Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor approves a Mass:
Now, however, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has taken the controversial step of allowing fortnightly Masses in his Westminster diocese specifically for homosexuals.
That link takes you to a newspaper article.( Zadok comments on the article itself and its flaws and questions here) It might be better to read the statement itself before commenting, a statement which is very clear on the Church’s teaching, which then ultimately begs the question of why….
The Archbishop’s Council of the Diocese of Westminster, reflecting on the pastoral needs of homosexual Catholics and their families and on Masses celebrated in Islington and at the Anglican Church of St Anne’s in Soho, proposes that in future a Mass should take place at Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street, a Catholic Church in the West End of London. This Mass would be part of normal pastoral outreach, open to everyone and would be celebrated on Sunday at 5pm twice a month. Celebrants of the Mass will be drawn for the most part from diocesan and religious priests who already exercise ministry within the Diocese, reflecting custom and practice where priests celebrating Mass in parishes are ultimately authorised to do so by the Archbishop of Westminster. The rota will be drawn together by the Vicar General, Mgr Seamus O’Boyle in collaboration with the local Dean, Canon Patrick Browne.
Information about the Mass will be sensitive to the reality that the celebration of Mass is not to be used for campaigning for any change to, or ambiguity about, the Church’s teaching.
The arrangements at Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street, will be subject to review after six months.
The Diocese of Westminster will continue to develop its Pastoral outreach to homosexual people so as to enable them to enter more fully into the life of the Church. This includes the weekly Listening Service being provided by the Catholic churches in Soho and the West End of London which provides support and opportunities to speak with a priest at the Church of Notre Dame, Leicester Place.
What I would like to know is this:
What, in the present situation, in the Diocese of Westminster is preventing "homosexual people so as to enable them to enter more fully into the life of the Church?" What?
Are persons who experience same-sex attraction being stopped from coming to Mass?
Are persons who experience same-sex attraction being prohibited from praying?
Are they not allowed to purchase or read copies of the Bible or the Catechism?
Are persons with same-sex attraction who dwell in the Diocese of Westminster being banned from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, from access to spiritual direction?
Are persons with same-sex attraction not allowed to visit the sick or assist the poor? Are persons with same-sex attraction not allowed, in the Diocese of Westminster, to pour their lives out in sacrificial discipleship of Jesus Christ?
Well, that’s terrible.
I agree. That should be fixed, immediately, and shame on the Diocese of Westminster for putting up such obstacles. The sooner they come down, the better.
Pastoral services are one thing, and they are necesssary in their specificity and attention to an individual’s particular situation and needs, but even those can devolve from a healthy and worthy recognition of various special circumstances that require particular attention into interest groups who exist mostly to separate themselves from the Body and the more general call of Christ to live as one, in mutual love and self-sacrifice, in which it is no longer I, but Christ who dwells within me. (Gal 2:20)
(Because everything can go haywire)
(And I would invite you to look at the website for the SoHo Masses here, which include bidding prayers for those recently celebrating civil partnership, prayers which imply, for example, that Perpetua and Felicity were, you know, civil partners. It will be intriguing to see how this community’s stance can be integrated with the stated stance in the Diocesan statement. But that is not my subject and will undoubtedly be taken up by other blogs)
But separate, designated Masses for one group of people with one particular temptation to sin or identity runs completely, deeply contrary to the weight of Christian tradition. This goes for Masses for the divorced, for youth, for children, for families..for catechists, for whatever – as well.
It is one thing, say, to have "ethnic" parishes – but even those, as they have their good points, have a risk of encouraging a kind of separatism. It is also one thing to have a gathering, a convention, a convocation, and to have a Mass on the occasion of that gathering. But even that is vastly overused. Morning or Evening Prayer are alternatives which are not used nearly enough. But that’s beside the point.
The gift of the Eucharist is unity. Unity with God through Christ, unity as the Body of Christ. There shall be no divisions, no distinctions. The function of the Sunday Mass is to join us, as His Body, in a sacrifice of praise, joined with all on earth, and with the Communion of Saints. Designer Masses for special interest groups – not a new thing with this outreach – runs entirely counter to the theological and historical function of Eucharist in Catholic tradition.
Here is the thing.
I don’t want to worship at Sunday Mass in the midst of a congregation that looks just like me and that shares my particular situation in life, if I can honestly help it. I want to worship, every Sunday, with the most intense, vibrant mix of people around, a concrete symbol of the reality of this thing called Church. Well-dressed, poorly-dressed, old, young, straight, gay, families, singles, every color, with every kind of accent, the clear-eyed saintly lady over to the side near Mary’s statue, and the exhausted sinner, worn out from Saturday night, hunched near the back, hoping, listening, waiting for a clue and just a little more strength.
That’s Church. That’s the Body of Christ. No divisions, no clubs, no identity politics. Just a crew of sickly, yet hopeful sinners, trying to open ourselves just a little bit more this week to the power of that healing, redemptive medicine that we know the Physician has ready for us, as he waits for us, in love.
I mean…isn’t that the point?
Update:
A blogger puts things in context and says this could be an improvement.
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