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Group tries to block gays
at communion
in St. Paul Cathedral
By Chao Xiong
Star Tribune, May 31, 2004

                                                                                  Photo: Duane Braley Star Tribune
Parishioners objecting to gays receiving communion gathered on
the steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul before mass on Sunday.

Roman Catholic laymen clashed with gay Catholics and their allies Sunday in a nonviolent confrontation over gays participating in the eucharist.

About 40 men from a recently formed group, Ushers of the Eucharist, collected in the central aisle in the Cathedral of St. Paul during holy communion and asked the Rainbow Sash Alliance not to take part.

They then knelt in the aisle to block those wearing rainbow sashes, which symbolize support of gay Catholics taking communion. Other members of the group created a bottleneck by kneeling in front of the altar.

At one point, ushers directed worshipers to proceed to communion ministers through the side aisles.

"For me, it was a rather sad and painful experience," said Doug Hughes, coordinator for the interfaith group for gays and lesbians, Soulforce, and a Rainbow Sash Alliance supporter. "To have men who are clearly men of God hold to the theology of spiritual violence just breaks my heart."

The Rainbow Sash Alliance -- Catholics in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community -- and its supporters have taken communion for three years without incident on Pentecost Sunday at the cathedral. Sunday was the first time they were met with resistance.

"It was distracting for those of us who just wanted to go to church," said Julie Nelson, at the cathedral to celebrate her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. "They [Ushers of the Eucharist] were making it difficult for people to get by, and it was just a little bit rude. It wasn't the time or place for it."

Ushers of the Eucharist formed just days ago to stop the Rainbow Sash Alliance from taking communion on Pentecost Sunday, which celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit on Jesus' apostles.

The Ushers of the Eucharist's main goals were to make a statement about the holiness of the eucharist and to encourage church leaders to be more authoritative in dealing with the "large homosexual movement" in the Catholic Church, said the group's leader, David Pence.

"I thought that this was a tremendous addition to the mass," said parishioner Albert Nygren. "That while you [Ushers of the Eucharist] were kneeling, you were standing up for the eucharist."

Pence's group asserts that homosexuality is a sin, and that taking communion while openly recognizing one's homosexuality by wearing a rainbow sash undermines church teachings and authority.

Pence acknowledged that his group is defying Archbishop Harry Flynn's stance that the Rainbow Sash Alliance will not be denied communion except under "extreme" circumstances, but said it was necessary. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago instructed priests there to refuse communion to rainbow sash wearers.

"The eucharist and the tradition of the church is bigger than me and it's bigger than Archbishop Flynn," Pence said. "Our bishop is a good man, but an extremely weak man and we want to give him courage."

Rainbow Sash Alliance organizer Brian McNeill said the sash is a symbol of sexual identity and an invitation to the church for open dialogue on the issue. He said 17 Rainbow Sash supporters peacefully received communion in St. Cloud.

"It's just presumptuous to call another person a sinner," McNeill said. "It's not their [Ushers of the Eucharist's] place to restrict people from taking communion."

About 80 rainbow sashes were distributed to men and women. An estimated 165 parishioners also donned rainbow ribbon pins distributed by Margaret Hoffman, who is not affiliated with either group.

In a written statement handed out before mass, the Rev. Michael Skluzacek, pastor at the cathedral, asked parishioners to pray for those who are "mistakenly using the mass and the eucharist to make their own personal statements."

Both sides sparred outside before the noon mass. Another group, Catholics Against Sacrilege, prayed in support of Pence's group on the cathedral's front steps.

"We understand you have a disordered [sexual] appetite and a misinformed intellect," Pence said to McNeill. "You will desecrate the eucharist today."

McNeill answered: "You guys aren't the priest and you guys aren't the archbishop. The archbishop has said we are welcome to take communion."

After mass, McNeill remarked: "God willing, if I'm alive and breathing, I'll be back next year."

Chao Xiong is at cxiong@startribune.com.

Published May 31, 2004
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