|
Compiled by GayToday
Members of The Rainbow Sash Movement protest against Archbishop George Pell |
Sydney, Australia--Last night's inauguration of Sydney's new Catholic Archbishop George
Pell was met by a protest from gay and lesbian activists.
Nearly 50 protesters voiced their opposition to Archbishop Pell's
conservative stance on sexuality.
The demonstrators held banners reading "the church kills queers" and
laid an empty coffin at the steps of St Mary's Cathedral to symbolize
the high number of gay suicides. |
Five people were arrested after scuffles between police and
protesters.
Inside the Cathedral, Archbishop Pell prayed for more young men to
hear God's call to enter the priesthood.
Archbishop Pell told the congregation he wanted to work to increase
the number of people who practice Catholicism.
|
"As the eighth Archbishop of Sydney, I rededicate myself tonight to
believe, live and teach these simple beautiful truths," he said.
Both Prime Minister John Howard and the Opposition leader Kim Beazley
attended the service.
Gay Christian activist, Michael Kelly, says many liberal Catholics
are disappointed with George Pell's appointment as Archbishop. |
Archbishop Pell |
"This is not the kind of appointment that reflects the direction of
the modern church, the direction that a lot of ordinary Catholics and
a lot of priests and a lot of religious want to go in," he said.
|
Archbishop Pell told the Sydney Morning Herald that he didn't believe
practicing homosexuals should receive Holy Communion, but that such a withholding
of the sacraments would also apply persons "robbing banks and whose moral life is
disordered".
"But the orientation of a person sexually has got nothing to do with it," he told the Herald
"It is totally irrelevant. What those people with the sashes [protesting that homosexual practice
should be accepted by the church], are saying is that it is OK from a Christian perspective."
|
Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
A Right to Protest--Even at Church
Another Unembarrassed Ignoramus
Australians Picket 'Cure' Mongers
Related Sites:
The Rainbow Sash Movement
GayToday does not endorse related sites.
|
The Herald Sun described 80 protesters singing in the square outside the Cathedral and chanting
"George Pell, go to hell." Police wrestled at least four protesters to the ground., said the newspaper.
|
