September Issue 2010 - Unity Column

It is well known that the Pope is visiting the UK this week. It is, however, a little known fact that a group of Catholic’s have been hosting a ‘gay friendly mass’ in one of their churches. This is a surprising event as the Catholic Church actively condemns homosexuality as immoral and Pope Benedict XVI seems specifically set upon declaring it as evil.

The clergy at the London church Our Lady of the Assumption andSt Gregory has established a mass where homosexuals can celebrate mass without fear of condemnation. It has become a place of pastoral care, tapping into the core belief of Christianity that is ‘Love thy neighbour’.

The very existence of this mass is just one of several signs that British Catholic’s seem to reject the Pope’s teachings on homosexuality and instead follow their own consciences.

We are now a decade into the twenty first century and institutional hatred of a group of people should, after all, be recognised for the appalling abuse of power and trust that it is. Yet there are some traditionalist parishioners who pray outside the church whilst the mass goes on, holding firm to the rotten dogma of the Pope.
The Archbishop of the diocese supports the mass and has said that “Anybody who is trying to

cast a judgement on the people who come forward for communion really ought to hold their tongue.” The Pope himself has declared a similar statement in the past stating that “Everyone

has a place in the church , every person without exception should be able to feel at home and never rejected.” The hypocrisy that resonates throughout that quote is, frankly, astounding

as this Pope has been one of the harshest and critically reviled of recent times. With his non-inclusive attitude, he has stopped the Church, with the aid of ‘traditionalists’, from moving forward. Female priests, homosexuality, condoms and the audacity to brush the child abuse scandal under the carpet ‘for the sake of the Church’ are all issues which show this man to be an ignorant bigot if not a fool.

The hope that a mass such as this brings to me is amazing and I’m not even religious. If religion can accept people for who they are and move on to help them, and those in need all around the world, regardless of any trait then they will live up to their promises. For an LGBT person who is Catholic I couldn’t even begin to understand the difference this must make. This mass had to be sanctioned by the Vatican and if the hierarchy of the Church can finally allow a safe haven for homosexuals who want to take part in their faith, it is a wonderful opportunity and an example to be made.

More and more parishes need to adopt a mass like this if there is to be any significant progress made. The Church is its much professed billions of members. Without believers it would have nothing. The power is in the people of parishes all over the UK and, hopefully, this will begin to push through into Europe and beyond. A grassroots religious movement based around love and acceptance: the morals that a young carpenter from Galilee preached of. Maybe His Holiness will then, finally, see the light.