The Bishops are asked to exercise special care in the selection of pastoral ministers so that by their own high degree of spiritual and personal maturity and by their fidelity to the Magisterium, they may be of real service to homosexual persons, promoting their health and well-being in the fullest sense. Such ministers will reject theological opinions which dissent from the teaching of the Church and which, therefore, cannot be used as guidelines for pastoral care....Any bishop -- including my own -- who allows his priests or priests within his jurisdiction to give sacramental succor to Dignity, whether in a Catholic Church or otherwise, is in violation of the CDF's directive to withdraw "all support" from this dissident group.All support should be withdrawn from any organizations which seek to undermine the teaching of the Church, which are ambiguous about it, or which neglect it entirely. Such support, or even the semblance of such support, can be gravely misinterpreted....
Courage, on the other hand, is not a dissident group; in fact, to my knowledge, it is the only ministry to Catholics with same-sex attraction approved by the Pontifical Council for the Family. Local Courage chapters are listed on the Courage website only when approved by the local ordinaries. As you rightly pointed out, the Bishop of Arlington has not approved a local Courage chapter.
Concur. I can find no evidence, however, that actual Catholic Priests are involved with "dignity" in Northern Virginia. I have found evidence of people claiming to be ordained in such schismatic groups as the self so-called "Liberal Catholic church" being involved, and using Episcopal and Presbyterian facilities for their activities. These people call their activities "Mass" or "Liturgy", but they are not Catholic. If you have evidence of actual Catholic Priests in NoVa participating in "Dignity" activities, please post it.
What to make of this, then:
Fremont, California, October 26, 2002 (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, Excerpted) - Eddie "Gwen" Araujo was the victim of hate, but his death must bring tolerance, mourners said Friday at memorial services from the East Bay to San Francisco for a boy police say was killed for living as a girl.
"Angels don't have a gender, and he's my angel now," Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, told 750 people who packed ST. EDWARD'S CATHOLIC CHURCH in Newark, Araujo's hometown and where he was killed three weeks ago. "He's safe somewhere where no one can hurt him."
At a wake earlier in Fremont, teary-eyed mourners viewed an open casket, with Araujo as the girl he knew himself to be -- long black hair, butterfly necklace, black blouse, fingerless black lace gloves and metallic nails.
Speakers at the vigil said schools must create a tolerant environment for transgender youth, and urged reporters to refer to Araujo as "she." Three women wore white shirts with Araujo's picture. On the back was emblazoned, "We really love you beneath it all." Other friends held signs reading, "God loves Gwen" and "Love me for who I am, not what I am."
A small group of transgendered activists was welcomed at the funeral, their presence greeted with wild applause a few minutes before the service ended. It was rare, they said, for the transgender community to get this kind of support, and they asked the group not to forget Gwen or other biological men who identified as women.
The Mass was laced with sadness and humor.