Because the person protesting was not doing it as part of AGLO, which, as you state, is a legitimate and good ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, but on behalf of the Rainbow Sash Movement, which is, well, not a ministry of the Archdiocese.
Mr. O’Malley,
But the year after there was a memorandum of understanding reached on AGLO. We can charitably assume that they were convinced of Church teaching. In fact, going by a brief read-through of their resources, it seems to bear out.
I can’t, out of respect for CAF rules, show any form of disrespect for Cardinal Bernadin.
I will grant that you will not see any materials on AGLO that advocate the Church changing their teachings nor will you see any explicit endorsement of homosexual activity. But compare AGLO’s “mission statement” to Courage’s
AGLO:
*We, the members of the Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach, as people of God, create a sense of community for those who wish to reconcile their sexual orientation with their faith; provide an accepting and affirming atmosphere in which to worship in the Catholic tradition; provide opportunities for integration of personal experience through spiritual growth; share our distinctive gifts with each other and the Church at large, and witness our Catholic faith to the gay and lesbian community.
*Courage:
- Persons with homosexual desires have always been with us; however, until recent times, there has been little, if any, formal outreach from the Church in the way of support groups or information for such persons. Most were left to work out their path on their own. As a result, they found themselves listening to and accepting the secular society’s perspective and opting to act on their same-sex desires.
His Eminence, the late Terence Cardinal Cooke of New York, was aware of, and troubled by this situation. He knew that the individual dealing with same-sex attractions truly needed to experience
the freedom of interior chastity and in that freedom find the steps necessary to living a fully Christian life in communion with God and others. He was concerned that many would not find this path and would be constantly trying to get their needs met in ways that ultimately do not satisfy the desires of the heart.
In response to this concern, he decided to form a spiritual support system which would assist men and women with same-sex attractions
in living chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love. Knowing of Fr. John Harvey’s extensive ministry experience in this field, he invited him to come to his Archdiocese. With the help of the Rev. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., and others, Fr. Harvey began the Courage Apostolate with its first meeting in September, 1980 at the Shrine of Mother Seton in South Ferry.
*You will note that there is no reference to chastity in AGLO’s mission statement. In fact, if you look on their website, you will have a really hard time finding “chastity” mentioned anywhere. (It is, in exactly one spot in a reproduction of a USCCB document)
Instead, they talk about “reconciling their sexual orientation with their faith.” Honestly, that can be taken in multiple ways.
Courage, on the other hand, addresses the need for chastity and living a chaste life throughout their site.
I will grant you that Courage is a national program while AGLO is an archdiocesan program, so Courage undoubtedly has more resources at their disposal…and that may be why the site has better resources.
On the other hand, since living a chaste life is so essential, particularly for a person with same sex attraction (considering that a major cross for them is sexual in nature), you’d think they’d bring up the topic a little more boldly.
You may also want to go to the OP and read through the whole article cited…and then go to the (homosexual) Windy City Times and read on there. You will find reactions from AGLO members (and leaders) that don’t really sound consistent with Church teaching.
For example,
*“One of my brothers, a member of my community, who is a full and equal member of the body of Christ, was denied communion. So I got back in line and I brought him communion, as I would for anyone else,” Cronin told Windy City Times after the Mass. Cronin, who is a lesbian,
has been involved with AGLO for two years and is also a cantor.
*Jesus taught us to be “wise as serpents and simple as doves.” (Matt 10:16)
A lot of people are really, really good at being as simple as doves. That is great, tremendous on what they do. But maybe on the gullibility front, they should work on manifesting their “serpent” side a bit.
Bottom line is that I would “hope” they were teaching and acting in accordance with all the Church’s teaching on the subject…but I’d prefer to have that actually validated…and validated thoroughly…prior to believing it. And, considering peoples’ souls are at stake, I believe that to be the most charitable thing to do.
No there is no reason for the Church to treat homosexuals any different than they treat heterosexuals, or to show any type of disrespect. I do think that the Church has not only a right but an obligation to define how both homosexuals and heterosexuals are to live chastely and within the tenets of God’s law. The Church is focusing now and understandably so on homosexuals because of the gay marriage push that is non stop within the culture at the moment. But they must also not forget about clarifying chastity for both single and married people in the Church. Chastity is to be adhered to and sought to be lived faithfully by ALL of us no matter what sexual orientation we are nor whether we are single or married. Chastity within marriage is every bit as important as chastity outside of marriage, which is a surprise to many Catholics. We all need to be reading John Paul’s “Theology of the Body”. It’s an eye opener.