"See in the fish pin a sign of recognition of our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers. The pin signals solidarity with all people of faith who promote justice and inclusivity for every person in their faith communities.
In 2006 we celebrated our 20th anniversary of this ministry. The Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Catholics was founded by Cardinal Roger Mahony on February 4, 1986 and is supported throughout the Archdiocese at parish level a an active outreach ministry with gay and lesbian Catholics, their parents, families and friends.
The Ministry With Lesbian and Gay Catholics (MLGC) recognizes that all persons with a homosexual orientation are capable of living a full Catholic life in union with all the members of the Church.
MLGC has as its primary goal "to foster a spirit of community and fellowship among gay Catholics so that they can offer and receive mutual support in living our their lives of faith with the Church." (Archbishop Roger Mahony, (2-2-86).
In 1993, Mahony helped fund and produce the video A Journey for Understanding Gays and Lesbians in the Church. The video affirmed that there was nothing wrong with any “gay” or lesbian person whatsoever, that “being gay was a blessing and a gift,” and had “something prophetic toward remodeling the Church”.
The photograph taken in the courtyard of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels includes Fr. Ian Davies (far right) and Fr. Mark Stewart (far left). Both are Episcopal priests based at St. Thomas the Apostle (Episcopal)parish in Hollywood (Diocese of Los Angeles). Davies is a transplanted Welshman by way of All Saints Margaret Street parish in London. Stewart is an alumnus of Nashotah House seminary in Wisconsin. Both are committed, practicing homosexual men with a congregation that is overwhelming male and homosexual. The parish experienced a mass exodus (some say as high as 75%) in the 1980s when the rector, the late Carroll Barber, began catering to the homosexual community with a heavy emphasis on AIDS. This enclave of radical, yet 'anglo-catholic' theology and liturgical practice, has apparently fallen on financial hard times, with pledging at historical lows.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how this beacon of sexual libertinism weathers this current crisis. Certainly the diocese would be in no position to provide an infusion of cash. The conventional wisdom is that much of the congregation is transient in nature. After a relatively brief flirtation with the 'smells and bells' approach to worship, they move on without having left much money behind, save for the small change they might have dropped in the collection plate!
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