted upon so many innocent but troubled young people by ruthless political activists is deadly and leads to so much unhappiness. Ultimately it cannot lead our vulnerable brethren to eternal life.
At least its a beginning for the return of truth in S.F. the DRAG sISTERS were in effect spitting in the face of catholics by mocking and making fun of our good sisters.The dumb leaders in that diocese excused this outrage by calling the spit — morning dew.IT was plain spitting in the face of catholics ,period.
Step one completed. Bishop Cordileone is off to an auspicious start.
The reform of the reform begins. We as Catholic laity should support our bishops who have decided that enough is enough. Go Bishop!
Peace and God Bless, and may Jesus Christ be at the center of your life.
It’s a start. Someone is sending out the message (from the East Bay?)that the most blatant and disgusting practices of the homosexual community will no longer be allowed at MHR. Let’s pray and hope that this new policy will continue and grow. I think that though Bishop, soon to be Archbishop, Cordileone has not yet been installed, he is already making changes in MHR. God bless him, and we need to pray daily for him.
I hope this is only the beginning of Cordileone’s cleaning. Next: telling that heretic Nancy Pelosi that she may not receive the Eucharist. God bless San Francisco’s new Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone!
One question! What in the hell took so long?!!
Where Jesus is Honored, He will Bless, not curse! Thank you Father, your battle has just begun and our prayers are with you and for all those that need Jesus in their hearts, that they will repent and be right with God forever. +JMJ+
It’s a start. Let’s hope that Archbishop Cordileone also immediately changes the way that marriage and human sexuality are taught in SF Catholic schools. Then, he needs to begin true outreach to homosexual groups, perhaps centered at MHR Church. This will create the biggest firestorm, telling homosexual groups that homosexual relations cannot (1) include sexual acts, and (2) be a basis for adoption of children. One position leads to salvation and one leads to the healthy raising of children (as new literature reflects the obvious, that homosexual “households” are terrible places to raise children). Big, big challenge, as it creates a model to be used nationwide for the eradication of movements toward normalcy of homosexual relationships.
While attending a celebration of a Baptism, one young 3 1/2 year old boy the son of two “married femailes” in a lofemud voice stated that he “Want a Real Daddy”.
I realized this as another man and myself sat on floor with him as we pushed a small model car back and forth on the floor with him. Women just do not know a boy does not play with dolls and cooking items. Boys just love playing with cars and trucks, and yes, even toy guns.
What a sad situation. Everyone in the room became silent and looked at the “female Father” as she squirmed in her seat.
What is a “lowfemud” voice?
Was this boy actually being baptized at this service?
Was it a Catholic Baptism?
If the priest has reason to believe that the child will not really be raised in the Faith, he has the authority to refuse such a baptism!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
It’s about respect for the Sacred space and the other congregants. That includes Drag Queens and heteros who walk off the beach and into worship in speedos and bikinis. I am am NOT exaggerating.
I believe you, Prof. Mc Caffrey because I went to Mass in the early to mid 70s in Santa Cruz, and a woman ahead of me actually received the Blessed Sacrament in a halter top, and I assume it has only gotten worse since in some places.
i’m glad father costelo put his foot down.
in addition to mocking REAL nuns, a lot of these drags queens have vulgar sexual nicknames that have no place in a catholic parish.
i will not forget how they ambushed archbishop nieederauer in 2007 by showing up for mass in thier outfits and then even came up for communion. the pastor at the time should have had ushers at the door, making sure such stupid antics weren’t allowed – for example, in our traidtion, men are not allowed to wear head coveredngs in church, for goodness’ sake, so coming with with a “nun’s veil” is wayyyyyyyy beyond that!!!
I remember that incident with the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” and the then-archbishop. Sin FreakSicko’s long been a cauldron of the antics of the Sodomitic Left – a city-sized freak show – for TOO long, and the archdiocese out there’s been “tolerant” for far too long. About doggone time someone dug their heels in against the Sodomitic Left once and for all. Watch the response, however. I guarantee you that some leftist shill’s going to come out accusing the Catholic Church of “hate-speech.” Mark my words – especially if Obama somehow steals the upcoming election – the Catholic Church’s tax exempt status is going to come under threat because of its “hate.” God save this republic.
The Catholic Church should have thrown that tax exemption in the criminal governement’s face long ago!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
About time. Drag queens at a Catholic church is worse than money-changers at the Temple, and Jesus drove the latter out with a whip!
Why did this take so insanely long. It certainly was not that the Archbishop Niederauer was not aware of their antics which even would have justified closing the church in Castro until the hypocrites stopped their antics. These drag queens were supossedly Catholics but were they? They certainly must have had some decent gay Catholics there but the drags etc. were allowed to get away with it!
it’s about TIME something was done about this atrocity…3 cheers for the San Francisco Archdiocese!
We have to remember Fr. Costello in our prayers for he is quickly going to become public enemy #1 at MHR. A Catholic Church has the mission of reaching out to sinners, of being inviting and denying no one, but for a sinner to follow Christ, we have to leave our sinfulness at the door and strive to follow the Lord with the laws of everlasting life. A Catholic Church hosting events of sexual deviance is analogous to going to smoking a pack of cigarettes while at a treatment session for lung cancer; it’s going to the place of healing but completely rejecting the availability for healing right in their midst. Hopefully changes taking place at MHR will draw people to the Lord. God Love You.
Bear in mind that the parish of Holy Redeemer Church is certainly not all gay. It might reduce the Sunday attendance of Mass for the ursurpers posing as “cutting edge and mocking gays.” What has been so common since the takeover of the parish by the ridiculous gay influelnce will now be gone. Perhaps the attendance will decrease but that is not the case yet. Nobody has even inferred that gays are not welcome but just prohibited from mocking and insulting the integrity of those who truly worship there. If these narcissistic fakes show up again show them the door or call the police.
All it takes is a Bishop who will say NO! And good for Fr. Costello! Good men doing God’s work!
Having these functions at other venues makes the most sense. God loves us all, but there is a time and a place for costumed performers pitching a message, even if it is inclusive.
There is one thing that worries me about what Fr. Costello said. He said, ” I am big on compromising.” In my oppinion you DON’T compromise when it comes to Christ and His Church.
i get the feeling hee meant something like:
“even though this a.a. group is not specifically catholic, i’ll let you use our propelrty because it’s for a good cause.”
could be wrong.
I think he meant that he want the Castro Country Club to compromise and they would host the dinner without the drag show but the organization did not want to do that. I am glad they have stopped the drag show. This will be a very good thing for this parish. I am sure there are many parishioners who are in agreement with the decision.
RR I felt the same way. hmmm I’m still not commenting on this because only time will tell….
Yup! We will just have to see!
The wider world is such a breath of fresh air in contrast to the darkness and gloom of the gay SF corruption. Took a greyhound trip and was surrounded by a group of beautiful young Irish nursing students, some from County Cork. Then while waiting in the station for the late night return bus, I was surrounded by a large group of Russian teenagers with their chaperones, again a complete breath of fresh air. What joyfulness among them!!!
Reaching out to sinners (and we are all sinners in one way or another) does not mean condoning or tolerating their sinful actions.
In fact admonishing sinners is a Work of Mercy, and it proves our Love of Neighbor since we want them to get to Heaven.
We must all pray for the new Pastor and the new SF Archbishop.
Since the ABP can not know everything that goes on at all times in his Diocese – be sure to report all sin and violations of Church teaching to him at his Diocese office – including documentation for investigation.
Father Costello is an AWESOME Priest who is MUCH APPRECIATED
AND LOVED here in the Archdiocese!!!
Please everyone keep praying for him.
Also, I really believe that it was probably AB Niederhauer that finally
put a stop to this as far as the archdiocese goes……
I know that I have experienced in my life that when someone is close
to retiring……they tend to be more open and to perhaps do things that
normally they were afraid of doing before.
archbishop niederauer has had to put a stop to many things are MHR parish already (such as the gay pride parade participation, and so forth), and for this they painted swasstikas on the church attacking him and pope benedict xvi for their german heritsage, comparing them to nazis and saying “where is the love?”
i’ll betcha he is glad that the NEW pastor is being proactive in saying NO to stuff on his own so it won’t be yet anotehr headache for him to have to deal with.
” pray that we may be preserved from bigoted and evil people, for not everyone has faith…
You can rely on the Lord, who will give you strength and guard you from the evil One.”
2Thessalonians 3:2-3
Catholic Churches are there for those who wish to attend Mass, and pray. For some reason, The News Media believes that this Parish is primarily there for Gay Drag Queen parties. Earlier, a Parish spokesperson was interviewed for the news, and his abject apology, his bowing and cringing, was painful and humiliating. The very Idea! That Gays were made to feel not welcome! That they can no longer strut around in the semi-nude! How racist! How biased! How bigoted! After all, Most Holy Redeemer is in a gay neighborhood. That means, they own the place. As for Catholics, well, tough! Turn over the deed to Castro Street!
MHR had planned to cancel all outside one night venues gay and straight before this happened. Fr. Brian was going to allow this event to go on then implement the no rental policy. The Archdiocese NOT the NEW ARCHBISHOP told Fr. Brian not to wait but to enact the new policy now. I’m sure Bishop Sal has more to deal with in transition then a fundraiser mc’d by a drag queen.
If you PREACH Gods love for all, PRACTICE Gods love for all.
Margaret, people don’t change immediately – Abp Neiderour (sp) has let this go on for years without doing anything at all – even though as a Bishop of the Diocese he owns Holy Redeemer Parish (check the county land records). The staff in the SanFran Diocese may just want to keep their jobs.
I agree with “If you PREACH Gods love for all, PRACTICE Gods love for all” from your post.
This means to admonish sinners – a Spiritual Work of Mercy. It means not to tolerate sin, not to give Scandal, etc., so that all may live forever in Heaven. – this is true love of neighbor.
If it were a monastery, his title would be Abbot Costello.
VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY good, JLS!
i’m glad that your tumble into that ditch did not take away your brain power or humor or wit.
If AB Cordileone does a commendable job cleaning up San Francisco, I wonder if the Vatican will consider making San Francisco a cardinalatial see.
In the first place…why was it ever permitted? Perhaps it was fear…..from those who threaten if they don’t get their way into the church…….
Abeca,
You mean they feared these misfits more than they feared the Justice of God!
Viva Cristo Rey!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Kenneth yes it seems that way….but I could be wrong though. : ) or could be worst? That they didn’t see any harm or had false compassion? Only the good Lord knows.
I can’t help wondering what the Holy Redeemer property is worth in a secular use in a decent real estate market. Once the Archdiocese reestablishes ‘orthodoxy’ the good pastor may be preaching to a literally empty building. Then its just a downward spiral till the place is closed for inadequate financial support.
Or just maybe St. John Vianney will bring the miracle he did at Ars to this poor parish!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Better to close down than to be a Parish promoting sin.
Merely the desire for money is not what Jesus preached.
As stated by Our Pope, our Church may become smaller.
It is better to have a smaller and faithful Church.
Those who do not adhere to the teachings in the CCC are not Faithful.
Oh, I think in that case the building would be far from empty.
Amen! Larry, and put in a shrine to St. Nicholas, he who interceeds to save from prostitution.
Bravo Bishop!
Now let’s purge the remainder of the “filth” (Pope Benedict XVI’s word, not mine) that infests the Church.
i really must google for a vatican-vacuum-cleaner…
max lad it’s no joking matter…I mean it!
Most parishes serve the people in the neighborhood, although many people don’t pay much attention to parish bounderies anymore. In this case, the church is in the heart of the Castro district of The City. It is there to serve the community. Because of its location, I would suspect that the majority of its parishioners are gay or lesbians. No matter who the pastor is, making decisions that support parishioners’ quest for God and different cultural norms makes for an interesting balancing act. Let’s give the new pastor a couple of years and then revisit the parish for assessment.
Cultural differences, Bob. Porno is “cultural diffences”? I think not. Porno is just porno.
i didn’t see BOB advocationg any porn…
Perhaps I misinterpreted Bob, if so I am sorry, but there certainly WAS porn going on there. Soft porn at least, but with all the sex toys there were raffling, I do not have much doubt that they were bringing in harder porn too, at least hidden.
“Because of its location, I would suspect that the majority of its parishioners are gay or lesbians” – So sodomy is not a sin in that parish?
No, Juergensen, being a gay or lesbian parishoner is not a sin in that parish. Nor in any parish.
Being gay or lesbian (and by extension bisexual or transgender or even heterosexuality) are innate characteristics that are neither ‘sinful’ nor ‘not sinful’ . Even the Church understands that a person’s sexual orientation is not generally changeable.
This is why the tone and tenor of the comments section of this article are so very disturbing. There is so much ignorance of both Church teaching and sound psychology, it is absolutely stunning. And as a result, we get comment after undignified comment.
Bearing false witness against your neighbor IS, however, still sinful so far as I know, and so many of the commenters here are doing just exactly that.
Whether or not a person’s sexual orientation is innate or unchangeable is highly debatable. It has not been proven that homosexuality is acquired at birth, and I don’t believe the Church has taken any such position on this scientific question. The catechism also makes is clear that while homosexual temptations are not sinful if not consented to, they are still objectively disordered in that there is no natural purpose to unisex unions.
In fact, I would contend that leaning toward homosexuality as a result of some psychological abuse or trauma is very highly probable, in some cases at least. What percentage of cases? Wouldn’t even hazard a guess.
Well, Larry, actually the subject of whether a person can can change their sexual orientation is NOT really a debatable proposition. The author of the one study (Spitzer) that purported to say it was has recently said that he was misinterpreted and that he does not, in fact, believe that it is possible to change one’s sexual orientation. Even more compelling, the leader of an “ex-gay ministry”, John Smid, now says that he has never seen anyone change their sexual orientation, thinks it is not possible to do so, and that homosexuality is not a mental illness. So now they all agree with the VAST majority of psychologists, courts, and the Roman Catholic Church in saying that homosexuality is immutable. No one with any credibility in the field believes it is possible to change a person’s sexual orientation.
Francis, there is zero evidence for what you are “hazarding”. There is simply no evidence that child abuse causes homosexuality in later life. However, there is some evidence that child abusers are likely to have been abused as children. Which is why we must stop persecuting drag queens, and start prosecuting child molesters.
Your contentions are plain false–as we have seen publicly with Anne Heche and Lindsay Lohan, to give two examples. I’ve heard stories, some from the posters on this very web site, of people who had been deeply involved in homosexual behavior who repented of their actions and went on to heterosexual relationships. I’m sure you are going to hear from other posters who have escaped the trap of the “gay lifestyle.” There is absolutely zero evidence of homosexuality being inherited in a Mendelian sense. It does not run in families. And I don’t believe any studies involving identical twins raised separately have substantiated any claim of homosexuality being inborn. If such were true, I’m sure that quite a bit more than 1-2% of the population would be “gay,” the above being the figure that the most credible studies have revealed. And contrary to your blatant misrepresentation, the Catholic Church has taken no position on the inevitability of the “gay” inclination among certain persons. The authoritative Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition, item #2357, simply states that “Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained,” but also says (#2358) that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.” The notion that homosexuality is an immutable characteristic is nothing more than tendentious gay-rights propaganda.
Larry, please keep in mind that just because you desire to disbelieve something, doesn’t make it wrong. I’m not an expert on either Heche or Lohan, but my read on Heche is that she was bisexual before she was with Ellen, she was bisexual while she was with Ellen, and she is bisexual today. Hence, Heche’s sexual orientation has not changed.
Secondly, you won’t find me claiming that sexuality is inherited, and you especially won’t find me saying it is inherited in a Mendelian fashion. If there is a genetical cause at all, it is likely to be some combination of multivariate genetics and possibly maternal imprinting. But I agree with most geneticists, and with the Catechism when it says, as you quote, “It’s psychological genesis remains largely unexplained”.
However, the GENESIS of something, and its ability to be changed are not the same thing. I don’t know GENESIS my sister’s intelligence (she was Valedictorian), but I’m pretty sure she can’t be made to be stupid. I don’t know the GENESIS of left-handedness, but I’m pretty sure it’s futile to teach a left-handed person to become right handed.
Well it isn’t futile to try and teach a left-handed person to write right-handed, although personally I wouldn’t see the point or the need of it. Your statement that the Church now agrees that homosexual orientation is immutable is clearly false. The Catechism says nothing about it being unchangeable. That is a scientific assessment which many, including some people who once labeled themselves gay, do not agree with. You claim that Anne Heche was bisexual all her life. As I understand it, she told Oprah Winfrey she was never lesbian until she met Ellen DeGeneres. You rather conveniently draw a firm distinction between homosexual and bisexual–but I am not convinced that such a wall of separation has been firmly established scientifically, either.
Being right or left handed is, at least, a variation either of which is natural and not sinful, and serves a natural purpose. As a high school teacher, I’ve overheard students saying, “Oh, I’m BI-sexual!” as if it’s a matter of, “Well, I’m so open-minded and cool that I go BOTH ways.” Much of this results from, I’m sure, the pop-cultural brainwashing that goes on, especially on TV and movies, and holding up sodomites like Ellen DeGenerate and Rosie O’Donnell. I’ve often wondered if these cool, open-minded youths will look back at some point after growing up and think to themselves, “Man, was I a moron!”
It appears that my last comments were inadvertently abbreviated, so I’ll try to reconstruct them here:
In the past, we considered left-handedness to be unnatural, and so we tried to force left handed persons to use their right hand. However, it proved futile and vexatious to their spirit. Ultimately we learned that while left handedness was not the norm, it was nonetheless normal. So, over time, we learned something. Similarly, it is possible to try to have homosexual persons attempt attraction towards opposite sex individuals, but it is just as futile and vexatious. Wisely, the Church realizes this, as it counsels ABSTINENCE for homosexuals, rather than any attempt to try induce attraction towards the opposite sex.
I asked whether “sodomy” is a sin in that parish, not whether “being a gay or lesbian” is a sin. The Church clearly teaches that the former, and all homosexual sex, is mortally sinful. And your avoidance of my question won’t change that teaching.
Juergensen, no one is engaging in sodomy while at the parish, just as no one is engaging in gluttony while at the parish, and no one is engaging in masturbation while at the parish. The church should no more shun members of the LGBT community than it shuns fat people or teenagers.
just read in the s.f. chronicle that the “rainboxw sash” movement is threatening to disrupt archbishop cordileone’s installation ceremony by showing up en masse.
i think the archdiocese should hire some ushers to make sure the event is not messed up by weirdos intent on making a scene.
i admire father costelo for taking such a sensible and clear stance on this whole “drag queen’ situation, but now the nutcases will probably try to disrupt HIS masses, too, if they don’t get their way.
A few security guards might be in order at the installation of the new archbishop on Oct. 4, in addition to ushers.
Fr. Costello and AB Cardileone are true spiritual leaders, taking on challenges to do the right thing. not in name only.
God bless them !! and we love and support them.
max, I do not like what the Rainbow Sash movement does, but it is not wierdos that disrupt a Mass. They wear their sashes to Mass: if they are denied communion they go back to their seats and stand until the end of the distrubution of the Eucharist. It is a quiet protest.
A “protest” of any sort is wholly inappropriate during the celebration of the Mass.
I agree.
Does Holy Redeemer need to be reconsecrated?
What constitutes desecration???
uh, the church is just fine, i think.
they celebrate mass there, including the TLM every day, so i don’t think the church has been ‘desecrated’ you know.
desecration is not seeing people you disapprove of attending mass, but rather having something like a murder take place in it, or having the government shoot it up (like inthe movie “ROMERO”) and use it for horses, and suchlike.
Many – probably most – of the comments to this piece are, to say the least, uncharitable. Describing your fellow Christians, or any human being actually, using terms like “filth”, “weirdos”, “disgusting”, “corrupt[ed]”, “misfits”, etc etc. Every human being deserves dignity and respect. If you catch yourself using those kinds of terms, you might want to think again. I’m pretty sure that Jesus would want us to spend less time persecuting drag queens and more time prosecuting child molesters.
For your edification, Pope Benedict XVI himself said there is “filth” in the Church. Specifically, on March 25, 2005, as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, he said, “How much filth there is in the church”, just days before being elected Bishop of Rome, Successor of Peter. Perhaps you should contact the Holy Father and tell him how “uncharitable” he is, no?
Juergensen, I believe the context of his statement indicates that his word was aimed at priest child molesters. There is a world of difference between those who use their access children in order to abuse them, and loving parishioners simply going to church to pray or to a church hall to raise money for a very good cause. One is an intentional and violent act of rape committed upon an innocent, the other is an existential state of being, that harms no one.
And by the way, just because he went on to become Pope doesn’t mean he can’t be uncharitable. But if you see your role in the world as simply repeating everything the Pope does, perhaps you ought to start ordaining bishops and elevating Cardinals too while you’re at it.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
BALONEY ALERT!
Please be on the lookout for a poster who goes by the name “Your Fellow Catholic”.
This is California Catholic Daily, A NO SPIN ZONE! This is not the Lavender Wheel of Fortune game of “Which New Lie Can We Get Our Fellow Catholics to Buy.”
Catherine, this website has run articles sympathetic to gay marriage, sympathetic to those who want to give Archbishop Cordileone a hard time in San Francisco and today’s article sympathetic to the drag queens at Most Holy Redeemer. This website presents both sides of the issue.
Your Fellow Catholic, thank you for your intelligent comments. Catherine, “Lavender Wheel of Fortune”? Please?
Anonymous states that this site presents both sides of the issue but never should we compromise it’s identity as a Catholic website.
Your Fellow Catholic: As Catholics, we are called to condemn all sin, that is all action that is disordered and contrary to human nature. Where in the Gospel do we read that Jesus said, come follow me and keep sinning, or you can follow me even if you are living contrary to the way I have asked you to live? You won’t find it. Jesus told all of us to repent; this means to change or turn away from our sinful behavior and follow Him, the Way the Truth and the Life. Following Christ does not mean being perfect, it means striving to be perfect. Dressing in drag is NOT striving to be perfect and is a contradiction of human sexuality and a distortion of the truth.
MD, dressing in drag is hardly something the Church has EVER said contradicts human sexuality or is sinful. Please don’t make things up.
On the contrary, Your Fellow Catholic, here it is in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 6:9 – 10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Notice effeminate? This is what these drag queens are. They wear women’s clothes and are effiminate in their actions. Dressing in drag is a perversion and it does contradict human sexuality and is sinful.
Your Fellow Catholic: The Church does not have to specifically state that dressing in drag is a sin for it to be sinful. What the Church does teach is that there is authentic masculinity and authentic femininity. Dressing in drag contradicts the authentic masculinity of manhood. Dressing in drag is used by the gay community to glorify sinful behavior of homosexual relations and it purposefully creates gender confusion. The whole premise of gay marriage is to remove gender from marriage and make it a genderless institution. If you are truly Catholic, you will encourage men to be men, to be Christlike in everything and to strive to live a life of virtue. God Love You.
I think you are being scrupulous here.
You may be right in possible scrupulosity, but why allow something like cross dressing when it is creates not only an occasion of sin, but is extremely scandalous being done in a Catholic Church? Dressing in drag does not glorify God through human sexuality. If a group wants to be authentically Catholic, that is if it wants to be authentically Christ-like, then it has to teach the wisdom of the Cross, in picking up one’s cross and following Christ. Accepting people with SSA does not mean justifying and allowing immoral behavior, it means teaching the biblical reality of human sexuality in masculinity and femininity and sharing how God created male and female to become one flesh in a Sacramental union, in a life-giving bond of fidelity and love. Why do anything that has a potential to create occasions of sin or scandal? The Church is the place we come for healing from our sin and sinful desires and to attain strength, a supernatural resolve not to sin and succumb to the temptations of the flesh. God Love You.
Same goes for being so “tolerant” as to allow the outward veneer of the sinfulness that resides inside a person, such as the dingbatty costumes some of these folks wear to draw attention to themselves in the context of their “lifestyle.” If their earnest in coming to Mass, these things they need to set aside.
I recall the Lord saying, “Where are those who condemned you? Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.” Seems pretty clear to me.
MD, dressing in drag and being a homosexual are two different things. Also gay men are men so they could be considered authentic men. If a person has an x chromosome and a y chromosome they are authentic men. We are different but we are all men, a male ballet dancer or a male nurse is more of an authentic man than a female auto mechanic or female truck driver.
Lord have Mercy….Lord help us…to end all lies…
Mark from PA: how many heterosexual men dress in drag? Mark, dressing in drag is an expression of homosexuality, an expression of a disordered desire. Your notion and understanding of manhood is extremely secular. A true man strives to be like Christ as Christ is the perfect man. Manhood is not about sexual organs, it is about the ability to be life-giving, denying oneself for others and being defenders of the Truth. A man lays his life down for his family, for his friends and upholds the truth to lead people to God. Cross-dressing or dressing in drag is not upholding Christian moral sexuality, but is an expression of something that contradicts the true masculinity in manhood and is and of itself scandalous. God Love You.
“A woman shall not be clothed with man’s apparel, neither shall a man use woman’s apparel: for he that doeth these things is abominable before God.” Deuteronomy 22:5. Says nothing about sexual orientation.
“A woman shall not be clothed with man’s apparel, neither shall a man use woman’s apparel: for he that doeth these things is abominable before God.” Deuteronomy 22:5.
And what did Jesus wear?
Jesus wore a Tunic, the traditional garments at the time. It was the attire of men in that time period?
When MD says:
“Jesus wore a Tunic, the traditional garments at the time. It was the attire of men in that time period?”
He is proving a point: Dress is subjective. It changes over time. It cannot therefore be inherently sinful to dress one way or to dress another way. Remember leisure suits? Now THEY were sinful! (just kidding on that last point…for effect)
Your Fellow Catholic: How does Jesus wearing a tunic prove that dress is subjective? Are you missing the objective reality that there is distinctive clothing for men and for women? Additionally, what is the intent of dressing in drag? Why would a man dress like a woman as a point of expression? It is the perpetuation of a lie that causes a man to dress like a woman, it is a distortion of his sexuality. Additionally, when a man dresses as a woman, he is making the statement that he knows better than God who created him a man because he feels more identifiable as a woman. As Christians we must live the motto of the Jesuits, AMDG; we must do everything for the Glory of God. If one is immodest in their dress, if they dress inappropriately they are not glorifying God, but glorifying the fall and the sinful nature of man and not the redemptive meaning of the Cross. God Love You.
Like the insight. Thanks
Nah I will pretty much stick to the insults when they are truthful
I you folks spent have the time and money you spend hating and excluding feeding and caring for your fellow man you might deserve a modicum of respect. As it is anyone associated with the hate filled insitution called the catholic church is on the wrong side of history.
“Hate filled institution called the catholic church”? I think you meant “Hate-filled institution called the Catholic Church. If you’re going to be a mindless shill of the Sacrilegious Left, at least use proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation while demonstrating your ignorance.
Feed the Poor: As I jest at the remarks of Francis X, I have to ask where you come to your reasoning? If you look at history, the Catholic Church as an institution has fed more poor, helped more sick and done more charity than any organization in the history of the world. The Catholic Church has survived the rise and fall of nations and has remained steadfast in teaching the truth for 2,000 years. The Church is Pro-Family, Pro-Life and Pro-Love. The Catholic Church does not discriminate and stands for the dignity of all people. The Church is a hospital for sinners, a place of refuge where we all as sinners can accept our sinfulness and receive healing and mercy. To badmouth the Church is to badmouth Christ Jesus, the Redeemer of the World. God Love You.
The Church is a refuge for sinners, but Christ also charged sinners to “sin no more.”
Francis X Shannon: Exactly, “sin no more.” Thank you for adding this point that I thought I added, but must have added on another article. It is a very protestant ideology that merely accepting Christ into our heart provides salvation. It seems to me that people get upset when sin is being condemned, but if we are to avoid sin, we have to identify that it is evil action. Our Lord identified sin and used the words you repeated, “sin no more.”
Feed the poor what you call hate, I don’t want any part in….I do not consider purity and modesty hatred. Drag dressing is a sin against modesty.
Good for you, Father Brian! It’s about time that the Church stood up and said something. Be Strong! I and the prayer group at Mater Dolorosa will be praying for you. Eleanor
Last I checked Jesus counted as friends: lepers, prostitutes and other “unsavory” types. He spoke towards love and acceptance. None of you must have read the Bible – seems that none of you are loving. Judge not lest you be judged is a lesson that falls on deaf ears.
charles, yes. There are reasons why people do this. Pray for them.
charles, you have no idea what you are talking about. You say Jesus tells us not to judge and then you quote Him telling us to judge … Have you ever heard of logic? Rational thought? Ever wondered why only one out of ten lepers He cured came back to thank Him? Did He run after the other nine?
The Lord did not make friends of such people if they were not willing to repent.. He associated with them to convert them and encourage them to become holy. He always told them not to sin again or something worse could happen.. So his associating with them was to encourage them to repent of their sins. If they did not, he left them to suffer the consequences of their own actions as he does us. The Lord is not a “buddy” who does not care what we do to ourselves or to one another. Quite the contrary. He is Our Lord and Our Judge. He told his Apostles to treat as Gentiles those who refused to believe and repent, in other words leave them.
“judge not lest the be judged” the complete misunderstanding of this one verse has given license to every liberal to do whatever they want and accuse the rest of us of being judgmental. Will sorry, I will judge and accuse filth when I see it.
“Purge” the Church lest their be a few of us who hold to the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Fatih then many who do not! And bring back the Traditional Latin Mass.
A HUGE “Amen!” to the Traditional Latin Mass!
: ) yes but if some do not want Latin then a Huge AMEN to reverent and holy N Ordo mass……may the Charismatic element of the faith not lose that very important part of reverence and love that matches to the Latin but in English.
Most Holy Redeemer’s Latin Mass is at 5:00 pm on the first Sundays of the month.
As a general comment: I don’t think i ever learned, in all of my many years of Catholic education, that “dingbatthy” behavior, whatever that means, is sinful. Aren’t we just simply making things up here to imagine that things we don;t like are embedded in Church teaching?? I know I appreciate folks who come to Mass in their Church Best. But honestly, I’m glad to see teens in tank tops in the communion line. Are they fully respectful of the Sacrament? No, probably not. But does Jesus want them in that line, just as they are?…I have a feeling he does. He draws them there. He brings them to himself. That’s just what he does. He accepts us as we are.
Does Jesus really care whether the shirt on the person in the communion line uses buttons on the left or on the right? I can’t possibly imagine worshipping a God who even cares about such things. So why should we care? Why do YOU care? Really? Citing a Pauline letter to exclude someone who wears the wrong shirt? Like Really? Do you have any idea the redemptive power of our Lord? To think he cares about such drivel? Really? Really??
Your Fellow Catholic, evidently you never read the parable where Jesus said a person without a proper wedding garment on was thrown out of a wedding, and it seems he gave his approval to such an idea. Also, the soldiers at the cross gambled for Christ’s seamless robe, which probably was woven for him by his mother. Seamless robes were Temple garments that men wore when they went to the Temple and were of fine quality. In other words, the Lord wore his finest garment to the Temple for the services. It DOES matter what we wear to Chruch to honor the Lord, and he does care if it is modest or immodest. Where on earth do you get the idea that he would not? It doe not have to be expensive, but it certainly should be modest. It was also forbidden in the Jewish culture for women to wear men’s clothing and men to wear women’s clothing, except in an emergency, or out of dire necessity, and it has been the same in the Christian culture because it is forbidden in the Bible.
PLEASE EXCUSE THE GRAPHIC NATURE OF THIS QUOTE, BUT IT SHOWS WHY FATHER COSSTELLO NEEDS TO TAKE A FIRM STAND AND STICK TO HIS GUNS:
“It should also be said that some of the gay groups that have been using the hall have gone way over the top. Several years ago the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence featured a drag queen known as Peaches Christ, who waved a crucifix shaped like a dildo. Even longtime gay parishioners thought that was too much.”
found this article in the s.f. chronicle on aug. 16 and was horrified. if the business manager of the parish does NOT undestand why the pastor, and (i hope!!!) some of the parishioners do not want a repeat of such horrible behavior, he needs to have his head examined.
drag queens are not importnabnt to parish life, but RESPECT for JESUS is.
max, I saw that in the article. The article also stated that Father Costello asked the archdiocese twice to back down on the drag queens and the archdiocese refused. Also, interesting is the fear in the gay community that Archbishop Cordileone will shut the Church. The article also called it a manufactured controversy.
k, i’m glad the diocese refused to back donw, because once the camel gets its nose in the tent…
well, you know.
too, these drag queens in the castro tend to seclect pretty vulgar names, so that’s not exactly churchy.
my father and mother always found the fermale impersonators funny, at some club in s.f. called finnochio’s, but i never got the appeal.
I don’t get it either.
When our Lord approached a fig tree and there were no figs….remember that he said that it will bear no more figs….people forget those important points in the scriptures, also where he kicked out the money changers in the temple….remember those things….as it was written, don’t think that in these modern times nothing is written…..May God have mercy on our souls for all the abuses we permitted in His house.
If the church acknowledges that the behavior of these are a disorder….then why cater to them…we ought to help them reach sanctification….not join them in their doom…