As faithful Catholics we all must embrace those who struggle with sins of all kinds and help them to turn away from sinful lifestyles. Support groups are wonderful. What is going on at St. Francis Xavier is not that at all, however. Gays and lesbians are encouraged to live their active lifestyles without shame. As to the question of whether these parishioners receive the Eucharist - just look at one of the many parishioner profiles on the website to find that answer. Frank Lavin’s profile/bio details his being confirmed at St. Francis Xavier last year despite having a partner for a few years.
If parishioners were learning to live chaste lives they would not be marching in Gay Pride parades, or attaching “gay” and “lesbian” to everything they do at the parish. They would want to identify themselves as CATHOLICS not gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender.
Catholic is where the emphasis should be. Also, the use of this word “ministry” is abusive. (LGBT ministry)
Catholics cannot pick and choose what they believe in when it comes to the core tenets of our faith. One of these tenets is that homosexual behavior is an inherent evil. Archbishop Dolan does not feel the need to straighten this parish out. What is more disturbing than having yet another parish spin out of control, is the fact that the Archbishop of one of the biggest/most important dioceses in the country chooses to preside over a Mass where:
-there is a New Age female liturgical dancer fluttering around the altar with a bowl of insence
- the militant gay congregation formally presents themselves to him, to which he gives a huge smile and thumbs up
-he tells the parishioners that “the church is always being reformed”
-during the consecration, he elevates the host in what looks like a brownie tin (with all the money the church has raised, they couldn’t give our Lord a gold chalice/paten?)
-the music director tells us how the “gay/lesbian ministries and [the church’s] commitment to having women on the altar is prophetic”!
And why would Egan say this is “one of the great, great parishes of the world”. We lay Catholics must stand up for what is right, extol our wonderful and faithful priests and bishops, and call out of heretical/destructive ones. God does not call us to be naive.