Posted on 07/03/2018 8:37:53 PM PDT by ebb tide
LEXINGTON, Kentucky, July 3, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – A Catholic church in the heart of Appalachia has attracted media attention for the Gay Pride Month banner stretched across its front lawn. The local ordinary, Bishop John Stowe, has a record of collaborating with a group that rejects Catholic moral teaching, and his spokesperson says individual parishes may decide if they want to promote the homosexual cause.
The rainbow banner in front of St. Paul’s parish in Lexington, Kentucky proclaims:
LGBTQ+ CATHOLIC
FAMILY, FRIENDS & ALLIES
ALL ARE WELCOME
“Making this kind of statement is a decision a spokesperson for the Diocese of Lexington says is up to each parish,” according to a local TV news report.
The parish’s pastor sent, Father Chris Clay, sent an email to parishioners saying the banner showcasing the symbol of the homosexual cause is a “small way of counter-acting any experiences of hostility, rejection, and silent treatment that LGBTQ Catholics may have experienced from members of the church that have been deeply hurtful and painful.”
“This banner, as any banner or any welcome we extend, is always done understanding that we adhere and affirm all that the Church teaches regarding faith and morals,” he alleged.
St. Paul’s website prominently features the photo of its rainbow banner on its homepage. Another image that it highlights on its homepage shows a group of people including women who appear to be dressed as clergy – with one man wearing a rainbow stole bearing the image of a chalice – alongside Bishop Stowe, wearing his bishop’s cap.
An image on the parish website shows women dressed as clergy, a man wearing a rainbow stole, and local ordinary Bishop John Stowe. saintpaul.cdlex.org screenshot
“This is a church that is open to all people and I hope this sign gets that across,” said parishioner Stan “JR” Zerkowski in the TV report. “I don’t think a Catholic Church has ever had a sign like this before in front of it during Pride Week or any other time. However, in other parts of the country we see this regularly.”
“Our LGBTQ sisters and brothers should not be afraid to come in here, will not feel judged, will not feel as though they’re trampling on territory that isn’t theirs,” added Zerkowski.
As it turns out, this St. Paul’s parishioner’s jarring statement is actually unsurprising. There is a whole lot more to TV report than what first meets the eye.
Stan “JR” Zerkowski is no ordinary parishioner. He is the executive director of Fortunate Families, a pro-LGBT Catholic organization. According to his online bio, Zerkowski co-founded and co-leads “Together on the Bridge,” an pro-homosexual ministry, and he founded and leads “Together on the Journey,” an LGBT Family, Friends, and Allies Ministry. He also publishes a monthly faith-based article appears in LinQ, the Pride Community Services Organization of the Bluegrass LGBT magazine.
According to its own website, Fortunate Families’ application for a booth at the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia was “denied because the committee overseeing the booth ... made the determination that Fortunate Families teaches that ‘if parents don't accept everything about their homosexual child's lifestyle the child will commit suicide.’”
In April, Fortunate Families, in partnership with Lexington Catholic LGBT Ministry and the University of Kentucky LGBTQ* Resource Center, hosted dissident Fr. Bryan Massingale who spoke about “LGBT Persons in the The Age of Pope Francis & Social Ethics.”
Fr. Massingale is a professor of theology at Fordham University who openly takes part in LGBT advocacy. In 2017 Massingale spoke at 8th National Symposium of New Ways Ministry, a “gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian and gay Catholics,” according to the group’s website.
Photos and graphics posted on the Fortunate Families website and Facebook page tell the real story about this group’s actual beliefs.
The “churches” are actually “promoting” homosexuality these days?
The molestations of young boys by vile homosexual priests will continue until homosexuals are purged from the clergy. What rational parent would attend that parish with their young children? That bishop is a rancid embarrassment. Hopefully if that place is revisited in five years it will be shut down as a Catholic parish or fundamentally reformed.
Satan sure has worked His way into that parish. God calls homosexuality an abomination- the strongest word used to condemn the unholy deviant practice available- and this priest essentially says “Nope- God isn’t allow to set standards, we all get choose because we know better than God”
God destroyed two cities because of homosexuality- but this priest comes along and says homosexuality is now A-OK with God?
It should be no surprise that a liberal cleric resides in Lexington and promotes homosexuality.
Does anyone ever get the feeling we have lost the box top with the rules for the game?
A church that doesn’t put God first is just an empty building.
There is a simple solution to this ridiculousness. Starve the Beast. Take your worship and offerings elsewhere. Find a new church home. The Grace of Jesus Christ is free and so are you.
For over thirty years I was a member of a choir sponsored by the local Catholic church. You did not have to be Catholic to belong. We were good enough that we were picked to represent our state in DC on the 4th about fifteen years ago . The church has changed substantially since then. Pro gay and pro illegal alien seem to be their main focus. The “immigrant” group loves to flaunt their favored status. They have requested the time slot reserved for the choir several times and we are expected to be honored that they want it. Then they schedule something before us and run overtime while we stand at the back of the sanctuary. One of the finest choirs I have known is dead. We couldn’t muster enough members to do a Easter performance this year. Meanwhile the faggot priests congratulate themselves on their “diverse” congregation.
Inmates are running the asylum. Or in this case, Sodomites are running the Church. What could go wrong?
Homosexuals love infiltrating things and destroying them from within.
I would have thought there would be no debate. If a priest, a church, or a diocese is Catholic, they will follow scripture. If they reject God's word, then they are not Catholic.
God destroyed two cities because of wanton fornication, a lot of which was homosexual in nature....making it exclusively homosexual may feel right but it is Biblically wrong to leave out the rest. Any idea of why it wasn’t in the 10 Commandments? Neither do I, bu tit wasn’t because God didn’t know it would occur - or was occurring at the time.
Does he think the same about murder why not just see what the Bible says about the matter?
[[bu tit wasn’t because God didn’t know it would occur - or was occurring at the time]]
Wow- really?
God gave very explicit rules about what would happen to homosexuals who lived in such wickedness, and the city was so full of such wickedness- among others, that He destroyed the cities
“Third, Jude cinched the matter in his allusion to the sin of Sodom. He said that Sodom and her sister cities had “given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh” (Jude 7). “Given themselves over to sexual immorality” is a translation of the compound word ekporneusasai, which combines the verb porneuo (to commit illicit sexual intercourse) with the preposition ek (out of). The attachment of the prepositional prefix indicates intensification, i.e., that the men of Sodom possessed “a lust that gluts itself ” (Thayer, 1977, p. 199). Their sexual appetites had been permitted to take them beyond the range of normal sexual activity. The idea of force or coercion is not inherent in the word. “Strange” refers to “one not of the same nature, form, class, kind” (Thayer, p. 254), and so pertains to the indulgence of passions that are “contrary to nature” (Barnes, 1949, p. 393)—“a departure from the laws of nature in the impurities practiced” (Salmond, 1950, 22:7). The frequent allusion to “nature” by scholars is interesting in view of the fact that Scripture elsewhere links same-sex relations with that which is “against nature” (Romans 1:26-27) or unnatural, i.e., out of harmony with the original arrangement of nature by God (e.g., Genesis 1:27; 2:22; Matthew 19:4-6).”
“Ezekiel, though mentioning the additional sins listed above, nevertheless referred repeatedly to Sodom’s “abomination” (16:50; cf., vss. 43,47,51,52,58). Moses connected “abomination” with homosexual activity (Leviticus 18:22).”
https://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=7&article=614
No Soddom and Ghomorrah were destroyed because of evident sexual relations- most of which were homosexual in nature- God made homosexuality a capital crime which invoked the death penalty as stated by that article. It was such an abomi9nation (again, the strongest condemnation available to describe the horrendous sin of homosexuality and other such deviant sins) that God condemned those who lived it to death
While Soddom and G were not destroyed exclusively for homosexuality- homosexuality played a major role in why they were destroyed- Lot even told the men not to ‘do this wicked thing’ to the men
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