Was it appropriate to sign petition to ban gay marriage during Mass?

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Riley259

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I live in Massachusetts and the Catholic church has supported the signing of a petition to ban gay marriage. During a Mass this past weekend, the petitions were provided in the pew with a pen and after the homily the pastor verbally delivered instructions on how to properly sign the petition and then told people to subsequently sign it at that time. I was wondering if the priest’s instruction to sign the petition during Mass would effect the church’s tax exempt status (i.e., separation of church and state issues to qualify for tax exemption)? Any thoughts on this?
 
Good Question, did you post this on the Ask an Apologist forum?
 
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Riley259:
I live in Massachusetts and the Catholic church has supported the signing of a petition to ban gay marriage. During a Mass this past weekend, the petitions were provided in the pew with a pen and after the homily the pastor verbally delivered instructions on how to properly sign the petition and then told people to subsequently sign it at that time. I was wondering if the priest’s instruction to sign the petition during Mass would effect the church’s tax exempt status (i.e., separation of church and state issues to qualify for tax exemption)? Any thoughts on this?
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I don’t see how it could. The Churchs position on many political issues, abortion the death penalty gay marriage etc., is well known documented and is no secret to anyone. Since the Priest was apparently acting on his own initiatiev, the Church would probably not be involved. Even if it were involved, I don’t think that the signing of the petition would affect the Churchs status…

BUT

I don’t think the signing of a petition of any sort has a legitimate place in the celebration of the Mass and I believe the Priest was wrong in doing it.
 
If it were the case that not-for-profit organizations could not take stances on political issues, the ranks of such organizations would be greatly reduced from their present state. The real prohibition is from endorsing a particular candidate or party. As I understand it, encouraging parishoners to sign an issue-related petition should pose no legal problem.

While it may be legal, however, I must agree with Palmas that it was probably not prudent to have the petition signed during Mass. If he wanted everyone to sign he still could have directed them to do so after Mass.
 
Andreas Hofer:
If it were the case that not-for-profit organizations could not take stances on political issues, the ranks of such organizations would be greatly reduced from their present state. The real prohibition is from endorsing a particular candidate or party. As I understand it, encouraging parishoners to sign an issue-related petition should pose no legal problem.

While it may be legal, however, I must agree with Palmas that it was probably not prudent to have the petition signed during Mass. If he wanted everyone to sign he still could have directed them to do so after Mass.
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I’ve never approved of the practice of being asked to sign petitions during Mass. I’ve never complained, but apparently enough people did – in recent years, whenever issues meriting petitions come up (i.e. stem cell research), our attention has been called to a table outside where we can go sign on our way out of church. I feel much better about that.
 
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palmas85:
I don’t see how it could. The Churchs position on many political issues, abortion the death penalty gay marriage etc., is well known documented and is no secret to anyone. Since the Priest was apparently acting on his own initiatiev, the Church would probably not be involved. Even if it were involved, I don’t think that the signing of the petition would affect the Churchs status…

BUT

I don’t think the signing of a petition of any sort has a legitimate place in the celebration of the Mass and I believe the Priest was wrong in doing it.
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I have organized several petition drives at various churches in the Boston area. There are no legal ramifications to having parishioners sign the petitions in the church.

Same-sex marriage is an “ideology of evil” to quote Pope John Paul II. It has been a tremendous struggle to get even this far with the petition drive in the ‘Gay State’. I wish more priests allowed us to have the petitions in the pew.
 
The signing of the petition in Church after the homily, under the instruction of the priest, the shepherd of that particular flock constitutes Catholic Faith in Action and does not in anyway violate any God or man made laws or traditions. Had the activity carried on during the consecration, etcetera, my answer would be different due to the interruption of the focus of and the individuals attempt to be in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the mass.
 
I hope this is the proper forum to present this as it does not directly apply to the question asked but it does address the topic of the petition.
I have been against the ‘same sex marriage issue’, but other than signing a few petitions here and there and occasionally speaking out against it, I was passive to the extreme about the topic. This changed one day, during mass, when the priest was speaking about the topic.
That day God spoke to me telling me that the 'same sex marriage issue was a red herring, that there was no need for government redeffinition of marriage to protect same sex unions or contracts as there was plenty of existing law to accomplish this.
The real target of this legislation is democracy. Democracy has always depended on the wisdom of the many to protect us from the folly of the few. By using the courts to make decisions that enshrined minority group rights, and giving them priority over the rights of the majority, was standing democracy on its head. Once this legislation is passed there is no stopping any group from attacking and isolating any other group and removing from them the freedom to live their beliefs. The war on Democracy will be won without a shot being fired!
 
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John-the-Seeker:
I hope this is the proper forum to present this as it does not directly apply to the question asked but it does address the topic of the petition.
I have been against the ‘same sex marriage issue’, but other than signing a few petitions here and there and occasionally speaking out against it, I was passive to the extreme about the topic. This changed one day, during mass, when the priest was speaking about the topic.
That day God spoke to me telling me that the 'same sex marriage issue was a red herring, that there was no need for government redeffinition of marriage to protect same sex unions or contracts as there was plenty of existing law to accomplish this.
The real target of this legislation is democracy. Democracy has always depended on the wisdom of the many to protect us from the folly of the few. By using the courts to make decisions that enshrined minority group rights, and giving them priority over the rights of the majority, was standing democracy on its head. Once this legislation is passed there is no stopping any group from attacking and isolating any other group and removing from them the freedom to live their beliefs. The war on Democracy will be won without a shot being fired!
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Precisely! It was forced on us by 4 people in black robes. Democracy demands a vote!
 
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CatQuilt:
I have organized several petition drives at various churches in the Boston area. There are no legal ramifications to having parishioners sign the petitions in the church.

Same-sex marriage is an “ideology of evil” to quote Pope John Paul II. It has been a tremendous struggle to get even this far with the petition drive in the ‘Gay State’. I wish more priests allowed us to have the petitions in the pew.
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Thanks for your response - it makes me feel better. Several people I know were very critical of the priest having the parishoners sign the petition after the homily and I didn’t know how quite to respond. The bottom line is of course: same-sex marriage is an impossibility and the effort to make it “legal” needs to be stopped.
 
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Riley259:
Thanks for your response - it makes me feel better. Several people I know were very critical of the priest having the parishoners sign the petition after the homily and I didn’t know how quite to respond. The bottom line is of course: same-sex marriage is an impossibility and the effort to make it “legal” needs to be stopped.
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You’re welcome! It was an extreme measure to take but these are extreme times in Massachusetts. That priest had a lot of guts. He’s a true shepard, although I’m sure there were some who weren’t happy with him (hopefully a small number).
 
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CatQuilt:
I have organized several petition drives at various churches in the Boston area. There are no legal ramifications to having parishioners sign the petitions in the church.

Same-sex marriage is an “ideology of evil” to quote Pope John Paul II. It has been a tremendous struggle to get even this far with the petition drive in the ‘Gay State’. I wish more priests allowed us to have the petitions in the pew.
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I didn’t think the signing would violate any law but I still think they should have waited until after Mass to try to sign it.

That is of course if they could slow down the stampede out the door.
 
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palmas85:
I didn’t think the signing would violate any law but I still think they should have waited until after Mass to try to sign it.

That is of course if they could slow down the stampede out the door.
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I’ll be doing my 4th church petition drive this coming weekend. Unless you walk up to them, most people just walk right by. Doing it before Mass is good but asking them to sign while they’re in the pews is the best because people hear from the priest just how important it is.
 
Perhaps it would have been better to leave it at the Church doors…
 
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twiztedseraph:
Perhaps it would have been better to leave it at the Church doors…
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Then no one would have signed it. What the priest did was totally appropriate and he wasn’t the first to do it.

Same-sex marriage is against Catholic teachings. We have it here and we need to end it.
 
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palmas85:
I didn’t think the signing would violate any law but I still think they should have waited until after Mass to try to sign it.

That is of course if they could slow down the stampede out the door.
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LOL! This is exactly what I was thinking. The problem with waiting until after the Mass is that many don’t want to wait around. I have really mixed feelings on this. He was definitely providing a “teaching moment” but I think I’d rather have him do it like my pastor. When there is something urgent coming up that needs card signing, he comes out before the Sign of the Cross and gives a little talk, has people sign whatever, has the ushers pick them up and then procedes with the Mass.
 
If the bishops had used halfe the energy they use for fighting Gays,protecting children .The Catholic church would still have $ 2,000,000,000 it could use to help the needy !
Many people wonder why the church works so hard to protect the Unborn than fails so miserably protecting them once they are born !
 
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