In July 2005, CPCSM president Mary Lynn Murphy coordinated the gathering of members and friends of CPCSM who were also parents of GLBT persons, so as to form Catholic Rainbow Parents. The launching of this new group was accompanied by the release of the Catholic Rainbow Parents' Declaration - a pastoral statement of wisdom, love, and support for GLBT persons and their families. In 2006, the group released a second statement entitled Catholic Rainbow Parents for Constitutional Integrity.

On October 12, 2005, Catholic Rainbow Parents held a "Ritual of Affirmation and Sending Forth" on the steps of the St. Paul Cathedral. The event culminated in the sending of copies of the Catholic Rainbow Parents' Declaration to both the Vatican and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In October 2005, CPCSM and Catholic Rainbow Parents initiated efforts to protest the Pastors' Summit - an event aimed at encouraging religious leaders to support the proposed Minnesota marriage amendment banning same-gender marriage and all legal equivalents. We formed a coalition entitled People of Faith for Equal Civil Marriage Rights and organized a rally on November 10 outside the summit's venue, Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Our organizing efforts involved collaborating with an ecumenically diverse group of individuals and faith communities dedicated to defeating the proposed amendment. From this proactive and ecumenical dialogue and action emerged the Faith Family Fairness Alliance, of which CPCSM and Catholic Rainbow Parents are members. The TogetherMinnesota! campaign also cites the CPCSM-lead response to the Pastors' Summit as its official starting point.

Bill Kummer with "Skipper" March 23, 1950 - January 29, 2006

Many were saddened by the passing of CPCSM co-founder Bill Kummer on January 29. Bill was a compassionate and prophetic figure within the Catholic community and beyond. He was also a source of strength and inspiration for many. Bill always maintained that he would continue his work on the other side of this life. And many of us indeed believe this to be true. His spirit lives on among us.

Gary Schoener, internationally renowned expert on clergy sexual abuse delivered an insightful presentation February 10, 2006, in which he emphasized seldom reported facts concerning the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal --including the range of victims, the different types of abusers, and the impact of the abuse on the victims and their families. Gary also explored the scape-goating of gay priests and the implications of the sex abuse scandal for the future of the institutional church.

Timed to coincide with the World Marriage Day celebration, on February 12, 2006, close to 300 people (above) -- including former CPCSM treasurer Roger Urbanski (right) -- gathered on the steps of the St. Paul Cathedral to call upon Archbishop Flynn to withdraw his support of the Minnesota marriage amendment. (See below for more details about this rally.)

On February 17-18, feminist theologian Mary Hunt shared her insights on a range of issues within the Catholic Church via two CPCSM-sponsored presentations at St. Joan of Arc Church. One of these had the relevant title of "Catholic Is As Catholic Does: Strategies for Being Church in Challenging Times." Pictured with Mary are Linda Taylor, CSJ, and Darlene White.

Our March 20, 2006 event at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, entitled "Putting a Human Face to the Marriage Amendment Issue," drew a record crowd for a CPCSM educational event. Pictured from left: Bill Nolan (St. Thomas the Apostle); John Watkins and his partner Andrew Elfenben and their son, Dmitri; Carol Anderson and her partner Kathy Itzin; Michael Bayly (CPCSM executive coordinator); and Susan Lee (St. Thomas the Apostle).

The inaugural Bill Kummer Forum on April 28-29, 2006 featured renowned theologian and author Daniel Helminiak, who offered a two-part presentation entitled "Gay Body, Gay Soul: A Catholic LGBTI Perspective on Sexuality, Spirituality and Marriage." Pictured from left: Rev. Paul Tucker (All God's Children Metropolitan Community Church), Daniel Helminiak, Paul Fleege (CPCSM treasurer), David McCaffrey (CPCSM co-founder), and Michael Bayly (CPCSM executive coordinator)

CPCSM's Annual Community Meeting
A Great Success

Photo: David J. McCaffrey

Linda Taylor, CSJ, (left) and Jacob Reitan display the awards they received at this year's CPCSM Annual Community Meeting. Linda and Fr. Mike Tegeder (who was not able to be present), were the recipients of this year's Father Henry F. LeMay Award, while Jacob and Paula Ruddy (also unable to attend) received the 2006 Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award. See the following link to see copies of this years Gumbleton and LeMay Awards.

On May 8th, with about 50 people in attendance -- including a group of about 10 young adults who have GLBT siblings, this year's CPCSM Annual Community Meeting was a great success. The evening's high point was a very impassioned keynote presentation, given by Jacob Reitan, founder and co-director of the Soulforce Equality Ride. Jacob spoke of the history of the Ride and many of
its highlights, Reminiscent of the Freedom Rides of the 1960s, the Equality Ride was an inspiring event which earlier this year had taken 32 young adults (including Jake) on a seven-week bus tour from New York to Los Angeles to confront nineteen religious schools and military academies that
ban the enrollment of GLBT students.

The Ride's journey was unique, as never before have young activists banded together to challenge homophobia at many of the major educational institutions responsible for much of today's GLBT discrimination - places where intolerance toward GLBT persons is taught to and nurtured among future generations of church and society's leaders.of which he was the founder and co-director.

Jacob and two other members of the Ride who were in attendance, including the other co-director, Haven Harrin, also spoke of the group's future hopes and responded to many questions from a very interested and inquistive audience.

Also known locally for his Faith In Action column in the Lavender magazine, Jake Reitan is an organizer with Soulforce, a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to liberating LGBT people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance as taught by Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Photo: David J. McCaffrey

Pictured with awardees Linda Taylor, CSJ, and Jacob Reitan are the following: (Back row, l to r): Michael Bayly, CPCSM Executive Coordinator; Jarrett Lucas, Equality Rider; Bill Hunt, past CPCSM president; Haven Harrin, Equality Ride Co-Director; (In front, l to r): Mary Lynn Murphy, CPCSM Board President, and Lisa Nilles, CPCSM member.

Photo: David J. McCaffrey

The 50 members and supporters who attended CPCSM's Annual Community Meeting on May 8, 2006, listen intently and with great interest as keynoter Jacob Reitan, at the podium, describes the highlights of the historic Soulforce Equality Ride, of which he was the founder and co-director.

More About Jacob Reitan
and the Soulforce Equality Ride

The Equality Ride is featured on the cover of the May 9th issue
of The Advocate, with (l-r) Jacob Reitan and Haven Harrin,
co-directors of the ride, pictured in the foreground.

Photos from "Go Light the World:
A Sending Forth of Minnesota's Equality Riders"
March 2, 2006
Westminister Presbyterian Church
Photos by David J. McCaffrey

With Jacob Reitan (left) and Haven Harrin (center), co-directors of the Soulforce Equality Ride, are (l-r) Rev. Donald Samuels, Minneapolis City Council Member and ordained Baptist minister, who was a guest speaker at the event; Brian Mogren, the very successful event's founder and coordinator; and CPCSM Executive Director, Michael Bayly.

Jacob Reitan is flanked by his loving and supportive parents, Randi and Phil Reitan, who are also very dedicated GLBT activists in their own right.

The Soulforce Equality Riders - March 2006.
Visit www.equalityride.org for more images and stories from the ride.

[End of CPCSM's Year in Review 2005 - 2006]

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175 Protesters Rally on Steps of Cathedral
to Demand Archbishop Cease
Support of Marriage Amendment

On World Marriage Day (WMD), following the Noon Mass on Sunday, February 12th, almost 200 Catholics who oppose the proposed "Marriage Amendment," expected to be considered at the upcoming session of the Minnesota State Legislature, braved near-0 degree-wind-chill temperatures to gather on the front steps of the St. Paul Cathedral to express their outrage to Archbishop Flynn and the other Minnesota bishops. The group's message to the bishops -- expressed in public statements, songs, and chants -- was clear: stop actively supporting the amendment and stop politicizing Minnesota's Hierarchy and violating the Constitution's guaranteed separation of church and state protections by urging parishioners to mail postcards, distributed in church, that urge their legislators to vote for the amendment. (See statement below.)       [Photo Gallery]

The rally was organized and sponsored by Catholics for Equality, a newly formed group that is an ad hoc blending of a core group of concerned progressive Catholic lay persons active in a number of local parishes, with CPCSM, Catholic Rainbow Parents, and Dignity/Twin Cities, that was formed to express its outrage with the position and actions taken by the Minnesotal Catholic Bishops in actively endorsing and advocating the "Marriage Amendment" and to work against the amendment.

During the annual WMD liturgy that preceded the rally, another protest -- quieter and more subdued, which had been begun and reprised by Brian McNeill and his partner and some other Dignity/Twin City members over the past four years on WMD -- took place inside the Cathedral.

For this year's protest, pairs of same-sex relationship partners, who wore rainbow arm bands, also stood up when the Archbishop asked groups of opposite-sex married couples to stand up as he listed 5-year intervals of marriage (i.e., 0-5, 6-10 years,etc.), up to the longest married couples in attendance. Also, when the Archbishop asked the married opposite-sex couples to face each other and repeat their marriage vows aloud, the same-sex couples did the same.

The message of the liturgical protest -- that the Church must also make room at its table for Catholics in same-sex couples in committed relationships, if it is to be true to the Gospel -- was once again clearly sent at the Archbishop's annual Mass for married Catholics.

Some other protest moments took place during the distribution of Holy Communion when some of the ministers refused the Eucharist to anyone, GLBT or hetero supporters, wearing the rainbow arm bands while other ministers, including the Archbishop, did not refuse the Eucharist to the arm band wearers. A few harsh words were heard from one of the Eucharistic ministers to the protesters attempting to receive communion at the rear of the church.

An angry, middle-aged male parishioners, who used a disrepectful sexual epithet to address one of the mothers of a gay man who was wearing a rainbow arm band, was scolded by a lay member of the Cathedral staff, who apologized to the protester and asked her to call her at the church office to discuss the matter further if she felt the need.

Outside, prior to the Mass, a few parishioners entering the cathedral asked why the protesters were bringing politics into the Mass, to which protesters quickly replied that they were only there at the Mass in reaction to the Archbishop who first politicized his office and the local Archdiocese. This politicization began when Archbishop Flynn, along with the other bishops in the Minnesota Catholic Conference issued their statement on December 22, 2005, in support of the Marriage Amendment. In their statement, the Minnesota bishops also first announced the postcard campaign in which each parish would be encouraged to participate.

The Archbishop then followed up on the bishops' statement in his first column of the year in the Catholic Spirit, which began by displaying a copy of a postcard to be mailed to legislators. In addition, the official web site of the Archdiocese has numerous other pro-marriage-amendment resources for learning about the amendment and for taking actions in supporting it.

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Postings Related to 2006 World Marriage Day Rally

Did you know . . . ?

In July 2004, the American Psychological Association issued two official resolutions, one in support of civil marriages for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) persons, and the other opposing discrimination against lesbian or gay parents, adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care, and reproductive health services.

In July 2005, the American Psychiatric Association also issued an official statement supporting civil marriages for GLBT persons. Within that document, they reiterated their support for same-sex parents raising children, stating that "no research has shown that the children raised by lesbians and gay men are less well adjusted than those reared within heterosexual relationships."

The same positive view of children raised by gay or lesbian parents was stated in 2002 in an article in Pediatrics (Vol. 109 No. 2 February 2002, pp. 341-344), the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The article, entitled "Technical Report: Co-parent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents," states that "A growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with one or two gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual. Children's optimal development seems to be influenced more by the nature of the relationships and interactions within the family unit than by the particular structural form it takes."

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Public Statement at 2006 World Marriage Day Rally
On the Front Steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul
on Behalf of Catholics for Equality
by David J. McCaffrey, Cofounder of CPCSM
February 12, 2006

We, the members of Catholics for Equality, are outraged by the position and actions taken by the Minnesota Catholic Bishops in actively endorsing and advocating for the discriminatory and anti-Christian "Marriage Amendment" -- both from the pulpit and through official Catholic publications.

Not only do we believe that such actions violate the separation of Church and State guaranteed by the United States Constitution, we further hold that Minnesota Bishops' position and actions are diametrically opposed to their ordained roles as pastoral leaders who have been called by God to welcome, unite, and minister to all God's people -- not to ostracize, exclude, and spiritually abuse with their language those whom they do not understand or agree with.

Catholics for Equality are taking this and other proactive positions and actions to urge the Minnesota Bishops to withdraw their support of the Marriage Amendment and are using all avenues open to them as citizens and people of faith to oppose this amendment and urge all other Minnesota people of faith and citizens to do the same. This amendment, should it pass, would mark the first time in Minnesota history that discrimination would be enshrined in the Constitution, especially at the urging of the Catholic hierarchy.

We will not wait the 350 years that Galileo's descendants had to wait until the Vatican acknowledged that his life experiences and his science spoke the truth. When will the Vatican and other members of the Catholic hierarchy listen to the tens of thousands of stories of gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender (GLBT) persons and our families -- stories of love for our Church, stories of our wanting to do God's will in the only way that our consciences direct us - by being true to our God-created natures of same-gender sexual or affectional orientations - and seeking union with God through a committed relationship with another person of our same gender.

When will the Vatican and the Bishops of Minnesota listen to the tens of thousands of our stories of oppression at the hands of those who fear and misunderstand us, often urged by Church leaders who are violating their sworn public trust to minister to all God's children. Listen to the tens of thousands of our stories about our periods of depression, our suicide attempts, our stories of terror about being rejected by our parents and our friends, and our stories of harassment, assault, and sometimes even murder by those whom the Church has not done enough to educate or encourage to love us and accept us as brothers and sisters?

How long, Pope Benedict and Archbishop Flynn, will it take for you to look into the telescope and once again see that for us the sun is the center of the universe, that our earth does truly revolve around the sun? Listen to the vast majority of today's biological and behavioral scientists, to the majority of today's mental health professionals and sexologists. GLBT persons are created, just as they are, by God -- it is not a choice and it is not an illness. It is a natural variation of God's creation. Our orientations do not need to be changed and cannot be truly changed. We are good and holy just as God created us.

And our civil marriages are good and holy. And the children we raise, when we show them proper love, respect, and upbringing and are supportive of them in their lives, do at least as well as those raised by our opposite-sex counterparts. We are citizens of the US and of Minnesota. As citizens, we vote, we pay taxes, we join the military to defend our country. Therefore, our committed relationships deserve all the same rights and privileges granted to other citizens in opposite-sex marriages; and our children deserve the same rights, privileges, and protections granted to those raised by opposite-sex parents.

Look into the telescope, Pope Benedict and Archbishop Flynn, and Bishops of Minnesota and see the truth. Tens of thousands of lives, tens of thousands of souls could be in the balance!

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More About Catholics for Equality

The Catholics for Equality represent an ad hoc blending of a core group of concerned progressive Catholic lay persons active in a number of local parishes, with many members of the other organizations described above, who are outraged by the position and tactics taken by the Minnesotal Catholic Bishops in actively endorsing and advocating for the discriminatory and anti-Christian "Marriage Amendment" -- both from the pulpit and through official Catholic publications.

The group further believes that the Minnesota Bishops' postitions actions are diametrically opposed to their ordained roles as pastoral leaders who have been called by God to welcome, unite, and minister to all God's people -- not to ostracize, exclude, and spiritually abuse those whom that they do not understand or agree with. Catholics for Equality are taking proactive postions and actions to urge the Bishops to withdraw their support of the marriage amendment and are using all avenues open to them as citizens and Christians to oppose this amendment, which would mark the first time in Minnesota history that discrimination would be enshrined in the Constitution, and at the urging of the Catholic hierarchy.

A Special Appeal from Catholics for Equality

Dear Friends,

We are appealing to you to write a letter (and to encourage others to write letters) to Archbishop Harry J. Flynn and Bishop John C. Nienstedt of New Ulm to ask them to withdraw their support of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment. As citizens and as Catholics, this is a matter of conscience for us.

As you know, a number of fundamentalist religious groups have targeted Minnesota to amend the constitution to exclude same-gender couples from benefiting from civil marriage laws and all legal equivalents - such as domestic partnerships and civil unions.

Following is the current language of the proposed Minnesota Constitutional Amendment: "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota. Any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent by the state or any of its political subdivisions." The amendment, if passed by both houses of the Minnesota legislature and voted "Yes" by a majority of ballots cast in the November 2006 election, would become the document by which all laws/statutes of Minnesota must abide.

Since there is already a statute in Minnesota preventing same-gender marriage, this push for an amendment to the constitution raises questions of motive. Is it a political move to influence the vote for conservative candidates in 2006? Is it punishment for homosexuals? Is it an attempt to break down the separation of church and state?

The Minnesota Catholic bishops have joined forces with fundamentalist evangelical groups pushing for the amendment. The Catholic campaign is spearheaded by Bishop Nienstedt. Archbishop Flynn has asked all the women's groups in the Archdiocese to distribute and collect postcards in support of the amendment at Masses in February. These postcards will then be forwarded to state legislators. The archbishop has also asked priests to attend training sessions and to preach sermons in favor of the amendment. In his January 5 column in The Catholic Spirit, the archbishop urged Catholics to support the amendment.

We think that the Archbishop should know that there are many of us, of different political persuasions, who cannot in good conscience support him in this. Our reasons are listed on the reverse side of this letter. Perhaps if many of us send letters explaining our thinking and feeling, the Archbishop may not only realize that the amendment presents deep moral problems, but find the courage to withdraw his support of it.

You may be saying, "That will never happen." But there is a broader purpose your letter will serve. We have to stop the culture war between "liberal" and "conservative" in our archdiocese. Both sides grow bitter and entrenched. It is a lose/lose situation. The issue of equal protection of GLBT people becomes a weapon in the war. The archbishop, with his gifts for being pastoral and his organizational resources, can do something about this. But he needs our encouragement. We can encourage him to calm the fears of the people who see rapid change as destructive of their way of life. We can encourage him to listen to people who think change is needed. Together we can nurture the spirit of love amidst changing forms of marriage and family.

Even if we do not succeed in getting the bishops to take moral responsibility, at least we will have stood up against an injustice to GLBT people in our moment in history.

Thanks for stepping up. Copy us with your letter if you want to share ideas.

Catholics for Equality

Contact Person:
Paula Ruddy Phone: 763-549-0881
6201 N. Lilac Drive, Unit 404 E-mail: pruddy@mninter.net
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

Bishops' addresses:
The Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn
Archbishop of St Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
St Paul, MN 55102

The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm
1400 6th Street N
New Ulm, MN 56073

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It violates human dignity and our own integrity as people who believe in equality.  Our constitution expresses our self understanding as citizens. Amending it to exclude same-gender unions disqualifies a group of citizens on the basis of their sexual identity. They are at present denied the status and the benefits and privileges of civil marriage by Minnesota and federal statutes. An amendment to the Minnesota constitution adds nothing to heterosexual marriage. Its sole purpose is to discriminate against same-gender couples.

Christian compassion calls for alleviating the suffering of discrimination.  How can disqualifying the sexual identity of our GLBT brothers and sisters be justified with a Gospel of unconditional love? Would Jesus support such action? The stories of GLBT people and parents of GLBT children testify to rejection and pain caused by the Church's teaching on homosexuality. Civil protections of marriage in this State, presumably honored by other States, and covered by over 1000 other statutes pertaining to marriage, could help GLBT couples stabilize their families and include them in our social structure. Even legalizing civil unions or domestic partnerships would help.

Forms of marriage evolve, but the spirit of love in families remains constant.  The Archbishop says he is protecting the traditional form of marriage and family. The amendment adds no benefits for marriage but it privileges one form to the exclusion of all others. The traditional form is a good one for nurturing a loving family spirit, but it is not the only form that can do so. In the last four or five decades the forms of family have changed and diversified. This could be enriching to our culture. The role of religion is to nourish spiritual development in whatever form the family takes. The dysfunction in our society may be the result of the failure of religions to support families in creating spirit rather than the result of changing forms. The Archbishop is wasting resources and moral credibility in defending one form of family life when he could be tending to the spirit of family in all its forms.

In a constitutional democracy, lawmakers can't put a minority's equal rights on the ballot. Majorities sometimes get carried away, but the core moral value of equality in the Constitution is meant to remain firm. If lawmakers get carried away with the majority, the court's job is to hold firm. The proposed amendment is a dishonest strategy to shield the existing Minnesota Statute that defines marriage as a union of heterosexuals. The reason it needs shielding is that it is vulnerable to challenge under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. After the Civil War, the Constitution was amended to clarify the individual state's duty. No State may give benefits and privileges to one group of people and deny them to another unless they have good reasons. What reasons do the Minnesota bishops have for denying the benefits and privileges of civil marriage to same-gender couples? The Archbishop says it is not in their best interests or in the interests of society. This is an assertion that needs backing up with evidence. Why is the discrimination justified?

The common good is determined by deliberation of all the voices in the society.  The US is a pluralistic nation. There are many groups who have their own cultures and ethics living together under one set of laws. Each group is free to argue that its ethical positions are best for the common good and should be embodied in law. However, when it comes to enacting laws, the duty of the lawmakers and the voting citizens is to let all people speak for themselves about what is good for them. Respect, debate, negotiation and compromise usually produce the only picture we can have of the common good. For example, we do not enact the religious taboos of one group into law when a significant number of people who will be affected by the law cannot see a reason for it. The Minnesota bishops are free to argue their position on the sinfulness of homosexual acts or on an ideal form of marriage, but since many people do not share their beliefs, they have a duty as citizens to give convincing reasons and evidence if they want to bind everyone.

Catholics do not need the amendment to practice their religion freely.  The bishops are free to preserve the sacrament of matrimony for one man and one woman.. The amendment covers only civil marriage. Even if the State should in the future allow same-gender couples the benefits and privileges of civil marriage, the bishops are free to deny sacramental matrimony to same-gender couples. To safeguard their own religious freedom, Catholics should respect the civic freedom of others.

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BEN GARVIN, Pioneer Press

During the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on the "Marriage Amendment" bill on April 4th, long-time active CPCSM members (l-r) Tom and Darlene White hold up photos of their lesbian daughter and grandchildren; and an unidentified man holds up a photo of two lesbians in a committed relationship and their children. The Judiciary Committee voted against the bill 5-4, along party lines, as was expected. Complete Story: St.Paul Pioneer Press, April 5, 2006

Related Media Stories

The marriage amendment
Star Tribune
Last update: April 04, 2006 – 10:37 PM

Tuesday's action: In a long-awaited hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected 5 to 4 a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and its legal equivalent.

The background: The Legislature has been debating for several years whether to propose for voter approval a constitutional amendment limiting marriage and its legal equivalent to the union of one man and one woman. • If approved in the Legislature, the question would go on the November ballot. • The Republican-controlled House has passed the bill twice, but the DFL-majority Senate has never brought it to a full floor vote.

The debate: Supporters warned that courts could overturn existing state law and redefine marriage and urged the importance to children and society generally of protecting the traditional definition of marriage. • Opponents decried the amendment as unnecessary and mean- spirited and designed to deny unmarried couples not just marriage rights but also existing rights involving hospital visitation, medical decisions, inheritance and more.

What now: Supporters may try to bring the amendment directly to the Senate floor, and the issue could become a major debating point for the fall elections.
©2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Same-sex marriage ban voted down
A Senate panel defeated an emotionally charged proposal to seek a constitutional amendment. Supporters vowed the fight isn't over.
By Mark Brunswick, Star Tribune
Last update: April 04, 2006 - 10:36 PM

Bachmann, stepsister hold opposing views
The lesbian stepsister of Minnesota's leading champion
of the marriage amendment begs to differ.
By Dane Smith, Star Tribune
Last update: April 04, 2006 - 10:38 PM

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Catholic couple clashes with
church over gay rights
BY KAY HARVEY
Pioneer Press, February 26, 2006

PIONEER PRESS FILE PHOTO

Maria and Charlie Girsch raised six children and now through their business, they challenge adults to reclaim the creativity of their childhood. Charlie is a former priest and Maria a former nun. These devout Catholics again wrestle with the church's policy. This time the issue is gay rights.

Charlie and Maria Girsch aren't your typical parents.

In their 20s, he was a Roman Catholic priest; she was a teacher and a nun. They fell in love and chose to marry.

Now, love looms tall again to test the St. Paul couple's strong ties to Catholicism. The church has toughened its stand against Catholics in same-sex relationships. And one of the couple's six children is gay.

"We are caught between the child we love and the church we grew up in," Charlie Girsch says.

At the Cathedral of St. Paul, people wearing rainbow-colored sashes — considered a political statement in support ofpeople in gay relationships— are refused communion. And the diocesan leader, Archbishop Harry Flynn, now supports a proposed amendment to the Minnesota constitution that would ban not only gay marriage but also many advantages that union brings.

As a sash-wearing parent, Charlie Girsch has been denied communion himself. He and his wife rallied with others last summer to createCatholic Rainbow Parents, a group that has grown to 30 or more moms and dads of adult gays who oppose the church's stand.

The group drafted a declaration in support of gay rights, read it on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul in October and mailed a copy to the Vatican. Last month, the parents spearheaded a Mass at St. Stanislaus Church and invited families and friends of gays to celebrate together.

They vocally oppose Flynn's support of a proposed "one-man, one-woman" marriage amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that likely would block gay partners from sharing health insurance or jointly adopting a child without other legal measures.

Flynn has encouraged Twin Cities priests to promote the amendment. Two weeks ago, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis dispersed stacks of postcards to its 219 churches, inviting parishioners to sign and mail them to legislators to support putting the amendment on the ballot.

On that same weekend, Catholic Rainbow Parents wore their sashes to church in support of gays in committed relationships. They and other pro-gay groups have publicly protested the proposed amendment by carrying banners with messages they want to deliver to legislators.

Such words as "Don't Enshrine Discrimination in Our Constitution" and "How Does Persecuting My Family Protect Your Family?" blare from the signs they carry.

"All gays want is the protections heterosexual couples have," Charlie Girsch says.

DEFINING MOMENT

Parents of gay children reel at the language in official documents released years ago by the Vatican that labels people in same-sex relationships as "objectively disordered" and "instinctively inclined toward evil."

For those who have a gay child, the words cut like a knife, Maria Girsch says. "It's that fierce parental love. It's 'I don't want you messing with my child.' "

She and her husband now train work teams and other groups to reignite a childlike creativity in their business, Creativity Central (www. creativitycentral.com). The couple maintains the church's stand on gay and lesbian relationships goes against Gospel teachings that are the church's foundation.

"The commandments are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself," Charlie says. "Jesus constantly had to challenge the religious leaders of his day to back off their legalism and remind them to be compassionate." He can't imagine a loving God singling out any minority.

"Everybody is a child of God," he says. "They all look different. Some are short. Some are tall. Some have big feet. And some are gay. It's part of the package."

Any other way of looking at homosexuality ended for them when "we realized we love our kid," he says. They have seen others experience a similar defining moment.

"What do you do when a child is gay?" Maria asks. "The most anti-gay people have the hardest time accepting that reality. But they get over it, because that lovable child trumps their homophobia."

The Girsches' second-born child told them he was gay 10 years ago. Now 34, Jon Girsch is a self-employed graphic designer who lives in Seattle with his partner. They celebrated their commitment to each other three years ago on a Hawaiian beach with their families gathered around them.

Jon Girsch is proud of the stand his parents are taking, he says. He hasn't left the religion of his youth, nor has he joined a church in Seattle. Like his parents, he hopes someday for a Catholic church that accepts everyone without judgment.

"That includes women," he says. "I'd like to see an equality across the board and have that be based on love. It's very simple. A lot of people want to make it a lot of work."

JUDGMENT DAY

Her son came out as gay because he had to admit the inevitable, his mother says. Twenty years earlier, her husband did something akin to that when he gave up the priesthood. "For the lovely Maria," Charlie Girsch says, casting a fond glance at his wife.

He has felt the sting of being judged by others, he says. "Being a former priest had a stigma." Charlie's father proved it by refusing to attend his son's wedding.

Charlie Girsch felt another sort of sting when he was denied Communion because he wore a rainbow sash. He realized he had lost, however briefly, the white, male — and straight — privilege to which he was accustomed.

"In some ways, it didn't hurt," he says. He knew he could go back to the Communion rail without the sash and partake of the sacraments."

Someday, he hopes, it will be as easy for his son to feel the church's acceptance.

Kay Harvey can be reached at 651-228-5468 or kharvey@pioneerpress.com.

FOR MORE INFO

To learn more about Catholic Rainbow Parents, the Twin Cities group that supports Catholics in gay or lesbian relationships, go to http://catholicrainbowparents.org. To sign a declaration of support, scroll to near the bottom.

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CPCSM Cofounder and Source of Inspiration,
Bill Kummer, Passes Away

The local and national Catholic GLBT, HIV/AIDS, and social justice communities lost a great leader and a hard-working educator and advocate on January 29th, when Bill Kummer passed away at his home in St. Paul as the result of AIDS-related complications, following a courageous and inspiring 20-year battle with HIV/AIDS.

Bill is perhaps best known as one of the six cofounders of the 25-year-old CPCSM and a perennial board member and general coordinator (1985, 1989 - 2002) of the organization.

Much of CPCSM's work has included educating the Church and society about, and advocating on behalf of, the special gifts and civil and religious rights of GLBT persons. Bill's work culminated when he presented workshops on his successful GLBT ministry work with parishes at two National Catholic Charity Conferences in the late 1980s and a workshop about the educational program he and others put together for training "safe staff" for GLBT students in Catholic high schools at the annual National Conference of the National Association of Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries (NACDLGM) in 1999.

Prior to his co-founding of CPCSM, Bill spent nine years as a teacher and administrator in Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the St. Louis, MO, area as a Benedictine monk from the St Louis Priory. In his last year as a monk, Bill worked as a community organizer in the Hispanic barrio of San Antonio. Bill holds a BA in philosophy from St. Louis University and an MA in Theology from the University's School of Divinity.

Returning to the Twin Cities, Bill was employed as a community organizer in refugee resettlement with Hispanic families on St. Paul's West Side, an organizer in neighborhood revitalization efforts in a number of different inner-city neighborhoods on St. Paul's East Side, and as an advocate for the rights of the physically and mentally challenged at the United Handicapped Federation in St. Paul.

After receiving his HIV diagnosis in 1985, Bill turned much of his attention to educating other persons living with AIDS (PWAs) about holistic health issues and teaching the mainstream community accurate medical and psycho-social information and positive attitudes about PWAs. As a volunteer member of the Minnesota AIDS Project (MAP) Speakers' Bureau, Bill delivered over 3000 educational and training presentations to a wide range of educational institutions and community groups, often presenting to groups that were unpopular among other MAP speakers.

In 1988 Bill cofounded a collective of PWAs that created a groundbreaking inspirational video, entitled An Interruption in the Journey, that offered a holistic and comforting message of hope to other PWAs by helping them view their AIDS diagnosis as only a temporary delay on their life's journey. Providing a positive focus for living with AIDS, the video has been widely used as a training tool in a number of local and national AIDS service programs.

From 1988 to 1995, Bill was also a cofounder and publisher--on a volunteer basis-- of PWAlive, a quarterly holistic journal by and for persons living with or in someway affected by HIV/AIDS. Distributed to over 400 local and national AIDS-related agencies, this journal was unique in that it offered, for the first time since the start of the AIDS crisis, a holistic message of hope, healing, and community solidarity.

In 1989 Bill received the 21st Annual Archbishop Ireland Award, presented each year by the Catholic Commission on Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, for his dedicated work on behalf of lesbian and gay persons and their families and on behalf of persons living with AIDS. June of 1998 Bill was the recognized by the schools of the Archdiocese as a recipient of an award for his work in setting up and coordinating a safe schools initiative among Catholic secondary schools.

In 1993, when Catholic legislators represented a major hurdle for the passage of human rights legislation that would add GLBT persons as a protected class to the Minnesota Human Rights, Bill coordinated a concerted lobbying effort of 100 Catholic legislators, and, with the help of a clerical volunteer, created a 75-page Catholic lobbying resource manual, that was widely used and acclaimed by a number of legislators to promote the passage of the GLBT human rights bill. Karen Clark, a co-author of the bill, later stated that the lobbying of the Catholic legislators was crucial to the bill's passage.

Born in Minneapolis on March 23, 1950, Bill spent the first two years of his life, until his adoption, with the Benedictine and Josephite Sisters who operated the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in St. Paul -- one of the last Catholic orphanages in Minnesota. He grew up as the only child of working-class parents, on the East Side of St. Paul, attending Blessed Sacrament Elementary School.

Bill never forgot all the love, support, and solid education that he had received from the Sisters of St. Joseph in the orphanage and in his grade school years. Throughout his adult life, Bill never ceased expressing his admiration and respect for the sisters, many of whom he invited to serve on the CPCSM Board during its 25-year history.

Bill's admiration for and dedication to the sisters culminated on May 3, 2005, when he was received into the community of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (St. Paul Province) as a consociate member. He had made plans to work in a remedial school for poor Black youth living in the impoverished town of Jonestown, MS, and had visited the school in the fall of 2004. His deteriorating health, however, forced him to remain in the Twin Cities.

Bill is preceded in death by his beloved parents, William and Bernadetta (Mahoney) Kummer, as well as many aunts and uncles and two cousins. He is survived by his longtime companion and caregiver of 20 years, Leo B. Bowe of St. Paul; his very dear friends and soulmates, Martin Dohmen of Fort Lauderdale, FL, and David McCaffrey of St. Paul; his maternal aunt, Beatrice V. Welch of Waukon, IA; his paternal uncle, Martin Kummer and paternal aunt, Florence Kummer, both of Hastings, MN; many family cousins; his consociate community of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (St. Paul Province); his CPCSM family; the Twin Cities HIV/AIDS community; and many friends. Bill's tireless commitment to helping others, wisdom and leadership, and sense of humor and quick wit will be greatly missed by many and remembered often.

Visitation will be Thursday, February 2nd, 4:00 - 7:00 pm, followed by the Mass of the Resurrection at the Sisters of St. Joseph's provincial house chapel (Presentation of Our Lady Chapel), 1880 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN.

In lieu of flowers, Bill had requested that he be remembered by donations to CPCSM or to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Corondelet (St. Paul Province). Arrangements: O'Halloran & Murphy 651-698-0796.

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130+ Rainbow Sash Wearers Receive Blessing Instead of Eucharist on Pentecost Sunday
at Cathedral of St. Paul

Local Media Coverage

Photo Gallery

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CPCSM Celebrates 25 Years Since Its Founding

A colorful poster displays information about CPCSM's mission, goals, and programs, as well as photos highlighting its past 25-year history, at the organization's 25th Anniversary celebration on April 7.

On April 7th, 2005, about 60 current and former officers, board members, and organizational members gathered at the Carondelet Center in St. Paul to celebrate CPCSM's 25th anniversary. The festive event was coordinated and hosted by board president Mary Lynn Murphy and her husband Mike, who are proud parents of a gay son.

After a brief period of socializing, the evening's events opened with a prayerful and musical centering ritual, led by board member Brigid McDonald, CSJ.

The emcee for the celebration was CPCSM's inspiring and articulate pastoral coordinator, Michael Bayly, who introduced the current board of directors and officers and the guests in attendance who were among CPCSM's first board members. He then invited the cofounders present and other participants to share past memories and other reflections via an open mic.

Many of the old-timers remarked that they could not believe that a quarter-of-a-century had passed since that Friday afternoon, May 9, 1980, when the "CPCSM Six" gathered around the chancery board room table with Archbishop John Roach and shared with him their often silent and lonely journeys of faith as GLBT persons growing up and working and volunteering within the Church.

At that meeting with the Archbishop, the CPCSM Six also expressed their hopes and dreams for the Church's future ministry with GLBT persons and their families, and they asked for his help in making their dreams a reality. (For more details about the May 1980 meeting with the Archbishop, please see CPCSM's Rainbow Spirit, Spring 2005, Vol. 7, Issue 1, p1ff.)

At the 25th anniversary celebration, the reminiscing and sharing of the innumerable contributions made by so many in attendance, as well as by those not present, could have gone on long into the night, However, it was 9 o'clock, and time to end the evening's festivities. Michael Bayly reminded the audience that the anniversary would be celebrated over the full upcoming year, which would allow for other special events and more opportunities for sharing of not only stories from the past but hopes and plans for the future.

Photo Gallery from CPCSM's the 25th Anniversary Celebration

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One Cofounder's Reflections
on CPCSM's First 25 Years
By David J. McCaffrey

Many positive changes have occurred for GLBT persons and their families in society over the past quarter-century; and in large part, the Church's pastoral ministry to GLBT persons -- especially on the local level, where CPCSM has played a major role -- has paralleled those improvements. (For more details, please see CPCSM's Rainbow Spirit, Spring 2005, Vol. 7, Issue 1, p1ff., as well as the chronology of the major milestones in CPCSM's history that appears elsewhere on this Web site.)

However, during the same period, the Church's official teaching about GLBT persons has failed to develop so as to acknowledge and reflect the reality of Catholic GLBT lives. In fact, official teaching has both mirrored and contributed to a society-wide conservative backlash – a backlash that within the Catholic arena was orchestrated by Cardinal Ratzinger, our newly elected pope, when he served as the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. One result of this backlash is that theologians and pastoral professionals teaching and working with and on behalf of GLBT persons -- John McNeill, Rev. Bob Nugent, and Sister Jeannine Gramick, to name a few -- have been silenced.

Furthermore, GLBT persons have been labeled "objectively disordered" and "intrinsically inclined toward evil." Our committed relationships have been condemned in Memory and Identity, the final book written by Pope John Paul II, as "part of a new ideology of evil," and as an "insidious" and "hidden" threat to families and society -- terms most likely suggested by Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope John Paul II's closest theological advisor.

Ironically -- just as developments within the Catholic pastoral arena mirror progressive changes on a more interpersonal and local secular level, a similar conservative retrenchment – driven by fundamentalist Christians, including Catholics – has been occurring within the secular politics of the ruling Republican Party. It’s a retrenchment that has paralleled the conservative backlash within the Vatican.

One even wonders if Cardinal Ratzinger's new role as pope will result in even additional and more widespread persecution of GLBT persons and those who minister with and to them.

Clearly, much additional work lies ahead for CPCSM and other organizations working within the Church for social justice for GLBT persons and their families. Such changes include GLBT persons' full acceptance by the Church as equal members of the Body of Christ, the full acceptance of our committed relationships as true reflections of God's unconditional love, an end to the culture of spiritual violence promulgated by the Vatican, and a Church-wide healing from the sin of homophobia.

My deepest hope and prayer, as we celebrate our first 25 years as an organization, is that more GLBT persons and their families who have been nurtured by the loving priests and other compassionate pastoral ministers in their local parishes, will come to see the Catholic Church as the People of God and respectfully demand that the Church hierarchy celebrate their gifts, listen to and respond to their needs, and grant them their rights granted by Baptism.

May GLBT persons and their families feel the responsibility voiced by the Gospel to share the many gifts they have received during their Catholic formation with other GLBT persons and their families who still struggle in darkness. For there are still so many such victims of the pain inflicted by a misguided hierarchy that refuses to be informed by the preponderance of current scientific findings and victims who have been rendered voiceless by their resulting fear and lowered self-esteem.

May more GLBT persons and their loved ones listen for and respond to God's call to join us and to share with us in the ownership of CPCSM's work, which apparently will be needed until well into the next quarter-century, when most of us cofounders will have moved on.

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