June 21, 2011
By: Chuck Colbert/Reporter
BOSTON–“Be here on July 10,” said John Kelly, chair of the LGBT-affirming Rainbow Ministry at St. Cecilia, referring to a new date for the parish’s “All are Welcome” Mass, a liturgy that Boston archdiocesan officials initially halted because of the “unintended impression” it supported Boston Gay Pride.
Kelly’s remarks came at the end of an outdoor prayer service, held Sunday evening, June 19, outside the Back Bay church.
The Rainbow Ministry scheduled the event in prayerful response to the archdiocese’s apparent buckling to conservative Catholics and pseudonymous blogger Joe Sacerdo who strenuously objected.
And yet, the archdiocese issued a statement, indicating support for the lay-led service. “We respect the desire of those individuals organizing and participating in the prayer service,” the statement said. “We know that the postponement of the June 19th Mass has been disappointing to them.”
The statement also served as the official announcement of the date for “a Mass welcoming the wider community of the faithful, including gays and lesbians,” now rescheduled for Sunday, July 10, during St. Cecilia’s regularly scheduled 11 am Eucharistic celebration.
For half an hour, several hundred people gathered on Belvidere St., forming a large semi-circle surrounding a podium set up across the street from the church.
The prayer service included hymns, prayers, readings, and a reflection offered by Richard Iandoli, vice chairman of the parish council, who at times fought back tears.
Iandoli said that gay members of the congregation are “fully incorporated into the life of the parish, into every ministry from Eucharistic ministers and lectors to charity, justice, and education ministries.” He added, “This really is our home.”
St. Cecilia is in fact a spiritual home to a significant gay population, with many parishioners finding their way to the church, by way of archdiocesan assistance in 2007, when the primarily gay Jesuit Urban Center abruptly closed its doors.
Iandoli also explained the need for a Mass, “specifically to celebrate Gay Pride, because it is difficult to be proud unless you are both loved and supported,” he said. “You see we are not disordered, immature, or sinful because we are gay, lesbian, or transgender – just children of God.”
C. J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, said in a press statement, the idea of a Mass, as “an opportunity to celebrate one’s sexual identity is as offensive as it is obscene,” adding, “Homosexuals are welcome in the Catholic Church on the same basis as the rest of us poor sinners – they are welcome to the confessional.”
But Iandoli would have none of it. “We are discriminated against and hurt because we are gay. It is not in spite of it,” he said. “We need to minister to our needs cognizant of the facts. We do not have to hide them or act as if they are hidden.”
Furthermore, a special Mass “to single out a particular group for pastoral care is neither unusual nor unorthodox,” Iandoli explained, noting the church celebrates Mass “at home for the infirmed, in nursing homes for the aged, and in prison for the incarcerated.” During the academic year, St. Cecilia celebrates a 6:00 pm Mass for college students.
“We are a relational Church of many colors, races, accents, languages, and sexual orientations,” Iandoli said. “We do not want to homogenize or hide our differences.’’
The prayer service included a reading from the Gospel of Matthew (11: 25 – 30) in which Jesus reassures the weary their troubles are lessened through him.
Iandoli relied on a line from the reading – “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” – to suggest that parishioners rely on each other for mutual support.
“There is still a yoke,” he said. “The yoke doesn’t go away. But the yoke is easier, the burden lighter because we bear them together.”
Overall, the prayer service gave powerful voice to St. Cecilia’s lay pastoral leadership. In his reflection, Iandoli invoked James Alison, an English gay Catholic theologian, who has called for a “faith beyond resentment” as a way for LGBT Catholics to stay within an “intractable Church,” not “posturing in anger,” but “living in the long meanwhile until resolution comes.”
And Iandoli offered strong words of encouragement to gay youth. “I urge you to come out,” he said “The closet is a hateful, lonely, silent, and unholy place.”
As Iandoli explained, “If you can, come out when you are ready and when it is safe, I think your yoke will be easier, your burden lighter. The freedom that comes from being honest with yourself, accepting yourself, and sharing that information about yourself when appropriate will release terrible psychological pressure and give you new energy and life.”
Father John J. Unni, pastor of St. Cecilia, did not attend the prayer service. But Father Rick Walsh, associate director of the Paulist Center, which also has a sizeable gay population, was in attendance in a show of support, along with other Catholic clergy and nuns, a rabbi, Episcopalians, and a United Church of Christ minister.
State Rep. Byron Rushing (Dem.- South End), whose district includes St. Cecilia, attended. “When any church is working so actively to be open to all kinds of people in the local neighborhoods and beyond, to get any kind of criticism, we have to stand up,” he said. “There is absolutely no reason why this church should be criticized for what it’s doing.”
State Rep. Marty Walz (Dem. – Back Bay) said she came to the service “to stand in solidarity” with St. Cecilia parishioners, many of whom are friends and constituents.
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Archdiocese continued
Also in attendance was Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of the LGBT Catholic advocacy organization Dignity USA. She said parishioners and Rainbow Ministry officials “have been remarkable” throughout the controversy.
Duddy-Burke added, “They have their priorities correct. They are out there strong with a message that the LGBT Catholic community will be very excited to hear – that the people of the church stand up for them.”
St. Cecilia parishioner Peter Meade, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, who led the Gospel reading, said, “I really think for many of us, the parish coming together is a reaffirmation of faith that we are all God’s children, welcomed here, and loved.”
