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US Catholic Parish set to "Publicly Bless the Relationship of Same-Sex Couples"

Openly challenges Church moral teachings

By Hilary White
ST. PAUL - Minneapolis, November 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - St. Frances Cabrini church, of the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese, has announced on their website that they are ready to "bless" homosexual partners.

The parish has published a "Statement of Reconciliation" repudiating the Church for its teaching on sexual purity and married chastity and misrepresenting these teachings as a form of "oppression." The statement said the parish is set to "Publicly bless the relationships of a same sex couple after the couple completes a process of discernment similar to that completed by heterosexual couples before marriage."  The item had an asterisk referring to a note on the bottom reading "not being implemented at this time."

The parish statement goes on to pledge that it will publish in the homosexual press their commitment to the homosexual activist agenda and to including "a gay/lesbian perspective in catechesis at all levels, including elementary school age." The parish currently runs catechesis programmes for children from ages three and up.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the pastor of the parish is Fr. Leo Tibesar who is a national leader in the anti-Catholic homosexual lobbying organisation, Dignity. Fr. Tibesar was recorded this week preaching a homily refuting Catholic teaching on sexuality and accusing those who uphold it, including bishops, Cardinals and "Evangelicals", of hypocrisy.

In May 2006, when LifeSiteNews.com revealed Fr. Tibesar's leadership role in the homosexual political movement within the Church, he was not the pastor of any parish. It was since the revelations of his involvement in the anti-Catholic campaign group that he was assigned to St. Francis Cabrini. He is also a longstanding figure in Archbishop Flynn's archdiocesan programmes preparing couples for marriage.

The parish says it "stands willing" to accept "openly gay or lesbian priests or lay ministers" despite the widely available statistics showing the high prevalence of homosexual clergy perpetrators in the Church's ongoing sexual abuse crisis.

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, head of Human Life International, told LifeSiteNews.com that the parish's statement was "totally contrary to the Catholic faith". "I can only say what the scriptures say, this is an abomination. The blessing of homosexual partners is an abomination and the corruption of children is a scandal," he said.

"The fact that they are placing themselves in opposition to the bishops, that they specifically cite the bishops in opposition to them, means they have placed themselves outside the communion of the Catholic Church and apostolic tradition of the Church. In fact in opposition to it."

Fr. Euteneuer explained that Catholic teaching was not a matter of arbitrary or politically motivated decisions but a "clear understanding of human sexuality passed down to us through the centuries and faithfully passed on by the Church." He added that those actively living a homosexual lifestyle separate themselves "not just from the Church but from God".

The leader of the international Catholic pro-life organization stated, "We're not talking about disordered persons but disordered desires and actions. The bishops have been very clear, and the papal teachings go back forever on this issue. I think what it comes down to is that these people worship a different god than we worship."

In his 2003 book, "Anti-Catholicism in America The Last Acceptable Prejudice", US Episcopal author and historian Philip Jenkins identified these themes as the guiding conventions of the latest wave of anti-Catholic bigotry, fuelled by the sexual and "gender identity" politics common to the American left since the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

Euteneuer said, "I agree with Jenkins and I think the other side of the coin is that we have people within our own ranks, wolves in sheep's clothing, who are not only not authentic Catholics but are working on an anti-Catholic agenda from within the Church."

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Prominent Minneapolis-St. Paul Priest a Leader in National Homosexual Lobby Group
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06032009.html

ON TAPE: U.S. Priest Blasts Vatican Cardinal and Archbishop over Homosexuality During Homily
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07112602.html

Readers may contact the Archdiocese to express concerns:

Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
communications@archspm.org

Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Coadjutor Archbishop
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
communications@archspm.org 

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