I always thought Rudy was what made NY so appealing to me; that he made NY great -- even though he cross dressed on Saturday Nite Live, even though he was liberal to the rest of us, Rudy said, "Not in my city!" to the sickening sacrilege that was on its way to one of the museums late in the 1990's...and Rudy was the right man to be in charge of NY on 9/11...he is a human being first, a politician second, and I value that...
But, on reflection, perhaps what made NY great to me is Cardinal O'Connor; and perhaps he is what made Rudy great, too.
You are absolutely right!
He condemned proposed legislation backed by Catholic mayor Rudolph Giuliani that would grant homosexuals, lesbians, and unmarried couples the same legal rights as married couples. In a homily at St. Patrick’s he proclaimed that "It is imperative that no law be passed contrary to natural moral law and Western tradition by virtually legislating that marriage does not matter." Likewise, he opposed Mayor Ed Koch’s executive order requiring all social service agencies, including those run by the Church, to provide equal services to homosexuals. The cardinal refused on the grounds that it would make the Church appear to be sanctioning homosexual practices and lifestyle. He also prohibited a pro-homosexual group from meeting in New York parishes, while at the same time celebrating Mass with Father John Harvey’s Courage, a ministry to homosexual men and women who seek to live by the Church’s teachings on human sexuality.
For this and other statements and actions he was not endeared to the New York gay and lesbian population. In fact, they turned out to be the cardinal’s most bitter enemies. In 1989, for instance, homosexual activists chained themselves to pews during a Mass at St. Patrick’s, throwing condoms at the cardinal during the consecration. Thereafter, the gays and lesbians hi-jacked the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and hurled blasphemous insults while passing by the cathedral, where Cardinal O’Connor watched the parade year after year. Meanwhile the cardinal was opening houses for AIDS patients and making unannounced visits to Catholic hospitals where he ministered to AIDS patients, most of them homosexuals. In fact, USA Today once reported that he "washed the hair and emptied bedpans of dying AIDS patients, some too sick to know who he was."