The following comes from a blog post by Joseph Sciambra:
The real-life experiences of a Catholic mother with a “gay” daughter:
When my oldest daughter was a teenager she had her first same sex relationship. As a Catholic mother, finding out was very upsetting. Several years afterwards seeing an ad in the Assumption Blessed Virgin parish bulletin for a “Catholic ministry” for parents of gay and lesbians I had hope that I had found supportive safe place of likeminded Catholic parents.
The meeting was held in the parish meeting rooms of Holy Family parish in South Pasadena, led by a psychologist, Dr. Elizabeth Taylor; there was no priest present. I was one of the only new parents that night. Quickly away I realized the way the other parents all agreed that the Catholic Church was “wrong” in their opinion. They openly outright condemned the Church as responsible for making their loved ones “feel bad,” “unwelcome” and called for their children’s relationships with their partners to be recognized as marriage- just like sacramental opposite sex marriages and for those in those relationships to be considered full Catholics able to receive all the sacraments. The message was loud and clear – If I really loved my daughter then I had to join with them in accepting and promoting homosexuality as “how” my child was made. And in advocating for lgbt issues and fighting against the discriminatory ideas the Catholic Church used to teach.
Missing from the meeting was any suggestion that our sons or daughters should not be having sexual relations outside of marriage. Or that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and can never be encouraged/supported.
The facilitator passed out articles for me to take home; both were very contrary to Catholic teaching on homosexuality.
I was so upset I couldn’t even think of what to say. After the meeting I sat in my car and full of anxiety began to cry.
In Los Angeles, the Catholic Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Persons (the official Archdiocesan outreach to the LGBT community) annually sponsors a special “Pride” Mass to coincide with the LA Pride festivities; they openly support such secular initiatives as the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, healthcare benefits for same-sex couples, and the presence of the Gay-Straight Alliance in Catholic schools; on the theological front, they have advocated for the removal of the term “intrinsically disordered” from the Church lexicon, the inclusion of “…positive language regarding LGBT Catholics, especially for same sex couples in long term relationships,” and celebrated an “indelible moment” at the 2016 LA Religious Education Congress when “…at the closing liturgy on Sunday…a gay couple and their son helped present gifts at the altar to Archbishop Jose Gomez;” they stated, this was a sign that: “Progress for LGBT Catholics is slow and happens in incremental pieces, and often includes setbacks.”
Another gay-affirmative ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is headquartered at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Parish in Pasadena; the name of the “Gay & Lesbian Outreach” is “Always Our Children;” which is taken from the title of a controversial 1997 pastoral message from the USCCB. Besides a “Link” to the Archdiocesan “Gay” Ministry, the only other link listed on the group’s parish web-site page is to “Fortunate Families.”
Fortunate Families a pro-gay “Catholic” apostolate for the parents of homosexual children; according to their Mission Statement, Fortunate Families: “serves as a resource and networking ministry with Catholic parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children.” Their website and Newsletter is primarily a collection of “stories” written by parents, usually expressing their great dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality. Fortunate Families is a strong advocate for the legalization of same-sex marriage:
“Fortunate Families celebrates with our LGBT children the opportunity to share in the same rights as their straight siblings. The Supreme Court decision brings legal stability to our children’s lives and security to our grandchildren. We applaud this decision and continue our work in the Catholic tradition seeking social justice for all our children, and we look forward to the next hurdle, the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” said Deb Word, President of Fortunate Families.
In the February 2016 issue of the Fortunate Families Newsletter “Voices for Justice,” the parents of a “gay” man wrote about attending their son’s wedding:
“Now I know that this was not just another wedding. Not just because everyone there truly wanted to be there fully embracing them. Not just because Douglas and Steve married. This wedding was different because I witnessed not just another wedding, but the sacrament of marriage.”
The same dissident movement at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Parish is also present at Holy Family Catholic Parish, also in Pasadena, which has its own “gay” Ministry: “The Holy Family LGBT Ministry.”
For example, in 2014, at Holy Family Catholic Parish, Catholic dissident Phyllis Zagano, the author of the book “Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future,” spoke on the topic “Women in Ministry in the Catholic Church” during which she argued for the ordination of women as deacons. On the issue of “gay” marriage, she wrote: “As far as civil rights is concerned, I’m on the gay side…” Zagano also repeatedly debated the “born gay” theory in her blog for the National Catholic Reporter and argued that: “…if down the road science undeniably proves homosexuality is a status rooted in genetics — or at least is gestational biology — the church will be faced with a game changer.”
In 2016, on their Facebook site for the LA Religious Education Congress, Holy Family Parish highlighted certain progressive speakers with Karla Stephens, Member of the Education/Formation Commission recommending an address to be given by Arthur Fitzmaurice, Resource Director of the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry. He formerly served as Chair for the Los Angeles Archdiocese Catholic Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Persons. The previous year, Fitzmaurice spoke at the Congress and had this to say about the Church’s stance on homosexuality:
“The paragraph on homosexuality, which describes it as ‘intrinsically disordered’ while also demanding respect for gays and lesbians, is placed in a section of the catechism paragraphs condemning ‘pornography, prostitution, and rape.’ To keep this abusive language in the Catechism and other Church writings is, in itself, gravely evil.”
In a 2013 video interview for The IN [Ignatian News] Network, made in cooperation with St. Monica’s Catholic Gay and Lesbian Outreach in Santa Monica, Arthur Fitzmaurice said: “I tried to be directed towards God…How do I be the person that God made me to be; and then it gets converted into a realization that God made me to be this gay person.”
One of the stated purposes of The Holy Family Parish’s “LGBT Ministry:”
“Dr. Taylor, facilitator, attends parish counsel meetings at other parishes to encourage them to begin formulating their own gay and lesbian ministries.”
If you are homosexual and Catholic, you are to remain chaste, just as you are to do if you are heterosexual and unmarried. And for that matter, married couples, priests, and consecrated religious must also remain chaste. That’s the teaching of the Church, skirting around this only leads to sexual disobedience, to mortal sin. All the “ministries” in the world cannot escape that reality.
Any purported “ministry” that doesn’t affirm these things is an imposter ministry:
1) homosexuality is an intrinsically disordered tendency
2) homosexual acts are gravely evil, contrary to nature, and cannot be approved under any circumstances
3) marriage, whether natural or sacramental, can only be between one man and one woman
4) same-sex unions are not even remotely analogous to marriage
5) male and female are binary, fixed, natural types of human beings, and biological sex is one’s unalterable sex
6) transgenderism is a psychological illness
7) bodily mutilation is gravely evil
Not to accept one or more of the above statements as true is to put an obstacle in the path of growth in holiness. Too many LGBT “ministries”…
What they do not tell you is that quite often there is underage molestation in these families by an older person, such as an uncle. I know at least two families where that happened. Then it is hidden and covered up, except for those who have the courage to warn others even though they themselves can do nothing about it because those who should have done something did not.. Most times it just gets worse and worse, passed down for generations if nothing is done about it.
why are these groups permitted to continue operating in LA ? At the religious Ed congress these groups are the only ones in attendance ; giving false education in this area to catechists. We need to complain to the pastors of these parishes, to the Bishops in charge of them and demand an end to this. This is not mercy but false mercy. not charity. souls are lost. And parents like that mom are left unsupported. please church in Los Angeles wake up. .
Therese, they are permitted to operate in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles — and elsewhere — because they have supporters at high levels of authority among diocesan personnel. The supporters are not necessarily clergy, but in some cases they are; sometimes even bishops. In many cases the supporters are closeted themselves, which enabled them to rise to such a position of influence.
As for why they have such a strong presence at the LA Religious Education Congress, see my explanation above and then look at who is in charge of the event.
The devil has very well-placed agents working for him in LA.
In the entire Archdiocese of Los Angeles is there any parish or any other meeting place for groups like Courage and Encourage – two groups that are faithful to the magisterium of the Church and which are designed to minister to people with same sex attractions and to their families and friends?
Mary Jo. LA is a huge Archdiocese. Not one single Encourage group (for parents, family members,) , and to my knowledge only one mens Courage group. This is shameful. Meanwhile the gay affirming groups are plentiful like weeds . The Los Angeles Bishops have the desperatly needed job to appoint priests to start Encourage amd Courage groups that are faithful to Catholic teaching.
How SSAD the sowing of such Disordered and Malformed political activism in place of Help to rise above the propaganda.
The GILBERT Alliance is first and foremost one of Misandry, and all too often based on Abuse gone untreated:
SEE
Tammy Bruce – ‘The Death of Right & Wrong’
“Almost without exception, the gay men I know (and that’s too many to count) have a story of some kind of sexual trauma or abuse in their childhood – molestation by a parent or an authority figure, or seduction as an adolescent at the hands of an adult.
The other reason actually discussed in the community is that, because of the Aids crisis and the emergence of drug resistant strains of contagions like herpes and gonorrhea, gay men are compelled to seek…
Tammy Bruce – ‘The Death of Right & Wrong’
That is a traumatic experience, and as long as the wound remains untreated, the victim feels compelled to continually reenact the experience so as to master it or project it on to others…
The other reason actually discussed in the community is that, because of the Aids crisis and the emergence of drug resistant strains of contagions like herpes and gonorrhea, gay men are compelled to seek new, untouched young men.”
“Almost without exception, the gay men I know (and that’s too many to count) have a story of some kind of sexual trauma or abuse in their childhood – molestation by a parent or an authority figure, or seduction as an adolescent at the hands of an adult.
The gay community…
“The gay community must face the truth and see sexual molestation of an adolescent for the abuse it is, instead of the ‘coming of age’ experience many regard it as being.” Tammy Bruce.
The story of Chastity Bono and her abuse by an older woman while young is a SSAD reminder of the potential horrific consequences (Denial of Gender (Female = XX), surgical self mutilation / steroid abuse…) – that the gaystapo wants to Forbid Treatment to recover from and instead ‘proudly’ Trap Victims in the pathology.
WE Need Catholic Women to become Active on such commissions – as they are important policy bodies that are Not Diverse at all – but Could Be Inclusive, if the Faithful Step Up.
Christian Women – Please Consider Attending & Nominating:
SEE
“Notice of Nominating Committee Meeting
The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls
7-21-16
https://www.women.ca.gov/NewsEvents/tabid/6159/ArticleID/105/Notice-of-Nominating-Committee-Meeting.aspx
The Nominating Committee will discuss and may take action on the following items:
Nominations (ACTION)
IV. Public Comment – Including matters not on the agenda*
Please contact Nancy…
Sounds like there are more pro-gay ministries than pro-marriage doesn’t it?
GOOD ADVICE re: Amoris Laetitia FROM: Cardinal (? or archbishop emeritus) Caffarra of Bologna said, “If even a cardinal tells you something not in line with the Catechism, DON’T LISTEN.” If you listen, he says, it is the Blind leading the Blind. Found @ /www.lifesitenews.com/all/yesterday#article-cardinal-amoris-laetitia-must-not-supersede-church-doctrine
God bless this good prelate.
God Bless this cardinal.
Continued……. & correction, another try at the link….found @
http://www.lifesitenews.com/all/yesterday#article-cardinal-amoris-laetitia-must-not-supersede-church-doctrine
Continued……the link takes you to the closest spot. You also need to scroll downward to the correct article with the Cardinals/Archbishop Emeritus picture and you will find the title…..
Are there any parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles that sponsor or allow meetings of COURAGE and ENCOURAGE? Both of these groups are totally faithful to the Magisterium. COURAGE is for persons with same sex attractions, while ENCOURAGE is for the family members and friends. Pope John Paul II made the statement that these two groups are doing the work of God. You can always google Courage International for more information on these two fine groups.
To my knowledge / research there is 1 mens courage group in LA. there are 0 Encourage groups . .
Where is Archbishop Gomez and the USCCB on this? We need the Princes of our Church to lead & shepherd their flock with clear, unequivocal direction. The world is calling us bigoted, & we the bishops must speak out on the beauty & reason of Catholic theology. I know Jesus is in charge … I’m praying He pulls the wolves out of the fold soon.