This week in the Roman Catholic Church vs LGBT people (updated)

Several things worth noting as the Roman Catholic church continues its nationwide war on loving gay couples.

First:
There's an official Catholic group called "Courage" that seeks to "help" gay people remain celibate.  They've now released a video, called "Yes to You" that tells gay people are welcome--as long as they don't have sex.  From ThinkProgress: 

Through the oddly rapped poem, the priest urges gay Catholics to deny their same-sex attractions and pick a “chosen identity” that the Church can approve of. Here are some of the lyrics: “In a culture that glorifies sex and puts pleasure before all else / Is God the source of your identity or is it your sexual self? / And how do we identify and not accept a lie / Because sexual desire is just one piece of the pie / Identity is a choice a lifestyle is something you embrace / Same sex Attraction doesn’t define you and can be set in place.”

Think of what they are really saying.  Gay people are to be alone, forever.  Never to know the tender caress of a lover.  Never to know the warmth of snuggling with a spouse.  Never to have the comfort of sharing a life-long partnership, through sickness and health.

What a brutal, heartless, vicious thing to tell a young person.  What a bleak, stunted and hopeless future they paint.  That's not love. That's pure cruelty.

Second:
 Cardinal George of Chicago "celebrated" an anniversary by his own attack on same sex couples:

During the Holy Name Cathedral mass, Cardinal George stated that the institution marriage "comes from God," not the state or the church, CBS Chicago reports.

That's very interesting.  Does that mean two atheists married in front of a Justice of the Peace aren't married?

Oh, and he likens our relationships to mere "friendships" (with benefits, apparently):

"There must surely be ways in our civil society, where we can honor friendships, where we can respect other people, without destroying the nature of marriage," George continued, in a vague reference to same-sex relationships. "It is very important, for your whole lives, give witness to what marriage truly means. And while civil laws might change – if they do – then society will be the worse for it."

And as if we needed reminding that the Cardinal hates us:

Last December, George told a Chicago news station that the city's annual LGBT pride parade could "morph into" a Ku Klux Klan gathering, a charged statement that the cardinal later apologized for, even as many LGBT advocates and their supporters did not accept it.

However, the third highlight wins the prize, from San Francisco's incoming Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone (my emphasis)

…in a recent interview at the headquarters of the Oakland diocese, where he has served as bishop for three years,  Cordileone was more direct: Gays and lesbians who are in sexual relationships of any kind, he said, should not receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, the central ritual of Catholic life. "If we misuse the gift of sexuality, we're going to suffer the consequences," he said, "and I firmly believe we are suffering the consequences."

I sent that to BP and told her that Bishop Sal has made it official:  gays are not welcome at the Table.

BP responded that fortunately (having become Episcopalian) she has found a Table that welcomes her (and if I believed in God I would thank Him most vigorously for bringing her there).  Still, given her deep family identity as Roman Catholic, I think it is residually hurtful. And how much more hurtful for LGBT people and their friends and family who attempt to remain Roman Catholic.

Because really, it's breathtaking.  The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco has essentially excommunicated the gay community.

Well, as I've said in several places:  Episcopal Bishop Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California should make it clear to the LGBT community in San Francisco that The Episcopal Church welcomes them, no strings attached.

Let's digress for a moment, for a little levity: Here are San Francisco's Episcopal Grace Cathedral (on the left) and the agitator from the washing machine the Roman Catholic St Mary's Cathedral (on the right).

(continued below)

Grace Cathedral (Episcopal), San Francisco

St Mary's Cathedral (Roman Catholic),San Francisco

Update:
AndrewDB in the comments points to a statement by the Abp of Newark that even one-ups Bishop Sal.

[Abp Myers] also said in the statement, a copy of which was provided to The Record before its release, that Catholics who disagree with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church on marriage should “refrain from receiving Holy Communion.” He said he issued the statement because of what he described as a lack of clarity on the subject by other bishops.

 So, he has excommunicated friends and family of gay people too.  Wow, that's some small church you are making there, Archbishops.  But presumably pedophiles and their enablers can still take Communion in good conscience.