Attending Mass at Holy Name Cathedral was supposed to be one of the final Valentine’s Day weekend treats for Cindy White and her husband, who had traveled to Chicago from Hampshire, Ill., to celebrate the romantic holiday.
Instead, the couple found themselves wading through nearly 100 men and women who had gathered outside the cathedral Sunday morning to protest the Catholic Church’s opposition to gay marriage and other stances that they see as unjust to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
The protesters waved rainbow flags and shouted slogans like, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia has got to go!” and, “Holy Name, holy shame!”
According to the Tribune, last year, the Gay Liberation Network helped organize a march from the city building in which marriage licenses are issued to Holy Name to show support for gay marriage, said Andy Thayer, the group’s co-founder.
“We want to drag the church’s bigotry out of the closet,” said Thayer, 49.
The response from Church officials somewhat was less than Christian. Colleen Dolan, spokeswoman for the Chicago Archdiocese, called the protestors “misdirected.”
“They may not like it, but it’s the teaching of the church that marriage is between one man and one woman,” Dolan said. “Those of us in the church don’t get to choose what the teachings are.”
So who does the choosing? Who, exactly, are “those of us in the church?” The People of God, as the Church teaches? Dolan’s is an interesting, and ultimately shallow, response.
Let the colors fly with the stained glass at last.