Gay Catholics to Archdiocese: Jesus loves everyone
KENS5.com , November 22, 2010
A local gay Catholic congregation hosted a vigil Saturday evening outside of San Fernando Cathedral, largely considered the epicenter of Catholicism in San Antonio. Underneath the moonlit sky in front of one of the oldest running cathedrals in the country, the voices of San Antonio's gay Catholic community prayed for acceptance from fellow Catholics and church leaders.

Dignity San Antonio was expelled from St. Ann's Catholic Church by Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantu.

Commentary: Dignity must stop running from the Catholic Church
By Joe Murray, Executive Director, Rainbow Sash Movement
QSanAntonio.com, October 30, 2010

What happened to Dignity San Antonio leads us to ask why the organization was surprised that Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantu‘s letter to St. Ann’s pastor Father John Restrepo said the Mass conflicted with Catholic teaching because it was being offered for a gay advocacy group. (See related story below.)

If we are going to be effective in challenging what the church is teaching about us we must understand that teaching and not ignore it. To ignore it and hope it will go away is delusional because it will not go away without any effort in the body of the church on our part.

When LGBT Catholics are confronted with homophobia we can’t we just run away to another church, in this case a non-Catholic church.

It is time for Dignity to admit its strategy for the past 35 years has not worked and that perhaps it is time for a reevaluation.

Nothing has changed in the church concerning the issue of the homosexuals. I believe Dignity has ghettoized itself and is removed from parish life. It is time to come back.

This is an opportunity for Dignity San Antonio to tell Bishop Cantu that they will not be moved. Their members should continue to attend a regular Sunday Mass at St. Ann’s parish and advertise which mass they will attend on their web site.

It is time for Dignity to come home to the church they have been absent from for too long. We can no longer hedge on this issue of truthfulness when it comes to responding to the homophobic teaching of the Catholic Church. We must now dig in and explore creative ways to get our message across.

We can no longer take the view that there are good LGBT Catholics and bad LGBT Catholics. That mentality only divides us. Those who have promoted workshops in various parishes, diocese and archdioceses concerning gay issues have been part of the problem. It is time for us to begin a dialogue with the church about the homophobia that freely lives in our church without any challenge.

The sacred liturgy is a place where the bishops promote homophobia as illustrated most recently by the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota and prior to that the Diocese of Maine in their opposition to gay marriage from the pulpit. We must not back away from that challenge.

What happened to Dignity San Antonio is the continuation of a bishop using the sacred liturgy as a vehicle to promote bigotry against LGBT people. Now is not the time for Dignity San Antonio to throw a pity party for itself rather it is a time for courage.

The Rainbow Sash Movement is a Catholic organization. They agree with the church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when it teaches that "there can be no true promotion of Man's (Women) dignity unless the essential order of his nature is respected." However, they disagree with the doctrine on its exclusively heterosexual interpretation of that essential order of nature.

Dignity S.A. responds: We can serve God together
By Fred Anthony Garza, President of Dignity San Antonio
QSanAntonio.com, October 30, 2010

Dignity San Antonio appreciates and is grateful for the important witness the Rainbow Sash Movement provides. We believe that both organizations play an important part an advocating the inherent dignity LGBT people have as Catholics and as people because God created us.

Dignity San Antonio and DignityUSA have never run away from the Catholic Church, but rather we have constantly worked and advocated for a safe integration into it.

We work for the development of sexual theology leading to the reform of church teachings and practices regarding human sexuality, and for the acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as full and equal members in the body of Christ.

Dignity San Antonio exists first and foremost to minister to LGBT Catholics where the church declines to. We offer a safe place for LGBT people, and all Catholics to come together to participate in the sacraments and advocate for change.

We reinforce a sense of self-acceptance and dignity, and encourage full participation in the life of the church and society. We serve families with children, who in a normal parish setting would be hurt by the refusal of the sacraments of Baptism, Communion and Confirmation based on their parents being LGBT.

We offer these families, who are disenfranchised from the church, a place to come and participate at Mass and the sacraments in an active and safe manner. At this time in our history LGBT Catholics can integrate into the life of the church, but we will not be ministered to as LGBT people.

We understand much like Mother Teresa once said "I can do what you can't do, and you can do what I can't do. Together we can do something beautiful for God." We believe that Dignity San Antonio and the Rainbow Sash Movement together can do something beautiful for God.

The time is here and now. Let us go and serve God.

Auxiliary Bishop expels Dignity S.A. from St. Ann’s Church
QSanAntonio.com, October 23, 2010

In a letter dated October 13, San Antonio Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantu ordered St. Ann’s Catholic Church to stop hosting a weekly Mass for the local chapter of Dignity, a group comprised of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their families. The letter mandated the Masses end as of October 18.

Fred Anthony Garza, the president of Dignity San Antonio said, "Our community was shocked to arrive for Mass and discover this was the last time we could meet at the parish that has been our home for more than 15 years."

St. Ann’s is located at 210 St Ann Street, near the corner of Ashby and Fredericksberg.

"It’s like being kicked out of our home," adds Garza. "We are all very sad. It’s especially sad for the members of our community who have children, who could not find Catholic parishes who would baptize or provide First Communion for them. Those children have grown up in our community, and can’t understand why their family cannot go to Mass here anymore."

Dignity San Antonio, the local chapter of DignityUSA, has provided Mass for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their supporters in San Antonio since 1976. The organization also is active in local peace and equality efforts as a member of the interfaith organization PRO-San Antonio and conducts monthly food drives.

"It’s important to us as a community to find ways to live out our faith," said Garza. "We will continue to do this work no matter where we meet to pray."

Dignity San Antonio was perhaps one of the last chapters in the country that was still allowed to worship in a Catholic Church. Their expulsion from St. Ann’s coordinates almost to the day with last week’s arrival of the new Archbishop of San Antonio Gustavo Garcia-Siller. His installation is scheduled for November 23.

Last May 27, Bishop Cantu was named apostolic administrator for the Archdiocese of San Antonio to serve in the in the interval between the departure of Archbishop Jose Gomez to Los Angeles and the arrival of Garcia-Siller.

"The Mass at St. Anne's Church for members of the homosexual advocacy group, Dignity, continues to send conflicting messages about the Church's official teaching concerning the proper celebration of the Eucharist and living an active homosexual lifestyle," Cantu wrote in his letter to St. Ann’s pastor, Father John Restrepo.

Cantu also condemned any prejudice or hate againtst gay people and suggested that Dignity members go to Mass with the "wider Catholic community, at Masses already established, so as to experience and be integrated into the life of the Catholic Church incarnate in the local parishes."

"Bishop Cantu no doubt believes that he is upholding Church teaching with this action," said Marianne Duddy-Burke, DignityUSA’s executive director. "But the Catholic Church has long taught that the bishops are not the only source of theological truth. That truth also comes from the people in the pews. The people of Dignity San Antonio know in their hearts that they are living their lives in a way that honors the teachings of Jesus."

"This is a very sad day for a community of Catholics who have worked very hard to hold onto their faith in a church that is often hostile to them," Duddy-Burke added. "There has been no attempt at dialogue or discussion with the people affected. The bishop just sent a letter of expulsion to a pastor who has tried to respond to the needs of local Catholics. How can this be consistent with the teachings of Jesus?"

While deciding on a permanent location, Dignity San Antonio accepted an offer of temporary hospitality from the Beacon Hill Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. The Chapter will begin worshiping there effective Sunday, October 24 at 5:15 P.M.

Weekly Mass for gays ends in San Antonio
By Abe Levy, San Antonio Express-News, October 23, 2010
Catholic leaders here have discontinued a Mass that had been offered quietly for more than 15 years to the gay and lesbian community at a near downtown parish. The weekly Mass at St. Ann Catholic Church was the subject of periodic complaints to the archdiocese. But until last Sunday, the local hierarchy had declined to shut it down.