With almost 200 people in attendance, the priest celebrated Mass wearing a rainbow stole.
NEW YORK CITY — A New York City Catholic church, previously caught up in LGBT controversy, hosted a “Pride Mass” Thursday evening using an altar shrouded with a gay and transgender “pride” flag at a local federal monument with sculptures of two same-sex couples and decorated by dozens of LGBT rainbow flags.
The federal monument enshrining a gay bar, The Stonewall Inn, and its surroundings, memorializes the location of a June 28, 1969, LGBT uprising.
“When you think about it, the altar servers during the summer go to the amusement park or Yankee Stadium, the senior group will go to the shrine or they’ll go to the slots in Atlantic City. Where is Out at St. Paul supposed to go for their summer pilgrimage?” Father Eric Andrews, pastor of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, said in a homily at the Stonewall National Monument in the city.
“Out at St. Paul” is St. Paul the Apostle church’s ministry “to the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Queer community,” which is made up of “mostly gay men,” Paul Snatchko, a spokesman for the Paulist Fathers, told CNA, the Register’s sister news outlet, last year.
Speaking to roughly 175 attendees and wearing a rainbow stole, Father Andrews said: “We come here because this is our place. This is the national park for this community. This is a place where we’re seen, where we’re appreciated, where we’re lifted up. It is, as they say in the liturgy, it is right and just to be here this night.”
The priest said the Mass is celebrated at the monument “most of all to give thanks to God, who we know sees us and loves us with a love beyond all telling, a love that unites, a love that opens up to each and every person, and a love that asks us to reach beyond ourselves to the other.”
Stonewall National Monument is a 7.7-acre park in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan, New York City, dedicated to “LGBT rights” and history. It was designated as a national monument by President Barack Obama on June 24, 2016.
‘God Is Trans’
The Church of St. Paul the Apostle caught headlines last year for hosting an art exhibit that included a display called “God Is Trans: A Queer Spiritual Journey.” A firestorm of criticism erupted online over the display, with many calling the artwork “blasphemous.”
Following concerns expressed by the Archdiocese of New York, the church shortened the name of the art display to “A Queer Spiritual Journey.”
At the time of the display, Snatchko told CNA that he didn’t think the display promoted gender ideology.
When CNA asked him if the Paulist Fathers believe it is acceptable to say that God is transgender, he answered, “No.”
Mass With a ‘Political End’
The church had planned to host a “Pride Mass” at the same location last year, but ending up altering the location due to “security” concerns.
Dominican Father Thomas Petri, a moral theologian and president of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., told CNA prior to the Mass last year that the liturgy should not be used to make a political statement.
“Certainly it’s understandable and it’s part of our tradition to celebrate Mass in repentance for our sinfulness, which includes any unjust discrimination against a person or a group,” he said.
“However, it would be inappropriate for any Mass to be celebrated with a political end and with political flags or campaign posters flying in the sanctuary or among the congregation,” Father Petri said. “It would be impious and possibly sacrilegious because it profanes the very purpose of the Mass: the worship of God by the participation in the Body and Blood of Christ himself.”
Church Leadership Punts
Joe Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, told the Register Friday, “We were unaware of the Mass” and recommended questions be asked to the president of the Paulists, Father René Constanza.
Snatchko told the Register Friday that the Paulist Fathers “have no comment on this” and referred questions to Father Andrews.
Father Andrews did not respond for comment Friday.
‘It Was Disturbing’
An attendee of the Mass on Thursday, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Register that “I want to walk with LGBTQ Catholics because they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. “
“However, the priest repeatedly and exclusively preached about love with no mention of the need to repent,” the attendee said.
“The Mass was a raucous celebration of LGBTQ. It was disturbing that a shepherd would celebrate sin rather than lead us to repent and follow Our Lord, Jesus Christ,” the attendee added.
