We tried Friday night to put together a counter demonstration for Saturday at Cardinal Francis George’s residence, but the homosexuals had kept their protest plans so quiet we couldn’t mobilize in time. But our hat is off to Mary Kelly Ames of Bucktown, who read the Catholic Catechism on homosexuality to the mob. She was taunted with shouts of “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Homophobia’s got to go!”
Chicago Gays’ Anti-Catholic Bigotry
Ames said it was her obligation as a good Catholic and admirer of the Cardinal to come out and support him. “Gays,” Ames said, “are our brothers and sisters, but marriage is intended for the procreation of children and is a natural law we must follow.” We bet Ames loves these people more than they love themselves.
I regret that there weren’t more of us there, but those I called were sick or out of town or needed to know when the dumb protest was, and we didn’t haven a clue. Some of the homosexuals seemed embarrassed to be protesting the Cardinal, who has shown nothing but compassion for these people. But the Church can’t condone their immoral lifestyle — never could, can’t now and never will , so neither can Church leaders.
I’ve personally known too many converted and cured homosexuals to take the alibi seriously that they can’t change. I once attended a Church meeting where I was introduced to a group of men who were all either married with children, engaged or dating girls, and all were former homosexuals. On radio I interviewed former homosexuals and lesbians who had overcome their unnatural behavior and were as normal as Adam and Eve. I’ve moderated panels of doctors who work with homosexuals and reported many recoveries.
Cardinal George said the demonstration was an attempt to make the Catholic Church’s support for marriage — a lifelong union between a man and a woman for the sake of family — appear to be an attack on gays. He called this effort inflammatory and untrue. The Cardinal suggested that the protest was motivated as much by anti-Catholic bigotry as by any concern for “rights.”
But the homosexual thing is not my war. I battle it only in so far as it’s part of the whole immoral mess were involved in, and the strange fact is that most homosexuals we meet are pro-abortion. Go figure. My job is saving babies, and that keeps me busy enough.
Pray for Bishop O’Brien
While we were no fan of Bishop Thomas O’Brien of Phoenix, we appreciate the pain he’s suffering facing over three years in prison on a hit and run. He is the first American bishop found guilty of a felony. O’Brien led the Phoenix diocese for 21 years. We met him in January, 1997, when we both addressed a Life Rally in Phoenix.
There’s no question that the Bishop should have stopped as soon as he hit something, but even the jurors said he probably had no idea he had hit a person, and an article in the Feb. 19 Wanderer by Dexter Duggan says some thought O’Brien was in denial. Also, many called to jury duty, aware of the priest sex scandal, said they could not be impartial. Mary Anne McKone says she’s known O’Brien for 20 years and that he doesn’t lie. Say a prayer for Bishop O’Brien.
New Study Underlines Harm of Divorce
A recent study from the University College Dublin says the effects of divorce are more damaging to children than the death of a parent. It says children of divorced parents are more likely to develop depression, do worse in school and have poorer social skills than children who lose a parent in death.
The study was done by Dr. Patricia Casey, who is trying to dispel the misinformation that separation and divorce are better for children than having their parents remain in a “bad” marriage. Other studies confirm her findings.
