The title of the newspaper article was “100 denied Communion for backing gay Catholics.” I understand the genesis of such sentiments and realize that it is a manifestation of the fear inherent in an unconscious and paranoid religious institution. Compassion is very rare in the religions that have their origins in P-B, it is a sensibility not natural for the ego-driven religions of the world. Nevertheless, the lack of sensitivity and heartfelt empathy revealed in the details of the article are emotionally jolting.
“A group called the Rainbow Sash Alliance has encouraged supporters to wear multicolored ribbons since 2001 on each Pentecost Sunday, the day Catholics believe the Holy Spirit came to give power to Christians soon after Jesus ascended to heaven. Sunday for the first time they have been denied Communion [at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota]. A supporter, sister Gabriel Herbers, said she wore a sash to show sympathy for the gay and lesbian community. Their sexual orientation ‘is a gift from God just as much as my gift of being a female is.’”
“Parishioner Larry Pavlicek was not sympathetic. As a divorced man, he said, he has to live with the church’s teaching that he cannot remarry and cannot have sex outside of marriage.” The church has twisted common sense here in denying basic human nature. By categorizing basic human needs and many healthy behaviors as sins, the church alienates itself from its parishioners and its parishioners from each other. This unconscious cruelty betrays a heartless institution, its natural compassion frozen in doctrinal rigidity.
The Church instead of promoting Oneness through compassion and community building is promoting community disintegration and divisiveness. The Church is also encouraging psychological projection by rejecting some members of the human community as the other and not worthy of community membership. For those who are excluded and who believe the dogma of the Church, they are consigned to hell, at least in their own mind. The Church is not only denying communion but something more profound and precious. It is denying Church members their humanity, and refuting the teaching of Jesus who would exclude no one from receiving the unconditional love of God. The Church has lost its way and its compassion.
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References and notes are available for this essay.
Find a much more in-depth discussion in books by Roy Charles Henry:
Who Am I? The Second Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Where Am I? The First Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival
