Winter 1999 – News on the Line
Volume 2: Issue 1
President’s Corner
Greetings! I hope you had a very blessed Christmas and that 1999 will bring an abundance of Faith, Hope and Charity!
Catholic Parents OnLine has been very busy! The following is an update of CPO “happenings”:
CPO board members had a very promising meeting with Archbishop Harry Flynn on December 10, 1998. He tells us, “I found the meeting to be most informative and certainly most positive…without a doubt, we will be seeing each other again.”
The Vicar General, Fr. Kevin McDonough, recently notified the clergy of this Archdiocese to report, “To the extent that they (Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, or its related entity of “Families and Friends of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Persons in Catholic Education”) advocate changes in the moral and sacramental-theological traditions of our Church, particularly in promoting recognition of same-sex unions and the genital expression of affection between persons of the same gender, they most certainly do not enjoy the support of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.”
Catholic Parents OnLine continue to meet with, listen to, educate and inform parents from our Archdiocesan high schools regarding the “safe staff” in their schools and the “GLBT agenda”. Both the Academy of Holy Angels and Cretin-Derham high schools now have an organized CPO Parent group. For more information or the school parent contact person, contact CPO. In February we will getting together with parents from Hill-Murray, Totino-Grace, Benilde-St. Margaret’s and DeLaSalle high schools. If you know any parents who may be interested in attending these meetings, please have them get in touch with us as soon as possible.
Word is out about Catholic Parents OnLine We are receiving phone calls and email requesting advice on which Catholic schools teach, uphold and live-out the Catholic faith. CPO was born out of the needs of parents to protect and maintain our rich Catholic, Christian heritage. Before the year is up, CPO hopes to be able to give a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of each school.
Catholic Parents OnLine is planning an education forum where local and national speakers address the true Catholic teachings regarding homosexuality. We will keep you informed.
Thank you for your encouraging letters and generous donations. Contributions to CPO are greatly appreciated! Please keep praying and stay in touch. • Colleen Perfect
Letters From Concerned Catholics
From California:
Dear Friends,
You are doing crucially important work in informing and motivating Catholics to action.
From Illinois:
Hello,
Keep up the good work! I saw the articles relating to the schools in your Archdiocese. I knew this kind of stuff was going on in public schools but never imagined that this would pass in private Catholic schools. I have suggestions for your efforts if you think they will help. “Money talks”, and as you band together groups of outraged parents, inevitably many will be from the same parish. They should ask their pastor to appeal to the Archbishop regarding this matter… Call EWTN and try to get on Mother Angelica Live or the World Over programs to state your case. You will galvanize the Catholic faithful across the country!
From Rhode Island:
Dear CPO,
Thank God, someone is finally speaking out! My wife and I are parents of two girls, 17 and 10. We have attempted to give our daughters the same gift of faith that our parents and grandparents entrusted to us. We base our family values on the teaching of the Catholic Church. Our oldest daughter attends an all-girls Catholic college prep school where she has often been offended by very public “lesbian” behavior such as open-mouthed kissing and fondling in classrooms, hand-holding in hallways. The school held an assembly this year at which all the girls were encouraged to accept such behavior, not condemn it, but condone it. The principal of the school leads an openly homosexual lifestyle as do other administrators. We are outraged and until now felt voiceless. I have read two articles on another “Catholic web-site” – that’s how I found your site – that explains a lot of what I have seen in our own diocese: The growing influence of homosexuals in the day to day operation of the church. Thank you. I don’t feel alone anymore. I eagerly await your newsletter.
From Minnesota:
Hello, please send me a copy of the article mentioned in the fall CPO newsletter published in Educational Leadership, October, 1997 “How Catholic Schools Are Creating a Safe Climate for Gay and Lesbian Students” by Sister Mary Ellen Gevelinger, O.P. I am a very concerned parent who hopes to send my kids to Catholic schools in a few years! Please put me on your mailing list and let me know what I can do to help deal with these GLBT issues in our schools. Thank-you.
A Letter from Jerry Armelli of Prodigal Ministries
(edited for brevity)
Dear Concerned Catholics,
I offer the following account of my faith journey to share with you the desperate need for the enforcement of Scriptural teachings in Catholic schools regarding homosexuality.
When I was struggling with homosexuality, the Holy Scriptures, the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope and the Law of My Heart were telling me that homosexual behavior in every circumstance was wrong. I accepted that, and I desired to walk in purity and wholeness according to the Faith. In an intense effort to find support and direction regarding my sexual struggles, I found nothing.
I did not find Catholics to support me in carrying out the teachings of our faith regarding homosexuality. I did not find one Priest, Sister, lay person or support group to assist me. I went to a Catholic elementary school, high school and college. I heard nothing mentioned in the countless times I attended Mass. My Church was teaching me that homosexual inclinations were objectively disordered, but was not offering support for me to obtain the purity and wholeness that I desired.
I did find individuals and organizations that were undermining Catholic teachings and opposing Catholic doctrine, while still calling themselves Catholic. They encouraged me to embrace a homosexual identity and act upon homosexual feelings, even though the scripture was calling me to leave these things behind. I experienced organizations like Dignity which were like a gay bar without the alcohol. They promoted an ideology that was in direct opposition to Church teaching. It was a very, very lonely and confusing time in my life. No Catholics I inquired of knew where to find support for me in my effort to pursue purity.
The Holy Spirit was my only support. He did not forsake me or lead me in a way that was contrary to His Word. He lead me to non-Catholic individuals and groups whose directives upheld Scripture. They knew how to support me in my walk to purity and wholeness. I left the Catholic Church because I could not stay without support and be continually challenged by those who were undermining what Christ had asked of me – a life of purity. It is a shame that I felt I had to abandon the faith of my family so that I could receive the support and love that I desperately needed.
I now know that the Catholic organization Courage was in existence, but I was unaware of it at that time. I’m sure there were Religious who were true to Catholic doctrine, but they were unseen to me. Organizations and individuals that uphold Catholic teachings (such as Courage) need to be promoted, easily recognized, and accessible to all Catholics.
However, today, under the disguise of diversity or tolerance training, there is an undermining and deception going on within the Catholic schools. The promoting of “gay” social and political agendas is infecting our children’s moral development. This deception is anti-Scripture and anti-Catholic, and is doing incalculable harm to thousands of boys, girls, men, women and families. I experienced this first hand. Organizations like P-FLAG and like-minded individuals must not be permitted to propagate their misinformation to children regarding homosexuality.
I validate the instruction within the Catholic schools today that teaches children and young adults a Christ-like response to persons with a same-gender attraction. This should be done by individuals who are true to Catholic teachings. Perhaps if Catholic schools offered such instruction when I was there, I would not have had to endure the harsh ridicule I did for being suspected of having homosexual feelings.
There must be recognizable and accessible support available that is true to Catholic teaching. “Gay” propaganda, disguised as tolerance or diversity training must not be permitted in Catholic schools. The promotion of the “gay” lifestyle is contrary to Catholic teaching and is not in line with God’s design for an individual’s sexuality.
Today I can honestly say I am heterosexual in identity and feelings. I am very happily married to the perfect woman and we are expecting our first child. I am very sorry that I had to leave the Catholic Church to get where I am today.
Keep up the good work in your fight to keep “gay” propaganda out of the schools. God knows there are kids just like I was, who this time may be deceived into believing that living “gay” is okay.
THE CHAPTER OF THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY
(presented by the Holy See, October 22, 1983)
Article 5 Since they have conferred life on their children, parents have the original, primary and inalienable right to educate them; hence they must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children.
a) Parents have the right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions…
b) Parents have the right to freely choose schools or other means necessary to educate their children in keeping with their convictions…
c) Parents have the right to ensure that their children are not compelled to attend classes which are not in agreement with their own moral and religious convictions. In particular, sex education is a basic right of the parents and must always be carried out under their close supervision, whether at home or in educational centers chosen and controlled by them.
d) The rights of parents are violated when a compulsory system of education is imposed by the State from which all religious formation is excluded.
e) The primary right of parents to educate their children must be upheld in all forms of collaboration between parents, teachers and school authorities, and particularly in forms of participation designed to give citizens a voice in the functioning of schools and in the formulation and implementation of educational policies.
f) The family has the right to expect that the means of social communication will be positive instruments for the building up of society, and will reinforce the fundamental values of the family. At the same time the family has the right to be adequately protected, especially with regard to its youngest members, from the negative effects and misuse of the mass media.
re: networking
Article 8
a) Families have the right to form associations with other families and institutions, in order to fulfill the family’s role suitable and effectively, as well as to protect the rights, foster the good and represent the interests of the family.
Excerpts from the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Paragraphs 2357-59 & 2396
2357. “Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
2358. “The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. ”
2359. “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.”
2396. “Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.”
Keep Those Letters & Calls Coming
For those of you who haven’t written letters or made phone calls to the Archdiocesan leadership, CEFM, Principals, Board of Directors, etc., we encourage you to do so. It is extremely important that our voices be heard! And most important, continue praying!!
Contact:
Mr. Thomas McCarver
Director, CEFM
328 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102
651-291-4525
mccarvert@impresso.com
Reverend Kevin McDonough
Vicar General
226 Summit Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55102
651-291-4400
archcom@archspm.org
New Catholic Family Radio
Have you tuned into the new Catholic Family Radio station, 1280am. Try it, we think you’ll like it!
