Results tagged “Supreme Court” from A Swede in SF

Last night I sent an email to the pastor that I leave the parish I have belonged to.

Dear Fr Steve:

It is with great sadness mixed with a sense of fury that I decide to leave as a member from the Most Holy Redeemer parish. I will still remain a "dormant" member of the Roman Catholic Church but in my native Sweden, in the cathedral parish in Stockholm (so I can get my burial the day that will be needed).

Following the Proposition 8 events here in California, and the involvement of the Catholic church, that made me take a step back from the parish already in November, and to denounce any outreach work from the AIDS Support Group. Yesterday's comment from Archbishop George and the other Californian bishops and archbishops following the California Supreme Court decision saying that my California legal marriage is one of the  'interim same-sex "marriages"' (California Bishops applaud validation) - it just makes it too much for me to bear. Over the years I have experienced ostracizing, condemnation, and seen hate because I am who and what I am. When I get this disrespect and ridicule from the leaders of my own church, I simply will not take it any more.

If that statement is an example of the respect Archbishop George called for in the wake of Prop 8, I am not impressed by their way of showing respect for the LGBT community - and in particular the married members in the church. Respect is something in my eyes that has to come from both sides, it is not something that is unilateral. Referring to an important moment in my and my partner's lives, which our marriage on October 7 was, to refer to that as an 'interim' event - and not even calling it a marriage but having quotation marks around it to make it less real - that is to say the very least disrespectful to me. I experience it as an example of ridicule of me, and the life my husband I lead and have led for nine years. Hence, I no longer want to be part of a church these bishops are leading in California.

I do want to take this opportunity to thank you, Fr Joe and Fr Donal for the work you do for and in this inclusive parish, and where your leadership is inspiring, compassionate and admirable. You have all showed me that there was a way to be a loved part of a Catholic parish, also as a gay man. For the first time in a long time, I felt that I was in a place where I was able to be who I really am. I felt at home from the first time I visited a Sunday mass in August 2006 as a newly arrived graduate student from Sweden. Thank you! I wish you and the parish all my best wishes and blessings for the future.