The LGBT dress code

My post on the Soho Masses has been misinterpreted by one or two souls who thought that I was commending them.

I was not. I was condemning them.

But I was not and would never condemn the people involved. The state of their souls is a matter between them and Almighty God.

The cry so often goes up from the Catholic Gay community "Accept us, accept us".
And my point was that the Church should itself issue a decree of "Bring them home".

So if the homosexual lobby wish for full integration with mainstream Church, they have to observe the niceties of Catholic life.

Here, for a start, is the suggested dress and behaviour code:

1. If you do not wish to be noticed - don't wear OTT flowery dresses. In fact, unless you were born a Scottish male, do not wear dresses at all.

2. Avoid the colour pink. Catholics should not use the Mass as a canvas for their political statements.

3. Similarly, no rainbows to be on display (or AIDS ribbons for that matter, we are concerned with the spiritual here, not the secular).

4. Do not gather en masse at the entrance to the Church before or after Mass. It is impolite to block the way for others.

5. If females are to enter the sanctuary area, please cover your head, arms and ensure that your skirt is modest in length.

6. Similarly, males should not wear hats, shorts or short sleeved shirts.

7. Appear as your birth gender demands - this is not the place to parade gender preferences.

8. Pray for all, not just for those with the same sexual issues as yourself.

9. Remember that there are children in the congregation and that they should not be subject to influence of the morally wrong kind.

10. As with all Catholics, the reception of Holy Communion requires that the individual is in a state of grace and free from mortal sin. The Church teaches, infallibly, that to commit a homosexual act is a mortal sin. Failure to observe this when receiving Holy Communion,  is, in itself, a most grave sin.

And if you would like a number 11 then please do not show public signs of your "ishoos" outside the Church. By that I mean, no overtly sexual hugging and kissing or dating.

I hope that this post does not upset anyone, probably a fond hope.

All I can say in my defence is, that, it applies to us all, not just homosexuals.

Now how inclusive is that?

Isn't it time the Church calls an end to separation and brings the homosexual Catholic community under its wing?

It's a serious question. We have experienced the brouhaha that surrounds the so called "Gay Masses" at the Church of The Assumption of Our Lady and St Gregory in London's Warwick Street.

Bring these people in from the cold!

But the feet of the Church seem firmly rooted in treacle.
No change, no development.

I do not like what takes place at these "Gay Masses" - it is an aberration but, those who follow the Soho Masses every Sunday surely deserve something better than this.
It's isolationist, prejudiced, discriminatory, it's a form of sexual apartheid - an entrance for blacks and an entrance for whites, homosexuals or heterosexuals.

We do not have this form of discrimination in Menevia Diocese, We do not know, or particularly care whether our congregation members are lesbians, homosexuals, bank robbers, adulterers or serial paper clip thieves, it's not really our concern, it is purely God's concern.

We embrace all who attend our Masses but then, we don't harp on about  heterosexual issues in our bidding prayers, sermons or after Mass debates.

The Mass is for all and is set in a format for all. It does not need a rainbow banner draped across the sanctuary, or people wearing strange wrong sex garb.
It requires a dress code (yes, it does, even the OF Mass) and that code precludes men dressing as women or vice versa.

But Westminster Archdiocese appears content to corral these poor folk in a sort of sixties type time capsule where those who have this leaning appear as caricatures who stand outside the mainstream of what should be their Mother Church.

Bring them into the fold, do away with all this homosexual babble; if they wish to be accepted then accept them but they have to play their part, as part of the whole, not as freaks.

That means, of course, doing away with Masses that exclude, by their very nature, Catholic families or, even, young Catholic men and women.

Dedicate the Warwick Street Masses to Catholics (full stop), do away with the dated imagery and stop patronising this part of the community.

Better still, provide an EF Mass for all - I am sure that Our Lady and St Gregory would approve.

Will they sentence our priests to prison?

There was a very sound priest active in the 80s whose name now escapes me (but I have his article from Catholic Order packed up somewhere) who stated that he firmly believed that we would see Catholic martyrs within the next 25-30 years. He meant, of course, in Europe and possibly, the USA rather than the world at large where killings of Christians has accelerated  to over 270 each day during the last decade (see
 Joyful Papist).
Can we really expect, now that the 30 years is up, to see Catholic martyrs in the prison system in Britain  once more?  Of   course, without the death penalty we cannot have martyrs as such but the process of martyrdom does include imprisonment; many of the English and Welsh Martyrs succumbed in jail rather than on the scaffold.
And, anyway, I believe you could have a "dry" martyrdom, being pilloried in the media, jailed, reviled and despised - all of those are key ingredients to suffering for the faith.

Could it happen tomorrow? Well, if the Coalition Government has its way, it will soon be legitimate for homosexuals to have Civil Partnership  ceremonies  conducted in church.

Not too much of a problem for the Protestant faiths or for Quakers who readily accepted "gay love"(for want of a better phrase) some time ago
Just two weeks ago, a Christian couple who run a Bed and Breakfast establishment were found guilty under the law of refusing accommodation to a pair of homosexuals.
Next week, it could be Fr X who, in the wake of denying a church "wedding"to a gay couple, finds himself up on a charge.

"JUST SAY: "I DON'T"

Here's the report from Sunday's Telegraph:-

By Tim Ross, Social Affairs Editor 5:55PM GMT 13 Feb 2011

The Liberal Democrat Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone, is expected to announce that churches, synagogues and other religious settings will be able to host civil partnership ceremonies for the first time.

As The Daily Telegraph reported in December, the Coalition is also considering extending homosexual rights to allow full “marriage” for same-sex couples.

Currently, the term “marriage” applies only to the union of a man and a woman.

Liberal Jewish groups, Quakers and other Christian organisations have been pressing the Coalition to introduce the civil partnership reforms, and gay rights campaigners welcomed the latest news.

The Church of England, however, has voiced its opposition. Senior Anglican officials have said the Church is unlikely to host civil partnerships, which would include religious readings and hymns under the plan.

Peter Tatchell, voice of homosexual OUTRAGE stated: "It's long overdue".

Well, we can expect no less from this quarter, (other than some test cases);  will the Government press on with their plans?...looks likely...what was it David Cameron said when he bade farewell to the Holy Father in September? words to the effect that: "We shall protect the family unit in this country." I am disappointed in him but then, Labour is probably going to be even more extreme on this issue.

Who among our priests will step up to the mark? I know the blogging clerics will not shrink from the decision when the time comes. Pray hard for all of our priests!